Who'll use the iPad?
I’ve been discussing with wifie who’ll use the iPad, and we find it hard to find a single group of people that it’s perfect for. Let’s have a look:
- School kids and students won’t like it because they can’t play the Flash games that are their raison d’être, and because they multitask all the time (homework is always done while MSN’ing in another window).
- Content creators (such as bloggers) won’t like it because it doesn’t have a proper keyboard, and because it’s hard to attach a camera.
- Gadget nerds will think they don’t really need it because they already have an iPhone, a netbook, a laptop and a portable DVD player.
- Mature technophobes who would really like a minimal solution for light web browsing and emailing won’t like it because the iPad requires a proper computer for synchronisation, too.
- Business people will not buy it because it cannot be connected to a lightpro for presentations, and they might also want a front-facing camera for conferencing.
- Commuters won’t like it because it’s hard to hold on to on public transport.
- Porn addicts will dislike that it needs to be held in the hands.
- Book readers will not buy it because the screen isn’t as good for reading as electronic paper.
- Women won’t buy it because of the name, and because it doesn’t fit in a handbag.
- Game players will only buy it if there are games available for it that are better than their equivalents on other platforms, and that’s not the case (yet).
So I must admit I find it hard to figure out who exactly will think it’s worth the money, unless some ground-breaking games are soon released for it.
I’ll probably get one. I’m using my iPhone every day, when I’m sitting in the sofa and needs to look up something on wikipedia or on the net generally. But the iPhone is quite small. Moreover, we are currently using a (first generation!) iPod as our music system; something light but still more “meaty” than this will be nice to have.
Interesting. But don’t you think it’s quite expensive for a sofa web browser? I would have thought that a netbook (typically at 50% of the price of an iPad) would be more obvious, esp. as it has Flash and a keyboard.
Please don’t take this as a criticism. I’m honestly interested in finding out who it appeals to, and why.
Flash is a big problem, but my experience with the iPhone is that the on-screen keyboard is good enough for writing search-terms and urls, and it is nice that you have the whole device as a screen. The keyboard is in the way, when you wnat to see the page.
Do you think it’ll last very long if it’s going to live in the sofa, close to cups of coffee, crisps and chocolate, potentially with people sitting on it? I must admit the lack of a cover worries me.