More than a year later and I’m still unsure what problems the iPad solves for me. Here’s what I blogged back in January 2010 as the original iPad was announced:
I’m undecided at this point. The iPad 1.0 looks promising, but I don’t see it replacing my 13″ laptop and/or my 3.5″ iPhone. Which means one more device to charge and carry… with very little new functionality. Yet when I watch the iPad video, I feel strangely compelled to pull out my wallet. Hm.
There’s no question Apple has sold a ton of 10″ tablets and created a new computing category (that Microsoft actually pioneered but failed to take mainstream). Yet, even after having lived with a loaner iPad for over two months, I’m not convinced I need one. Early on, I only reached for it when my iPhone was out of juice. Towards the end, I was using it more… and more voluntarily. Yet, since it’s been gone, I haven’t really missed its presence. If I still commuted by subway, as I did for about 6 years, or traveled via airplane extensively for work, like those 200 nights on the road in 2007, I might feel differently. If I hadn’t mastered the IBM Selectric in middle school, perhaps I’d also be more adaptable to this new fangled touch technology.
So for me, with my mindset and workflow, the iPad is still a (redundant) media consumption device… despite apps to the contrary, like the new iOS iMovie (above). An iPad with integrated SD slot that didn’t require a computer running iTunes to sync with might open my mind further. But, as it stands with the iPad 2 running iOS 4, it seems my feelings haven’t changed all that much over the intervening months: A smartphone and laptop have me sufficiently covered.