Apple iPad: Cue the haters (updated 4x)
Well that didn't take long.
In less than 12 hours after being announced some nay-sayers have already proven their skills as judge, jury and executioner. The assault on iPad has begun and pundits are already reeling off lists of flaws or features that are missing from the new iPad. Is this the fastest backlash in history for a consumer product?
Here are the main problems that are being raised about the iPad:
The name, weak- The bezel is fugly
- No widescreen. Yep it's craptastic 4:3 screen, Hello 1999!
- No GPS. Apple does include A-GPS (Assisted GPS) via Wi-Fi and 3G, but that's lame.
- No AMOLED. iPad uses old-school LCD tech
- No HDMI out. Wait, what?!
- No cameras. As in zero. This means no Skype/iChat video conferencing. Really?!
- No multitasking. Android anyone?
- No Flash support. Coming to Android by June
- No USB, (see adapters, above)
- Adapters, you need all sorts of ugly ones to get things like USB, SD
- AT&T! (no Verizon)
- No T-Mobile 3G. Again AT&T only!
- $500 price. Netbooks can be found for around $200 less.
- The keyboard. Many don't like it, I don't think I'll mind.
- Walled garden/iTunes lock-in. Yawn. Get over it.
- DRM. Many hate it, but it's a necessary evil, textbook piracy will be a huge concern with iPad
- VoIP? It's audio only and you better get the unlimited data plan, buddy.
- iPhone OS, not real Mac OS X - kind of unrealistic, no?
- No voice calling/not a phone - no one wants another cell phone bill, that's what Google Voice is for :)
- 10 hour battery. People are actually complaining about this? Please...
There are a lot of things that irritate people about the iPad. But what do you expect for a 1.0 product? Oh yeah, a Jesus tablet. For the record, I'm a lover of this device, but many of the complaints have merit. Just imagine what v.2 will look like.
What's your iPad dealbreaker?
Update: I just added the iPad's lack of GPS to the #4 position, it's a huge omission.
Sources: Gizmodo's 8 Things That Suck About the iPad (for the art too!) and MacLife's 7 Essential Features Left Off of the iPad.