My Continuing Confusion About the iPad
NOTE: It has been awhile (like months) since I have done a Food For Thought Friday post. This gives me a chance to talk about pretty much whatever I want. I don't really take these posts too seriously, so forgive me if I come across as slightly more opinionated. Likewise, I completely encourage you to pipe up and speak your mind, whether you agree or disagree.I should begin by saying that I am a pretty big Apple fan. I have a PowerBook (about time for a refresh, I know), two iPods, and an iPhone. They make great stuff that is well worth the premium cost.
So it should be somewhat of a surprise that my reaction to the iPad was lukewarm. In fact, when I first saw it, I thought, "meh." It's an elegant looking piece of hardware, don't get me wrong. I wanted to like it. But I just wasn't ready to bite.
It probably doesn't help that I had just got a Barnes & Noble Nook less than a month earlier for my birthday. After all, my primary interest in a device sized like a iPad or Nook is reading. For that purpose alone, I have been sold on e-ink for awhile. Many people don't think the technology will last. I hope their wrong.
So imagine my disappointment that, while Apple is clearly targeting readers with its new device, they haven't shown any interest in e-ink (or some similar technology). Instead, avid readers are expected to compromise the comfort (or perhaps just perceived comfort) of reading on e-ink for the expanded functionality the iPad will offer (e-mail, web browsing, and the like).
Call me backwards, but no thanks.
Why would I give up reading books on an e-ink display in order to get a feature set that duplicates what I already have with my iPhone? My only interest in a "third device" is for reading. So I'll take the Nook. I have everything else I need on my iPhone.
But that is just one aspect of my problem with the iPad. The operating system is something else entirely. Rather than give the iPad some version of their desktop operating system, Apple has chosen to load it with essentially the same operating system that is on the iPhone. Some speculated that this would happen. And, in a way, I can see their point. There actually are benefits for doing things this way.
But there is at least one huge drawback too. Namely, Apple controls the App Store, which is the only official way to get software onto the iPad. This effectively gives them veto power over every software developer who has ambitions of seeing their product in the marketplace. As consumers, we were all okay with this when we were just talking about the iPhone (after all, who else at the time was supporting getting custom apps on your cell phone at all). But, with a device like the iPad, which isn't necessarily tethered to a cell network, I can think of no reason why this should be necessary.
Seeing the iPhone, and now the iPad, suggests a trajectory to Apple's plan with their own products, and it's a disturbing one. Consumers are giving up the right to put whatever software they like on devices that they pay for. Imagine buying a car and being told that you can only drive it on approved roads. It's ridiculous. Yet in a digital age, this kind of crap is expected. Why are we putting up with this?
My nightmare is that Apple down the road chooses to similarly lock down their desktop operating system. I can promise you that, if that happens, I will renounce my love for their hardware and go willingly back into the arms of Microsoft. It will not be a happy day.
