Five Reasons Not to Buy the iPad
Posted on April 26, 2010 at 5:20 am
Last week we wrote an article with five reasons to buy the iPad. However, there are also some reasons you may not want to buy the iPad and we want to make sure we give the readers both the advantages and disadvantages to any new products.
The first release of a new product amounts to a public beta test
Major flaws are most likely to be found in the first model of a new device, or a new model of an existing device. You can say the same for new applications and new releases of operating systems.
There is no way for any manufacturer or developer to test every possible scenario, so the public does it for them. Even though Apple is an extremely reputable brand, remember that the original iPhone had overheating issues. If you really want an iPad, it is in your best interest to wait for Apple to work the bugs out.
Apple is notorious for dropping the price of devices significantly not long after the initial release
Either Apple will drop the price in a few months, or the next generation of iPads will be delivered at a lower price point. Apple has done this with iPods, MacBook Pros, and the iPhone.
It is very likely that they will do it again, and it may be precipitated by Back to School season or the winter holidays. If the current price is too high for you, hold out for a few months to see if it drops.
Apple has turned the iPhone, iPod, iPad and iTunes into a closed ecosystem
iTunes is a very restrictive environment. It is restrictive for the developers, and it is equally restrictive for the users.
Apple has received a lot of negative media attention for rejecting applications that it sees as competing with functionality delivered with the devices, and by removing questionable content just a few months ago.
If you value the freedom to download and use the apps that you would like to, and to view the content you want to, just remember that Apple will not hesitate to take those freedoms away. You shouldn’t have to jailbreak your device just to use the applications of your choice.
More powerful tablet devices are on the way
The Notion Ink Adam is one of many other tablets that are on their way to market that compete with the iPad. You can be sure that the upcoming tablets will be more powerful than the iPad, and have features that a lot of people were expecting to be in the first generation iPad.
Expect to see front facing cameras for video conferencing, screens that can be used in direct sunlight, the ability to run multiple operating systems and open source operating systems Expect it all to come at lower price points.
Just because the competition did not make it to market first does not mean that their products will not be on par with the iPad.
The iPad is not a complete solution
Even though the iPad may fill gaps in your life that you wanted it to (like watching movies comfortably in bed), there are still gaps that it does not fill. It cannot replace your laptop or netbook. It is very portable, but if you need to input a lot of data, you will still need a keyboard. iWork applications are missing a lot of necessary functionality.
If the iPad is missing features that you really need, do not settle for it. Apple is quick to adapt to what the market demands, and a future iPad may better suit your needs. If you cannot wait for Apple to develop and release a new model, keep your eye on the competition.
This is a very new market, and you can expect that it will grow significantly in the next two years to include more robust devices.
» Filed Under Gadgets
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Few more reasons why you should not buy the IPAD:
No multitasking! It’s not a computer if you can’t run more than one program at a time…which means it cannot replace netbooks anytime soon. Which leads to point 2…why pay $500 to $800 for a tablet that runs only one program? Crap!!
Thirdly, the browser sucks. It comes with a trimmed version of Safari which only Apple lovers can use. If it can’t play Flash, it’s pretty useless for browsing the Internet. Fourthly, the keyboard is not practical. On the iPhone it works because it’s small enough to type with two fingers in landscape mode. With the iPad, you have to type with one finger because of the size of the device. Crap again!
Lastly, there is no USB port and no camera. Lots of smart phones have these accessories and the iPad doesn’t! Why buy something that is so crippled when you can do more on a smartphone?
Thanks for your advice …. and i agree with .. “It’s not a computer if you can’t run more than one program at a time”
Not having flash in the Ipad is a real deal breaker. That means no internet videos. It’s just a huge Iphone with no phone connectivity.
1. Beta? This is iPhone/iPod tech which has been around for years now… they simply improved on that with a much larger screen. How do you figure this is beta???
2. Dropping the price when next gen models are released… really? You can’t be serious. Older models are dropped in price too? WOW what an amazing business concept, I’m surprised no one else has thought of this yet!
3. Closed ecosystem… you’ve known about this for how long and you’re just now complaining? Do you even know how many other closed ecosystems there are out there??? Maybe this is why sh*t “works” on Apple products and there is much (MUCH) better memory management? You can’t have it all people… stop being so greedy.
4. More powerful tablets are on the way… correct. More powerful, much larger, much heavier, and some of which have proven to be much slower. The key word there was “tablets”. Tablets have been around for quite a while and people don’t seem to be altering much from the original design (except for Apple and a few others of course). I believe the NEW term is Slate PC? And if there’s something better great… there will ALWAYS be something better which is the best thing about competition. Funny it seems to be only Apple setting the bar lately… everyone else just rides their wake.
5. It was NEVER meant to be a complete solution! LOL Apparently some of you don’t pay any attention at all or hear only what you want to hear (or completely fabricated information). This was NEVER meant to replace a laptop OR your phone… this sits somewhere between them. A complete solution will ALWAYS mean multiple devices until people stop complaining about what they can’t have.
Really people… get over yourselves and try focusing all this wasted effort into something more important.
@Carl
Multitasking… OS4. Plus all the apps that matter are natively multitasked already (email, ipod, safari). If you want more right now (while risking your battery) then JB like everyone else who’s too impatient to wait. Multitasking comes at a price, plain and simple.
Flash? Worthless, I’ve been browsing the internet for years now with Flash blocked and haven’t missed out on a thing! The keyboard, I can easily type on it with 2 hands almost as fast as I can a physical keyboard… maybe you just haven’t gotten used to it? Highly subjective!
USB… do you really need one?
I can’t think of a single use for USB that I can’t already do natively (or want to do). And a camera… seriously??? LOL You’re willing to hold up a 9″ camera in front of your face to take pictures?
It sounds like the iPad is not for “you” which in no way means it’s not for other people.