The obligatory iPad post

Posted on 28. Jan, 2010 by Jake in Gadgets

Ok, so it’s actually here, the device that, as a friend of mine put it, ‘will change the way people wildly speculate about new technology before it is even actually released’.

Now that it’s out, the question is, is it all that? We have crazed fans in one corner declaring it a work of unmitigated genius, and haters in the other pointing out that, as far as they can see, it’s like an iPhone, only bigger. What do I think? The truth is probably somewhere between these two opinions.

The main thing to remember is that the iPad is still a baby. When the developers start working with it and for it, real innovations will start taking place. For now, even those who want a Wi-fi model will have to wait until March, and those after the 3G version will have to wait until April. And it won’t stay at $500 forever. For now it is, in my humble opinion, a beautiful and innovative machine that not a hell of a lot of people will have a use for. Yet.

Oh, and we’re South Africans, remember. So all we can do for now is speculate and dream. The dang thing ain’t even available here yet, and who knows when it will be.

Anyway, here are some pros and cons, which I’ve have based on extensive internet research: