Now that we know what the Apple iPad does do, and the lingering effects of the Steve Jobs Reality Distortion Field are starting to wear off a bit, let’s take a closer look at exactly what the iPad doesn’t do.
It does usher in a new computing form factor (or rather, revives it) — but it’s a space that will be awfully crowded in short order. Should you rush in to pick up the Apple-flavored tablet, or are there reasons to consider waiting for the series of devices that are sure to follow? For now, a quick look at what’s missing in the iPad version 1.0 might help decide the balance of your bank account at the end of March.
No Multi-tasking
Running iPhone OS 3.2 means that, at least for now, the iPad is shaping up to be a “one trick at a time” kind of pony. Of course, it’s entirely possible if not probable that Apple will correct this down the line in a forthcoming version of the iPhone OS — maybe even before the tablet ships — but as it currently stands the lack of multi-tasking could be a deal-breaker for some.
No Drag and Drop File Management
Another carryover from the iPhone ecosystem — and not a favorable one, in my humble opinion — is the requirement of syncing your iPad with another computer as the primary content management system for the device. Assuming it works the same way as your iPod or iPhone do now, you’ll only be able to associate your iPad with a single other device — and that’s a dealbreaker for a growing number of households that have media strewn across several computers, hard drives, network attached storage units, and beyond.
You’ll be downloading content from the web and through the iTunes content store directly from the device, of course, but what about that set of files just brought home from work, or that collection of videos I want to dredge out from an old backup drive. In order to get them over to the iPad I’d have to first dump them into iTunes, then perform a sync operation — instead of being able to simply drag and drop them over Wi-Fi or simply hook them in via USB Mass Storage (a great standard that’s been around forever!). There are third-party iPhone apps that allow file transfer via Wi-Fi, but how many steps are we needlessly adding to a process that was uncomplicated by USB Mass Storage years ago?
No USB Port
The iPad will sync itself via USB — but only when plugged in via its proprietary dock connector. That means there will be no direct attachment of all umpteen USB peripherals you already own. It even means you won’t be able to plug in an external USB keyboard you already own without buying a separate USB adapter.
Yes, you’ll be able to pick up an us-yet-unpriced “iPad Camera Connection” kit that will give you the ability to pull photos off your USB-enabled camera. It remains to be seen though if the adapter-provided USB port will even allow you to hook in other peripherals (mouse? keyboard?) or attach external media in the form of USB hard drives or thumb drives.
No SD Slot
Speaking of storage: 16, 32, or 64GB is all you get — precisely because there’s neither a USB nor an SD card reader built directly into the iPad. That means you can’t stick a 16GB SD card in as a semi-permanent storage expansion option or pull files off an SD card without purchasing the aforementioned iPad Camera Connection Kit. Not only is that extra money out of your pocket, but it’s another proprietary dongle to cart around with you (and lose… repeatedly).
No Flash
The above shot taken from Apple’s presentation (hat tip: Engadget) demonstrates quite clearly another big omission from the iPad: support for Adobe Flash. It’s bad enough on the iPhone, but imagine loading up a nice video link on the iPad only to have it… simply not play.
We know Apple dislikes their lack of control over the whole Flash ecosystem, and that Flash is the leading cause of crashes on OS X. We can also prognosticate that Apple is hoping that HTML5 will take off quickly and start to disintermediate Flash as the primary technology powering video playback on the web.
Still, YouTube just announced their HTML5 player last week. It’s getting out there, but it’s the early days for widespread HTML5 support. It’s doubtful it will be in a position two short months from now to completely replace the Flash experience for web video, leaving a lot of ugly “plug-in missing” boxes to make an appearance on one’s expensive iPad tablet.
No HDMI Out
Speaking of video, there’s no handy, single-cable way to hook up an iPad to your TV set. Of course, this should have come as no surprise knowing Apple’s reluctance to support HDMI in any of its other products. Still, for a device that strongly hinted at being perfect for your living room, it would be nice to have the option to quickly hook it up for a big screen video experience.
Even to get video out at all, you’ll need a proprietary Dock to VGA adapter, which obviously limits you to VGA resolutions — there’s not even a DisplayPort out option, which Apple has been touting as a great alternative to HDMI. You’ll be able to pull up to 576p out with an (again, proprietary) Apple Composite A/V Cable — but this is composite video we’re talking here. Not HDMI, not component, not even S-video. The only upside to that is that, as the lowest common denominator just above a coaxial connection, your TV from the early 90s will probably at least have this type of connector.
No 1080p Playback
And while we’re railing on the subject of video, it’s worth mentioning there will be no full HD playback (much less output) from the iPad. Given that 720p is pretty darn close enough (especially for a 9.7-inch screen), it’s more the annoying fact that if you have a growing library of 1080p video files you’ll most likely be unable to play them back without some sort of conversion step first (it’s possible certain formats and codecs could be natively downsampled, but it will remain to be seen how it will shake out in practical usage).
To be fair, it’s definitely a minor point considering the paucity of true 1080p content out there — but it definitely feels like an odd backwards step in a video trajectory that should be trending towards full HD, not away from it.
No Native Widescreen
Okay, just one more gripe about the display aspect of the iPad and then we’re done on this track, we promise.
The tablet’s resolution tops out at 1024 x 768, which falls into the 4:3 standard definition range and not the glorious, widescreen 16:9 high definition aspect ratio we’ve come to know and love. In fact, we’ve come to know and love it via Apple, who has been touting HD as the second coming for several years now. Remember when 2005 was “the Year of High Definition Video?” So then why, pray tell, is 2010 suddenly the Year of Composite Out?
No Camera
Really, no camera? Like, not even at all? Yep, there is no camera on the iPad. It was mystifying enough on the iPod touch, but to omit the camera here is a curious thing. That means no video iChat, no Skype video conferencing, no quickly snapping a pic of whatever and uploading it to Flickr/Facebook/Picasa/etc.
The iPad is clearly a device centered around media consumption, not creation.
No Full GPS
The Wi-Fi-only versions flat out have no GPS support whatsoever. The 3G versions have Assisted GPS, which makes use of the cellular connection to help pinpoint your location. The upside of Assisted GPS is it still tends to be fairly accurate — the downsides are there’s no absolute standard regarding what functions Assisted GPS will support to the end user, and you almost surely need an active cell connection to get your positioning information. That means if you stop paying for the mobile data service, or are in a dead zone or other area of poor connectivity, your GPS is probably kaput as well.
No Open SDK
This one isn’t really a shocker either, considering Apple does it every time, but the brand spanking new Software Development Kit for iPhone OS 3.2 — which, despite the name, is the operating system the iPad runs on — requires developers to sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) before getting access.
That means programmers working on applications for the device can’t talk about the platform to outsiders who have not also signed the NDA. The nature of the Internets means that some information will undoubtedly leak out, but the veil of secrecy Apple wants to enforce surrounding the iPad developer platform runs counter to the open information sharing of ecosystems like Twitter, for example.
Conclusion
To be fair, it would have been almost impossible for the actual iPad device announced today to live up to the insanely hyped idea of an Apple Tablet that consumed the Internet’s attention in the weeks (if not months) leading up to today’s event. There are also many positives that are hard to deny about the iPad, not the least of which is its characteristically drop-dead gorgeous design aesthetic.
Nevertheless, before this thing wins your hard-earned dough, make sure you know what its limitations are. Let us know if we’ve missed any points here, and what your take on the Apple iPad is as a whole in the comments.
[img credits: gdgt, Engadget]
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