 |
|
We have so far avoided the hype around the iPad – but the question has to be asked:
“Just where does the iPad sit on our must-haves list?”
After all, most of us have a laptop and/or desk top for use at home and an iPhone/iPod Touch for use on the move. For most of us, the iPad would just an unnecessary extra something to haul around, without really adding any useful functionality for that extra inconvenience.
But it does offer some neat features – and amongst the most exciting, we think, is the gaming fun it will provide:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mh5fmTSgxfY[/youtube]
Neither the laptop nor the iPhone really compete with this. The laptop because it does not have an accelerometer!! and the iPhone because it does not have the size. We think that the gaming feature is its real strength and that it is going to be a significant competitor with the X-box and the PS3. You can be sure Apple is hoping so.
Of course, Apple are saying that the device is an alternative the the Amazon Kindle (which reported massive sales over Christmas). And so it may be. But the vote from the iPhonegizmo team is that its just too big and clunky to really attract book readers to shell out 500 bucks to use it – even with its extra features. The Kindle – at $259 – kinda makes it as a not-too-expensive Christmas gift. BUT, only the most basic iPad will cost the $500.
Well that’s the iPhonegizmo teams take on the iPad. We think it might just be the first Apple clunker – but that the gaming feature might just save it from that fate!
PS: The high quality movie watching feature is a nice extra – but not, we reckon, a deal maker. Especially as sites like Hulu will NOT run on the Ipad (because Apple continues to refuse to allow flash content). The iPad will go on sale at the end of March. So I guess we will see just how pumped the market is to buy this expensive – but not really necessary – extra device.