Apple Announces it's "Revolutionary" new iPad

Well, the iPad was officially announced today. This is the revolutionary product that Apple has been keeping a secret for approximately 2 years? A large iPhone? I mean, I am sure I am going to bite my tongue down the road when I get one, but for now, I cant help but marvel at how obscenely stupid this product is.

While I like where Apple is going with this (specifically about the idea behind an all touch slate computer with virtual keyboard), I can’t support their decision to put it on a more advanced iPhone OS. If I am going to invest that much money in an incredibly portable all purpose device I expect it to be running on something that’s more than a bit better then a phone I carry around in my pocket.

It’s spec’s aren’t bad, though. I feel as if they could operate a dumbed down version of OSX just fine. They seem to be a bit advanced for something that doesn’t even have flash... As usual Apple offers 3 different hard drive sizes: 16, 32, and 64 GB sizes are all available. You’ve got a standard 10 inch screen capable of displaying a maximum resolution of 1024x768 pixels. Nothing out of the usual there... But for as much trash talking I am doing I think I should be fair and really look at something that stands out about this iPad. The minds at Apple developed a remarkable little processor specifically for the iPad. The Apple A4 custom-designed processor clocks in at 1GHz and allows for extremely high-performance while using a very little amount of power. This contribute’s to the iPad’s outstanding battery life of 10 hours of browsing or video watching. That’s really quite impressive considering the whole screen is a backlit LCD capable of displaying up to 6 billion colors.

Obviously this iPad is capable of video, music, and web-surfing, but what about the one thing most people are really interested in from Apple, an eReader? Well it’s here, and it’s actually pretty great looking. The pages look crisp and seem to respond well to touch and manipulation. I could easily get lost in a book that looks as beautiful as the ones rendered in the iPad. The new eBook store that Apple is opening up seems to be very high quality, and could be just the thing that Apple needs to get people on board.

Now, I know that most people are expecting this to be a kindle killer, but let’s look at a couple things that will keep the iPad from really becoming a super success, a data plan for wireless 3g downloading and surfing (something that comes free with other eReaders), and its price.

Users in the USA will obviously be connecting through AT&T’s extremely fast wireless 3G/Edge network (as if AT&T wasn’t bogged dow enough...), but this comes with a data package that’s just as expensive as what users are already paying for their iPhones. That extra 30 bucks a month just to do some minor browsing and downloading of books is enough to turn people away from this product. 30 bucks a month doesn’t sound too bad until you realize that if you keep it up all 12 months out of the year it adds up to a total of $360 bucks a month. Thank god AT&T is not requiring a 2 year contract for this, at least that’s nice of them. You also have an option of 250 MB’s a month for $14.99, which should be good enough for most people who will use the iPad mainly as an eReader.

Pricing starts at $499 for the iPad. This is obviously for the 16 GB model, but what you might not know is that this is only for the Wi-Fi ready version. If you want to get an iPad with 3G capabilities be prepared for fork out another $130 because those models start at $629. It’s $599 for a standard 32 GB model, $729 for 3G, and finally $699 for the 64 GB model and $829 if you want that with 3G.

In conclusion, what have we learned today?

This is a pricy alternative to a Nook or Kindle or even a Net Book! (starting at $499)
There is a price for a data plan ($14.99 for 250 MB, $30 for unlimited)
It’s running on iPhone software
It doesn’t have flash so you wont be able to properly display a lot of websites
It is indeed an eReader
Mac will probably slap a camera on it in 6 months and say it’s a revolutionary improvement.

I’d like to leave everyone with a thought from a friend of mine, “History has taught us that jumping onto first [generation] apple technology is a fool's errand.”
Don’t buy into the hype people, let Apple really hone the tools it offers in this new product so there’s actually a reason to pay $499. For now, I remain incredibly disappointed.


**EDIT**5:02 PM EST 1/27/2010

IT DOESN'T EVEN MULTITASK! FUCK!