Apple Unveils iPad Tablet Device — Thoughts?

The big day finally came Wednesday as Apple released its coveted iPad mobile-computing device. Months of Internet rumours swirled over its release. Those leaked photos were pretty much right on the money.

Apple is certainly one to build up hype, without actually building up hype themselves and remaining silent. The product has raised a few eyebrows over its name. So much so, that the hashtag #iTampon was a trending topic today on Twitter. Somewhere, some poor Apple executive is cleaning out his desk for picking such an awful name.

Here’s why you won’t find me in line waiting to buy it:

• What’s the point? If you already have an iPhone, and a laptop, who needs the iPad? Can I make calls on it? No.
• No multitasking. Forget checking your e-mail and listening to music at the same time. Like the iPod Touch, the iPad does not offer the ability to do more than one thing at one.
• No Flash. This was expected. Apple’s distaste with anything Adobe-related is clear once again. The lack of Flash means you can’t watch videos on any other site, but YouTube. Forget about trying to view content on Vimeo, Viddler, etc.
• No SD slot/USB. This should be standard, but Apple chose to leave it out. You have to buy additional adapters to use any other peripherals.
• No camera. That’s right, there’s no built-in iSight camera at all. Forget about video conferencing with anyone. Apple will likely make this a feature in the future, though.
• It’s too new. Like anything Apple, the first build of something is always outdated in a couple months. Wait until iPad 2.0 comes out, which will be better, faster, and cheaper. Just like every other second generation Apple product.

Those who are not fans of on-screen keyboards will have to lug around an additional keyboard and dock, which Apple also showed off today. So much for your mobile computing experience if you have to whip out all these extra tools and accessories, as mentioned above for SD and USB capability.

Sorry, Apple. This is a huge fail.

Tweet This Post!