iPad – The Quest for a Perfect Device

Now that the excitement towards Apple's iPad has now calmed down, people can think more clearly about the device that has received more hype than all other new devices in recent history combined. Naturally, there are some disappointed techies and ordinary end users out there who rant about anything from the lack of built-in camera to the fact that the device heats up in direct sunlight. And of course, there are always those who are eager to say everything that is good about Apple's newest creation. So what really is the score with this 'magical' and 'revolutionary' device? Here's our take.

iPad's Shortcomings
It does not multitask. Well, this isn’t entirely true. iPad can multitask when its running its own applications. Multitasking stops when you begin running third-party applications such as IM apps.

For the most parts, this is bearable. Not many users complain about the fact that they can’t update their tweets on Twitter, while commenting on a post thread in a forum or Facebook and at the same time watching live TV and writing emails. This doesn’t seem to bother the majority of users. But if you are a techie, this is a huge disappointment. $499 doesn’t justify the device at all. Na ah.

It doesn’t support Flash. Apple has some issues with Flash. It's unstable, vulnerable to bugs among other things. So the company is not supporting it, and will probably not, ever. Not that the company does not offer an alternative. It does. It is, in fact, pushing its own HTML5, which is recently making waves online. But with less than one percent of all websites have converted to HTML5. This poses some major risks of not being able to surf the web without a glitch. Well, not supporting Flash is definitely a bummer. 

It doesn’t support a built-in camera. Prior to iPad's launching, rumors have spread that it comes with a camera. Apparently, it doesn’t. At least not yet. And that definitely has caused uproar among disconcerted enthusiasts of anything that bears Apple's logo. 

It doesn’t allow users to do real work with it. Well, it does, only to a certain degree. Apple seems to have a penchant for eliminating documents and files within its power so it's apps, apps and apps all the way. But it does offer Keynote, Numbers and Pages, which by the way are superb tools you can work with. 

And the list goes on…

iPad's Offers
From an ordinary user's point of view, there is nothing that you can't love about iPad. We won't enumerate all the things that make iPad a very beautiful, all-around device here. There's just so many, you may fall in love with it and want to marry it. 

But maybe, just maybe, iPad's detractors are looking for a perfect device that can do everything everyone could ever wish for. Or perhaps, they are looking at the device the wrong way. Many are taking the wrong approach to the device, comparing it with netbooks and laptops and other devices in between. Apple is perhaps trying to create a new device that is a hybrid yet performs at par or better than existing devices. 

But for all its worth, iPad is definitely ushering in a possible future for personal computing technology and user interface. 
