This was what Steve Jobs was thinking. OK, we have the Apple Tablet and still don’t know what to do with it. Do we put in iPhone OS or a full OS X. How would people use it when we only got the 1GHz PA Semi chip to power it up. Then there’s the Kindle and the Nook. Amazon is making a killing. We should get into that. We got multitouch. No one has multitouch. We got a killer design. Sure it just looks like the iPhone meeting  with a rolling pin but it’ll still be the best-looking tablet out there. Better even than that Crunchpad Joo-joo whatever. Problem is, unlike iPhone we’re not the first on this one, not by a long stretch. Our fault. We thought iPod Touch needed a lot of time to grow in the market. HP has already taken the Slate name so we can’t do iSlate, so we’re stuck with iTablet or, God forbid, iPad. You think iPad sounds OK? They won’t confuse it with iPod? Alrighty we’ll go with iPad… and the rest, as they say, is recent history.

Another Game Changer?

We’ve been holding our breath for this, guys, and here it is: the Apple iPad. Only problem is that it isn’t exactly what we expected. Actually it is, just take a look at our previous posts on the iTablet, but we never really took any of it seriously. Come on, won’t the cool cats at Apple simply outdo any fanboy’s imagination, even if they actually have to think of making actual hardware, they’ve proven that with the iPhone? We expected Cupertino to surprise us again, capture our hearts in wonder and amazement. It’s been too long, over two years since iPhone was announced. We need another game changer, and do we have it?

We already tackled the disappointments:

• iPad disappoints
• better an Apple netbook than iPad
• iTampon

Now we think about the business side. It’s not going to kill netbooks or Kindle. From a cursory glance at the iPad specs, we don’t see it being useful to a lot of people. No multitasking, it’s also a closed where the only apps that would work will come from the App Store, and it doesn’t have an ergonomic design. It will be a pain to use for productive people, and even casual multimedia users and web browsers would find the size daunting for long periods.

So what was Steve Jobs and Apple thinking when they came out with the iPad? Surely, the makers of the iPhone and the brain behind iTunes and the App Store aren’t stupid. They have time and money enough to pass up such harebrained ideas as a “keyboardless netbook alternative.” If you’re one of those people who think Apple always has a secret world domination plan behind their products, then I’m with you and I think what I know what that plan is.

The Apple iPad is not a useful device, it’s not a productivity device and even as a portable multimedia device it fails to a significant extent. What it is, however, is what the MacBook, the iPhone, iPod Touch and all the iPods are not. The previously mentioned Apple devices are personal devices. You want it with you at all times, or, at least, as often as convenient. And you want to keep it with you, just you. You don’t want to share your iPod and you wouldn’t want someone, even a close friend, borrowing it–at least not too often anyway.

iPad is a portable iMac

So what is the Apple iPad if it isn’t like the iPhone or the iPod? In my opinion, the iPad is like the iMac in sensibility. Yes, you can buy one for personal use, but you don’t mind other people using it either. Apple iMacs at home are treated differently than MacBooks in that every member of the family is allowed to use it. That’s what the iPad is, I think. People will not buy it because they need it or because they crave for one (people are more productive with an MBP or with a Mac Pro than with an iMac. The iMac has always been about looking and being like a furniture than straightforward tech. Like the iMac, they will buy an iPad for the family, for the living room coffee table to be exact. That’s the best place for the iPad. You can throw away the aging New Yorkers and Time magazines. The iPad will make your coffee table more presentable and should be a more useful and less expensive alternative to what some people try to pass for a talking piece.

Coffee Table Decorations to Change Forever?

I think this is the strange genius of the iPad. It may not be good enough to replace other tech but it is brilliant enough as an Apple product to replace bric-a-bracs, bulky coffee table books and bank-account-killing artwork. The iPad is only $499 for the cheapest version. It can browse the Web, play videos and music and simulate a book like no other technology in the market. It’s also the perfect reception area device for events. Guests can log on via the iPad (attention developers, Guest Book iPad App needed). Welcome guests via video interface (webcam attachment needed) or have fun wth your school worksheets. Or be creative, developers, it’s your turn to surprise us.

There you have it. A relatively cheap and fun way to make home, school or office life more interesting to family memebers, employees and customers. The iPad isn’t simply tech; it’s a new way of looking at the non-essentials.

iBall Take Note : Innovative Gadget

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