why oh why?

(still waiting for the UPS truck to arrive)

so, you might ask, why I did I even order an iPad if I had never seen one and I expect to be frustrated and disappointed? if I had considered Apple the Evil Empire in 2005, why would i consider ordering another new product from them?

First, I am getting older. I am one day older than Steve Jobs. I have been using computers since I was 14 -just like Bill Gates and Steve Jobs except I am not rich. My eyesight isn't what it used to be, nor is my patience. Using the 4.13 inch diagonal dispaly on my Nokia 810, and constantly scrolling back and forth across the page to read the text from websites, is not ideal. One of my daughters and my grand-son each have and iPod Touch and I find the screen too small. These have a 3.5 inch diagonal display.

Second, my Nokia Internet Tablet started to die in January; just about the same time that the iPad was announced. I looked into getting the next generation Nokia Internet Tablet - the N900 - a beautiful device from a technological standpoint (and also a phone) - but it also has a 3.5 inch display.

My wife has a Barnes & Noble Nook e-book reader that I got her for her birthday. It seemed to be just about the perfect size - roughly the size of a book. It has a 7.5 inch diagonal display. In fact, the iPad was announced right after I had ordered Cindy her Nook and I had offered to cancel the order for the Nook and order her an iPad when it was released; but she wanted her Nook to take on vacation in February. So the iPad seemed to be a good investment: about the same cost as the Nokia N900 but with a much larger display that was till relatively portable.

I researched the other products that were either available or almost available for about the same price as the iPad. The JooJoo Tablet looked interesting but was not available and had it's own limitations - including coming from an unknown company and already experiencing delays. Other product based on Google's Android or Windows did not seem viable for what I wanted to use it for.

The open source collaboration behind the Nokia Internet Tablets - MAEMO - had spun off a new venture with backing from Nokia and Intel - but that has not yet produced any marketable product. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maemo
http://thenokiablog.com/2010/03/31/meego-nokia-n900-stay-away/
Perhaps when the do it will be competition for the iPad. This group is called Meego.

Finally. when I read the early reviews of Apple's A4 processor (System on a Chip), even though it was not as sophisticated as the System on a Chip used in the Nokia N900, the one thing that people commented on was the speed. This is no doubt partially due to the control that Apple has placed over what can be put on the iPad. Two constraints in particular that have been much discussed in the press - lack of Flask and lack of multi-tasking - also limit the processing load and keep the response time within an acceptable range. Or so I assume. I should know soon; I plan to try our one of the new iPad specific games as soon as I get it.

So the iPad seemed the best compromise that was available now.

There are some pluses: the iTunes App Store has a rich selection of apps, many of them free. One of my favorite parts of iTunes in iTunes U, which has college courses and lecture podcasts for download free. As of today, there are many new apps or customizations of former iPhone/iTouch apps that are available for iPad - and that will continue to grow rapidly.
http://ax.search.itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZSearch.woa/wa/search?entity=k2software&media=all&restrict=true&submit=seeAllLockups&term=ipad

Gotta go; I just heard a truck...