From my blog you know that I have recently purchased an iPhone and that I have been having fun with it and even found that its limitations were in some way a plus. Now we are presented with a really BIG – iPhone called the iPad. Somewhat of a misnomer as it has a few features not on the iPhone and at this point seems to not have the camera or calling capability of the iPhone – it hasn’t been clear to me that if you have the 3g coverage you can make calls.
The limiatations that I am willing to live with on the iPhone such as no memory expansion, no interchangeable battery, limited mechanical connectivity are something that I would not live with on a computing platform such as a tablet or netbook. The keyboard issue is something that can argued pro and con, but the lack of a USB port, web cam, memory expansion, Adobe Flash, etc. are issues that really need to be addressed in a more universal platform.
The Flash issue is even one that I am starting to be upset about in the iPhone. Flash has become somewhat ubiqitous on the web – like it or not – and to not have support for it does limit your ability to get to things non-Apple. Artificial limitations such as this will be the factor of people moving to another platform or in the case of the iPad – not going there in the first place.
That said, lets look at the iPad as an expensive e-reader - I have said from the beginning that e-readers will have their place but will not take over the world until two things happen – the first is that there has to be a universal e-book format with enough flexibility in the licensing of the e-book to use it like a regular book – I am a voracious reader and can go through a reasonable sized book in a couple of days – and then if is interesting enough it is read by family and friends and finally donated to a library or charity for others to share (I think this is a subject that I will deal more with in the future). This is not addressed by the iPad – if nothing it is now more complicated because Apple has introduced thier own format for thier bookstore in iTunes.
The second is the lack of color – there is a huge amount of print media that require color to deliver its message – sorry but monochrome e-ink doesn’t provide that impact and will never be a good platform for much of the news and magazine and even the textbook world where color photos and illustrations convey a great deal of the information.
There are many arguments over viewability of the backlit screen vs the e-ink page and the longer battery life that the e-ink provides. May be true but I like the backlit screen personally because I wake up in the middle of the night and do not have to disturb anyone with turning on a light. I also have found this useful on planes on a night flight. I don’t find the backlit screen that bothersome to my vision and have been known to read off on for several hours – btw – how many of us look at our computer screens for many hours of the day - and don’t seem to be overwhelmingly suffering from eyesthrain (except for those sitess that use really small type 
). So here the iPad has an advantage over the Kindle in that it can provide that color and multi-media experience within the publications that it provides – well – except for the Flash thing!
So I have – tht of rambled here, but the bottom line is that while introducing an interesting concept, I believe the iPad’s failings may outnumber its sucesses and its fate will decreed by the market. There are millions of iPhone users who will love having a bigger screen to run the apps that are now relegated to the pocket but will they be ready to give up the flexibility of a more functional computing platform for the limited functionality of the iPad just for that compatibility – we shall see!
Waiting to see what Google and Microsoft (or the PC makers) will provide in this arena!
The other man’s opinion!