Graham Hancock

Apple’s iPad [Rant]

A lot of people are criticizing Apple’s new tablet device for its perceived shortcomings without having even used it themselves. In my opinion, this sort of harsh and snarky criticism is to be expected with any significant Apple release, and if you follow the pattern of previous Apple product launches, this type of criticism is always present, and is, in my opinion, a very good sign. I think Stephen Fry has said it best on his blog why hindsight is important with product releases like this:

The first release of iPhone was 2G, closed to developers and without GPS, cut and paste and many other features that have since been incorporated. Neither they, nor I, nor anyone, predicted the “game-changing” effect the phone would so rapidly have as it evolved into a 3G, third-party app rich, compass and GPS enabled market leader.

There are many issues you could have with the iPad. No multitasking, still no Flash. No camera, no GPS. They all fall away the minute you use it. I cannot emphasise enough this point: “Hold your judgment until you’ve spent five minutes with it”. No YouTube film, no promotional video, no keynote address, no list of features can even hint at the extraordinary feeling you get from actually using and interacting with one of these magical objects.

Literally every super-sucessful Apple product was met with harsh criticism at first, which then transformed into high praise as those devices matured in the marketplace. Back in 2001, the iPod was largely dismissed by critics as “too expensive”, “too niche”,Slashdot users even called it lame.

So save your judgment on the iPad until you actually use one, and even then, if you still think it’s lame, at least recognize it for the innovative product it is, and the game-changing product that it will eventually become.