The iPhone was a very useful device for me for a very long time. I used the iPhone, and then the iPhone 3G, for almost 3 years. It was a solid upgrade from my Palm Treo, and it did everything I ever wanted it to. Eventually, I switched to T-Mobile, and being a nerd, I wanted the freedoms that Android provided, and that Apple refused me. So now I use a Garminfone. But I still honor what the iPhone brought me and I appreciate it's innovations.
I will not be owning another handheld Apple device. The innovations that they bring are no longer relevant to me. However, being a college student, I do resent certain historically accepted truths: I hate expensive text books, I hate taking notes on paper, I hate teachers that don't let me use a laptop in class... The iPad seems to be attempting to change some of these things.
The iBookstore is seeking to bring textbooks to a mobile platform. This should make buying books CHEAPER, not to mention quite a bit lighter. What student DOESN'T look forward to dumping their heavy backpacks? It also opens the door to interactive learning techniques that are not currently available. The iBookstore doesn't currently have ANY of the text books I needed this semester, but Apple stands to profit form this, and they know it. Knowing their history with iTunes, I have no doubt that I will be saving more than the cost of an iPad before I graduate in 3 years.
Once I have my text books on my iPad, there will be no excuse for my teachers to not let me take notes on my iPad as well. The fantastic interface and apps available on the iPad will make scribbling all over my books, on "Note pads" next to it, and linking in web sites far easier than anything before... Imagine what Microsoft Office OneNote could have been if it was integrated with your text books? If these abilities are not already in the iPad, shame on Apple, and shame on the third party developers. I am confident that the open ecosystem of the App store will provide SOMETHING that gets these things done. Additionally, the iPad gets far better battery life than my laptop, and it is simply better suited for my needs anyway, given the proper software.
I was initially concerned about taking notes on the device, and not being able to print. I thought I would use Google Docs as a replacement, but alas, they did not support editing on the iPad. However, Apple has now announced that they are bringing printing support to the device, eliminated one of my biggest detraction. And as if that isn't enough, Google has announced that they are allowing the iPad to edit Google Documents. Even if no one develops a OneNote-for-your-textbooks type app, Google Wave and Google Docs will find a feasible solution. And since Google owns me anyway, this can only be a good thing. I welcome Google's cloud into my learning experience, and I am confident they will keep the innovations coming.
But I don't think I can justify buying a device for school that doesn't provide something for me for entertainment and after college as well. Being able to watch movies is great, and the iPad has plenty of options built in to that end. Additionally, VLC has developed an iPad version, bringing the many media formats that Apple doesn't endorse to the device. Gaming is always a fun distraction too, and the iPad is certainly strong in that as well.
But the iPad is lacking in one glaring way, and this is the culmination of this blog post: The lack of FaceTime.
There is a Camera Connection Kit for the iPad. It is used to connect your camera or your SD card, or by some innovative people to attach a hard drive, to your iPad, and it lets you copy videos and images from your camera. It even supports USB headphones, microphones, and MIDI devices. It is everything you expect from a USB port on your computer, simply missing drivers for certain devices. And one such device I miss is a webcam driver.
Apple is playing up Facetime, bringing it to the iPhone, the iPod touch, and probably to PCs and Macs in the near future. They bill it as an open standard (Although I havn't seen any competing apps yet), and that will surely mean it comes to Linux and Windows soon enough, not to mention the eventual entry into Android and other mobile platforms as well. With all of these devices running FaceTime, it would be a shame to not have it on an iPad, especially when the interface is already available.
I wouldn't mind having a built in camera in my iPad, possibly both a front facing and a rear facing one. But what would REALLY excite me is being able to plug my Logitech Pro 9000 into that bad boy, and have it load into Facetime. My webcam is better than any built-in cameras, it's microphone kicks ass, and I can place it and point it anywhere, regardless of how I hold the device. Additionally, they already know that taking pictures on a REAL digital camera is better than doing it on a built in sensor, hence why they built this adaptor in the first place.
I call to apple, PLEASE provide us with FaceTime's wonder, but PLEASE don't make us suffer with sub-par hardware... let us choose our hardware, and let us use Facetime on all of our devices. That is my one and only bar on getting the iPad.
