Gamertell

In theory, the iPad seems like an absolutely incredible idea.

Then again, that’s what a company does when it’s doing something new for itself and its customers. It trie to make it seem much better than it actually is. So, you’re probably wondering what could go wrong.

Well, entirely too much can go wrong.

This is especially true for a piece of hardware that could fail horribly in multiple ways. Just about as many things that can wrong with the creation of new hardware as with the creation of new software.

Often the first generations of new hardware or software has its failings. Things don’t work as they should, if they work at all. Examples in hardware terms can be seen with the Xbox 360 where quite a few of them - let’s be frank and just say most since that is accurate - would get the Red Ring of Death. In some instances it would occur after about a year and, in others, as soon as a week after purchase. The real failure rate wasn’t even fixed until the newest generation was released.

In terms of software, look at Windows ME, which, even after multiple service packs and patchwork, never even came close to the way Microsoft thought it was going to work. Even after all of the patchwork and updates for Windows ME, there were still some people who would suffer OS crashes while trying to run the simplest programs like Microsoft Word. It was just too unstable of an OS to warrant its own existence.

For an Apple example, some users of the first generation of the iPhone had complaints on it not working quite the way it was billed to when it first came out. The touchscreen occasionally wasn’t as responsive as it was supposed to be for some people. Another example is that complaint that the iPhone took more getting used to than most Apple device. Albeit, the complaints were rare and usually focusing in on single details rather than the product as a whole. They were also occasionally individual-based complaints and not wide-spread ones.

Sure, referring to the competition of Apple might not be the best policy but it is important to view what could go wrong with something new. If you’re going to be shelling out at least $499 before sales tax is figured in, you might as well look at the possibilities that it might not work as advertised.

It’s not against Apple. It’s just the basic trend that regardless of intention or quality of manufacturing, new technology always needs a generation or two to actually work out the kinks and get the product to work as it should, if the work and updating actually does help.
There’s also the problem with the fact that it’s billed as something completely new and revolutionary. It can be viewed a more capable netbook that takes up less space. More accurately, it’s a tablet PC with some more capabilities. It is new to have something that is stated to have all of the capabilities of the iPad. However, the concept of what the iPad is happens to be old news. It existed within the realm of possibility, though no one outside of science fiction authors, filmmakers and game developers thought to develop it into something more realistic. The idea has been periodically brought up since the 1960s in the genre.

There have also been PDAs and tablet PCs for longer than a decade although they might not have the style or touch that Apple can bring to a product. Still, the Apple style and touch isn’t new, though it’s occasionally pretty revolutionary. Even the iPhone wasn’t really a new thing, just another option that happened to make the growing population of smartphone shift from the early Blackberries to devices that resemble the iPhone in terms of style and capabilities.

So you’re looking at something that isn’t necessarily new in concept or attempt, though it is pretty revolutionary in terms of the attempt.

You’re also looking at something new that could possibly not work as it’s supposed to, which would be a pretty big problem if you’re going to spend $499-829 (enough to buy at either one of the more expensive netbooks, a basic laptop or a low to mid-range performance desktop). It just seems like it could fall flat and not have the effect that Apple wants.

This opinion can be wrong but only time will tell whether or not it actually is wrong. In a business sense, here’s to hoping that the opinion is wrong since Apple does come out with pretty solid and stable hardware.

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