Sorry Steve
I'm not buying that your over sized ipod touch is "magical and revolutionary." Sure you want us to all think we're friends as you sit down to read your new tablet... but it looked kind of unwieldy and awkward... not just the faux friend shtick. Personally I think you needed a Mies van der Rohe chair to set of the mise en scene... but that's just me. Many have waited with baited breath for the announcement of the Apple tablet... and after today I have to really question why. Waiting to make the decision of Kindle versus Sony Reader to see how Apple might clear the field and become victorious seems time badly spent. I don't think they'll be breaking any new ground, in fact they might just have helped the Kindle, with the iPad. It lacks originality, functionality and affordability. Some of the problems... size, price, having to have AT&T, the list goes on. I'm glad I have a Kindle and even if I had waited, I would make the choice again.
So how does it stack up against the Kindle? It's 1 1/2 times heavier than the Kindle. 1.56" taller and 2.17" wider, and 0.14" deeper making it much squarer. Anything bigger than the Kindle would be too large in my mind... and this is larger, plus doesn't maintain a book like aspect ratio which I expect from a reader, even if this is supposedly "so much more." Can we say shiny screen and retina fatigue? The liquid ink of the Kindle makes it easy and pleasurable to read... a few hours of this and your eyeballs might just melt out of their sockets.
In a downward economy will those who follow the cult of Jobs really be willing to shell out this much money for something so meh? People who truly want a reader will not go for it due to the cost and size, and those who just want another Apple gadget will be turned off by it just being a bigger and more expensive iPhone... they don't need another gadget. Plus with restrictions like AT&T, blurry imaging on the game apps, an inability to support flash in the web browser, make this look like a big misstep for Apple. But we'll just have to wait and see if people really are willing to shell out $500 to $800... that's a whole lot of Kindles and throw in a complete libraries of 1,500 books.
My partner showed me this yesterday and i couldnt quite figure out why we there was such hype about it, and i have to just say that you have managed to put my thoughts about it so nicely in your post!
I'm so not a blogger said... January 28, 2010 at 7:22 AM
The first thing I thought was "ew" when I heard the name. Seriously? It makes me think of the word "maxi pad." There must not have been any women in the naming meeting. I'm not a techie at all, and this looks very unwieldy. I'm not a fan of ebooks and their various readers, but have many friends who love their Kindles. And this would be a very expensive thing to drop...
Anonymous said... January 28, 2010 at 8:08 AM
Yeah can you imagine that! I'm sure they don't have too much damage coverage. Also LOL on the name! I thought that too! Glad that I was able to sum up my dislike without a rant, I think it had possibilities that were just so unrealized.
Miss Eliza said... January 28, 2010 at 10:45 AM
I'm just going to come out and say this isn't a device for readers. It's primary function is definitely not reading.
Personally, I prefer my dedicated reader, as a person who enjoys books. I think those techies who are all OMG multi-functions just don't get it. The reason I love my ereader is the eInk and the fact that all it does is let me read books, just as a regular book does.
April (BooksandWine) said... January 28, 2010 at 12:09 PM
Exactly! This is supposed to be some sort of miracle, bringing together of all these disparate elements and making one magical dream machine. It failed to appeal to me because sometimes you need a device that just does one thing and does that one thing well!
Miss Eliza said... January 28, 2010 at 4:29 PM
I view it as a striped down laptop, which might not be all bad. I would use it to surf the web, watch TV and movies, you know most the things I normally would do on my laptop. It would be more convenient to have on my lap as I sit in bed, but to use it as a book? It seems way to cumbersome. Can you imagine carrying this on a subway or city bus?
No, thanks. Then again if if held text books, I might have to think about getting one.
SariJ said... January 28, 2010 at 9:07 PM
I think the having to have AT&T to get wireless would be the deal breaker if I loved everything else... they are so unreliable.
Miss Eliza said... January 28, 2010 at 10:31 PM
whichwaydidshego said... January 30, 2010 at 12:13 AM
I'm actually waiting out B&N's "nook" as a potential reader... especially as I can wait a bit for the second version with all the kinks ironed out. I'm curious how it will compare with the Kindle. I know I like the idea that you can actually loan out the books you have on your nook. Kinda cool.
I just wish they'd come up with a way to prove you own a book and then be able to download it on your reader! I've purchased too many "dying-to-reads" to not have this be a problem (as I REFUSE to buy twice).
Anyhoo... Can you tell how interested I am in the maxiPad? I'm just saying... :P
whichwaydidshego said... January 30, 2010 at 12:15 AM
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