A Chat With The Mac Observer's Dave Hamilton About the iPad

Almost a week has gone by, and opinions are still trickling out on the iPad. I know for me, I had a few hours of weakness over the weekend when the device made sense. I quickly returned to my current wait and see attitude. I asked Dave Hamilton from The Mac Observer to join me to discuss his thoughts on the iPad and changes within the Mac community through the years. We barely scratched the surface of Dave's thoughts on the iPad, so be sure to visit his blog for his full ruminations on the iPad:

Who Will Buy the iPad? A Handy Flowchart

Who exactly is the audience for the iPad? Well, no need to do intense focus group studies. We've pinpointed just who will be buying an iPad simply by looking at previous Apple purchases, and a few third-party shopping habits.

Here it is, your flowchart to discovering whether you, or someone you know will be buying the new Apple iPad:

iPad Thoughts with MacMost's Gary Rosenzweig

Sorry for the video quality, but we just did a quick iChat with Gary Rosenzweig from MacMost, getting his thoughts on the new iPad. Gary will be spending quite a bit of time with the device as he's signed on to write a book about it later this year.

Here's a look:

Seven Tweaks to the iPad Before It Ships

It's a strange position to be in, and frankly, I think this is a first for us, but we've got seven tweaks, of varying difficulty that would make the iPad better before it ever ships:

1. Simplify lineup.

Is this an Apple product? Six different SKUs to differentiate two features? How about at most, three models: 16GB wifi only $499, 32GB with 3G $699, and a 64GB with 3G for $799. Simpler pricepoints, simpler lineup.

2. Add a camera, maybe two.

No camera? No iChat? No iMovie on the go? Give us something here. I'm trying to think of a device other than an e-book reader that shiips without a camera these days. Apple, you surely don't see the iPad as simply an eBook reader, do you?

3. Really allow all iPhone apps to run.

Early on in the presentation, it seemed promising that all iPhone apps could run on the iPad. Later Jobs used that wiggle room word "most." What about VoIP apps? What about the apps that rely on the camera? 

4. Include the keyboard in the high end.

At the high end of the line, you're getting pretty close to a decent laptop in price. And that laptop will include... a keyboard! Apple is conceding that a keyboard will be handy for some power users, so why not add it in at the high end.

5. Include the dongles. 

While we're in a giving mood, how about including the USB and SD card dongles. First, we were all surprised there were even dongles to begin with, but if you're going to make them, you might as well include them.

6. Make iWork standard.

From the keynote, the iWork apps looked like the only apps that are currently ready to potentially take this device beyond being a giant iPod Touch. They're internal apps, and so the cost of including them would be minimal. If the iPhone could ship with a YouTube player, which helped differentiate it from other devices, then it certainly seems like Apple's own apps should be part of the iPad.

7. Change the name.

iPad? Un-inspired, and sounds like a hygiene product. Is that the best that Cupertino could do? We're sticking with our choice: Canvas.

iPad. And There It Is...

Hmm...

That just about sums up my initial reaction to the iPad. First, the form factor is far more square than expected. The iPhone has a better ratio for content than the iPad. Second, the bezel around the screen is much wider, and looks, as much as I hate to say it, like a knockoff of an Apple product. 

Obviously Apple wanted to be able to say this device started at under $500 with the low-end $499 model, but six different models to choose from seems like a lot. Why would you buy a wifi-only model with 64GB of storage? At the same time, the idea of unlimited data at $30/mo with no contract is quite appealing. Could this bargain basement data pricing be the real reason the device lacks a camera? When you can't take photos or shoot video, your bandwidth requirements shrink pretty quickly.

Most disappointing to me though, was most of the content looked similar to how we can find it now on the iPhone, or in iTunes. Movies with chapter selections are great, but I don't know that I need another device to watch that on a 9.7" screen.

Maybe we in the Mac community blow expectations way beyond reality, but it really feels, with the exception of data pricing, that this really is more or less, just a large iPhone, with a keyboard accessory, and lacking a camera, or phone.