Apple iPad, what netbooks should have been

With apple’s announcement with the iPad there are two camps out there. You either hate it or love it. I’m in the love it camp.
When I first bought my netbook, I wasn’t looking for a laptop. I was looking for a casual internet device. One that’s easy to pick up and do a few things with and put back down on the end table, counter, or nightstand quickly. I wanted something as easy as a magazine to pick up and set down when I needed to interact with [mostly] the internet. I’ve had an iPhone since it’s inception and I wanted something with a little more screen real estate. The smart phone sized screen isn’t exactly ideal for extended reading.

The netbook is not this. I bought one because I was enticed by the moblin interface and wanted to play with it. After installing and finding out that moblin is not ready for prime time, the use of this device became less and less. It’s now exactly what it most people buy it for… a cheap laptop. I guess this works well for people that love cheap items despite their inefficiencies. I’m not one of these. My netbook is now my 5 and 2 year olds’ computer. It fits that bill perfectly. The netbooks’ biggest flaw is the crappy interface that is provided. A small ass track pad, no good scrolling, a crappy, not designed for the interaction interface like windows XP. I stated a couple of years ago that computers should have as natural an interface as the iPhone.

The iPad on the other hand, is exactly what I’ve been wanting. I wanted something to browse the web with. I wanted easy email and looking up recipes and reading RSS feeds. It does all of this. If you’re not looking for a device that fills this niche, yea – you’re not going to like it.

The hater camp that seems to find anything they can that’s wrong with it. They’re looking for a cheap Apple portable, expecting a full featured computer. They complain about not having multi-tasking, even though the apps load instantly when switching, or lack of I/O, or {insert whatever it’s missing here}. Multi-tasking, is it really needed if you’re casually using the device on a limited resolution screen? I use it all the time when sitting down to work at my computer, but how many things would I really be doing at once with this casual device that I probably pick to do a few things fairly quickly and put back down. I don’t miss it with my iPhone, I’m sure I won’t miss it here.

The biggest complaint for me would be Apple’s app approval process. The homogeneous distribution is annoying and genius at the same time – from the consumer and developer perspectives. As a consumer, I have extremely easy access to apps. Sorting, rating, and genius recommendations right there at the touch of a finger. But, I have to wait for upgrades and bug fixes longer than necessary. And some apps that would be killer (Google Voice anyone?) are outright rejected due to retarded terms. As a developer I can develop something and get rejected on a whim – this sucks! But, I have the best software distribution system available. Instant gratification purchases are constantly made. Make a good product, and get lots of free exposure.

HTML 5 to the rescue. This is, of course, a moot point with HTML 5 being in place on the iPad. There isn’t much that can’t be done with web apps anymore. Even smooth transitions that mimic the responsiveness of native apps. Many different applications could be replaced by web apps done right. As long as acceleration or gps isn’t needed, it would be a win.