noPad

Lots of talk out there about Apple's new iPad. You can read all about it at apple.com/ipad. One of the first things I did was check out the "Pricing" page:

	16GB	32GB	64GB
Wi-Fi	$499	$599	$699
Wi-Fi + 3G	$629	$729	$829

Ouch.

Since then, I've seen lots of criticism of the iPad. Some things that stand out in my mind:

- Apple's notorious proprietary bent. Enough said.
- The iPad's battery can't be replaced, so when that battery dies a few years down the road, what do you have?
- No USB ports -- you'll have to buy an adapter.
- No multi-tasking.
- No Adobe Flash support.
- No Ogg Vorbis support.
- No SD card slots.
- Typing on the touch screen doesn't appeal to me, but you can purchase a keyboard for it -- which would make the iPad a lame, expensive netbook.
- You'd have to pay extra for a stand for the iPad, if you don't want always be holding it up to use it, or trying to use while it lies flat.
- It might be pretty good as an eBook reader, but I don't care about that, since I prefer actual, real books.
- No webcam, no camera.
- Only runs applications from the Apple App Store.
- At best, only 64 GB of storage space.

As a good friend of mine said recently, the iPad is "a solution that's looking for a problem."

To me, buying an iPad would be like throwing money away just to try to look cool.

Says blogger Ron Miller:

"But ultimately this an oversized iphone ... I already have an iPhone in my pocket that has many of the same functions as the iPad. Sure it's a small screen, but I've watched video on it, read books, played games and done most of what they are trying to sell me on the iPad and I already own it. What's more I'm already paying $30 a month to AT&T for my data plan. The last thing I'm going to do is give that company one more dime, of that you can be sure."

I don't think anyone would have any problems finding commentary, pro or con, about the iPad on the internet, but here are a couple of articles:

10 things Netbooks still do better than an iPad

Apples iPad event: What we didn't get