Quantifying the New iPad

This blog entry is also posted on Slide And Tap.

TheVerge.com

Do you remember the days when mobile computing came in 2 forms? They are mobile phones and laptops. Mobile phones became a necessity now a days since it's the main form of easy communication from long distances while on the move. The laptop didn't really catch up to mobile phones in the same way because of two reasons primarily, portability and price. On the other hand, mobile phones now are catching up to features and processing power that was once held by laptops hence our smart phones now. But now, there is a third player to mobile computing and that is tablets. It bridges the gap between mobile phones' portability and laptops' performance all in a sleek big screen (relatively to mobile phones). And when we talk about tablets, one can't help but mention the current consumer favorite, Apple's iPad.

If you haven't heard the news, for some reason I couldn't think of, Apple has updated their iPad line with the New iPad (Yes, it's not iPad 3) last March. If you want to be reminded of the features of the latest iPad, you can read Mikoy's previous entry summarizing just that. In paper, it sounds really good and it does look good when you actually hold the device, I know because it made me want one. The new iPad was just recently released in the Philippines this month, 4 months after its release in the US and the day after it's official release, I immediately went to the nearest Apple store to see what the fuzz was all about.

The new iPad was dubbed Resolutionary and true enough the display was marvelous for something so thin and beautiful and the fact that I can hold in my hands makes it even more enticing. That alone snapped me to wanting one! I want to read stuff from it, look at pictures, browse the web and even play games to see what this glowing screen I'm holding can do. I owned an iPod touch before so I know what it feels like to have the web in your hands, but this new iPad is really something. When I saw it, it was sitting next to a couple of iPad 2s. Too bad though that the iPad 2s don't have the same photos loaded to them like those in the new iPad because I really want to compare the difference between the two screens although looking at the icons alone shows the difference. I tried a couple of games and browsed through Flipboard as a way for me to test it but that is all I did before deciding to put back the new iPad on display because I'm really starting to see myself getting one right that moment.

I know I definitely want one right then and there but I managed to calm myself down before I start asking the sales personnel standing in front of me to give me one immediately. So I thought, why would I need this anyway? I have seen the original iPad and the Ipad 2 from my friends but I still feel reluctant to jump in the other side of the fence together with the tablet users. I won't be getting the LTE version and just opt for the wi-fi one meaning that I can't really connect to the Internet all the time. (I'm planning to get the iPhone 5 when it comes out and just share the internet connection with the iPad). Plus I don't play that many games on this platform anyway so why would I get one? Maybe the iPad will change my mind when I start playing games on it but still, not a good reason to get one. I really don't have any use for it. On the last photography workshop I attended, the speaker used an iPad to present some slides and I thought it was really convenient and it reminded me on how I felt on the day I saw the new iPad but it still didn't convinced me.

Just recently, it was pointed out that color management is absent on iOS devices. Yet another reason why I wouldn't want an iPad. As a photographer, I want to see photos with the correct colors. Yes, most of the images on the web are set to be viewed normally by the browser but some photos are set with embedded color profiles that tells the browser how to display the colors. Not having that on the iPad is such a downer since I was thinking of using it to showcase my photos as well as hold my favorites from 500px. True, I can just set my photos to default to overcome this little problem but still.

So in the end, I left the store that day praising the device but didn't really got any convincing reasons for me to buy one. It's a product that is good to have but that's it. You can say "Just get one, if you don't like it, sell it" but that doesn't work for me and only a handful of people can convince me. I may have no compelling reason to get the new iPad but I think I might still get a tablet in the future and that is in the form of Microsoft's Surface.