Haha, real mature joke image thanks to Techcrunch

The reactions following the iPad announcement by Steve Jobs last week have been split into two camps: those who love it and those who hate it. I’m firmly in the camp who loves it and I’m here to tell all the iPad haters that you don’t know what you’re talking about.

Here’s a summary of the main iPad complaints:

• No Flash
• No multi-tasking
• No ports and card slots
• No cameras

To that, I have 3 responses:

1. iPad Is Not A Computer

All of the main complaints are based on a 25-year old paradigm of computing. It’s a paradigm where the computer is a device that comes with a keyboard and is operated mainly at a desk. It’s the same paradigm that manufacturers followed with the netbook, but like Steve Jobs says, “Netbooks aren’t better at anything.”

As an owner of a netbook (I won it, didn’t spend money for it), I understand exactly where His Steve-ness is coming from. The same sentiment is echoed by myMacBUZZ reader Jayden, who commented:

I bought a HP netbook with the idea that we can use it to check email and browse the web and bring it around to house to do so easily but after the initial few days of use it became obvious that it is not fitting that role; screen is too small to be used on a desk, but keyboard gets in the way if you need carry it around or use it on a couch. The “miniaturized computer” is just not working out.

So to everyone who’s yearning for multi-tasking, USB ports and card slots on the iPad–get this: iPad is not a computer.

2. iPad Is For The Mainstream (Not Geeks)

The 2nd point is that the main people complaining are geeks (or power users). The iPad isn’t for the individual who is comfortable in Terminal and can type at 100 words per minute. The iPad is for the 7-year old who still can’t type, for the 70-year old who never learnt to type, for my father-in-law who doesn’t know how to check email and for all the aunties who picked up their 1st ever smartphone with the iPhone.

The iPad is also meant for situations where a keyboard simply gets in the way. For example, the iPad would be great when you’re on the couch, in bed, for product demos in retail, for technicians who need a portable terminal and for the times I don’t want to rest my MacBook on a greasy mamak table.

3. iPad’s Functionality Will Be Extended

Hmm.. it sounds like the iPad is going to serve a pretty small and defined niche. Can it really make it into the mainstream?

I think Apple has thought about that too. The iPad is envisioned for use cases away from the desk. At the same time, you can pair iPad with a wireless keyboard if you need it for occasional text-heavy input. But that’s just the beginning. Applications will extend the functionality of iPad and make it indespensible in countles industries.

• Retail point of sale – imagine customizing your car’s colors and body kit at the dealer and seeing your changes reflect immediately.
• Supply chain / engineering – technicians could have their manifests and checklists at their fingertips. Closer to home, imagine your Astro installer verifying and activating your decoder immediately after installation.
• Interactive learning – squeeze thousands of textbooks into iPad, access library content and submit homework wirelessly.

With the iPad, you only need to write the application and not worry about the design and manufacture of the hardware. In all the examples above, the iPad is a blank canvas and the apps paint different pictures. It’s the start of a new paradigm in computing, a paradigm where the computer becomes invisible.

All Said And Done, I’m Not Crazy About The Name

For all the promise that iPad holds, it’s got a big job winning over its critics who are making schoolboy female hygiene jokes. Hopefully, iPad will go the way of Nintendo Wii and just trample the market by being the most popular device in its category.

Fast forward 2-3 years, we’ll have stopped laughing about the iPad’s name and finally begun to fully realise the potential of the device that will lead the next revolution in computing.

Update 10.30am: I forgot to link to this excellent article by Frasier Speirs – Future Shock. His basic point is that geeks are afraid of the change to this new paradigm. It’s like how print publishers are in denial that physical magazines and newspapers are going extinct and don’t want to embrace the new digital medium that is killing them. So, are you going to hang on to an old paradigm or leap forward with the iPad?