Pondering the iPad

By now you must have heard about the iPad. (if not see here)

Missing Features

The most common reaction, warranted or not, is “Oh, its a big iPod touch.” And honestly, yeah it pretty much is. It runs the iPhone/iPod touch Operating System. Along with that comes all the normal restrictions, including no multitasking, and weird notifications.

But, I predict this will change. The OS version is 3.2 according to reviews. The iPhone has had this OS since June. It is getting a bit old. Apple last year announced the 3.0 version of the OS on March 17th 2009.

The iPad is not going to be on sale until 60 days from the announcement date of January 27th. Right at the end of March. See the connection?

I predict that Apple will announce the 4.0 software in March, right before the iPad goes on sale. It might not be available at launch, but you will know it is coming. It will probably come later in June when the next iPhone comes around. Again, because the upgraded iPhone will probably have many of the same specs as the iPad (1Ghz processor, better screen resolution).

The 4.0 OS will have multitasking and better notifications. It just has to. How else would you be working on the new word processor app on the iPad and then paste in a spreadsheet from the spreadsheet app?

Who is going to use this?

Again, people are wondering – who is going to use this? Its clunkier than a phone. It has less functionality than a full computer. My prediction? Older people.

Hear me out- people like my Dad. He doesnt want to deal with drivers. He doesn’t want to mess with complex configurations and installations. All he wants to do is go online, maybe send an email, post to a college football message board, check scores and news. And this would be super simple for him to use.

The only missing feature? Printer functionality. This will prevent him from making the leap to using this as his sole computer. If printer functionality is added, this would be perfect for the “I’m not a computer person” in your life.