The hottest debate going at the moment is whether or not the iPad is a laptop or netbook replacement. The conversation has focused on the quality of the virtual keyboard, the power of the processor, the storage capacity, and the simplified UI. But we now have a definitive opinion on the topic — Apple’s. Hinted at in the technical specifications now confirmed in Leander’s unboxing, the iPad won’t even turn on unless it has been synced through iTunes.
I sincerely hope this changes. You’re not going to attract an army of non-computer savvy users to a revolutionarily simplified platform if they have to own a regular computer, too. It’s time to cut the umbilical cord, Apple. Let the iPad exist unto itself. If you never connect it to a computer, it should still work brilliantly. If you want to connect it to a computer to transfer files, so be it. But the Mac didn’t need to sync to an Apple II. The first PowerBook didn’t have to dock into a Quadra to turn on. You’ve made a serious new computing platform for the rest of us. Don’t treat it like it’s just an iPhone, dependent on a big brother computer to be truly useful.
Pete Mortensen is a design strategist for consulting firm Jump Associates and the co-author of Wired to Care: How Companies Prosper When They Create Widespread Empathy, a book and blog that are significantly more interesting than you might initially think. Pete’s particular Apple avocations are both around design–interface and industrial. Follow him on Twitter!
30 responses to “The Biggest Reason iPad Isn’t a Computer Replacement — Yet.”
i have ipad and its useful only if you are always in travel
http://www.cultofmac.com/the-b…
i have ipad and its useful only if you are always in travel
My millionaire mentor 2011
Sorry for commenting on such an old post but,
Apple should really make this as one of the features in iOS 5. So when you get the iPad, there are options that will let you say weather you don’t have a computer, have one but want to set up your iPad without it, or want to set up the iPad on the computer later. They also should change the iOS device UI color to match the color of the Settings app on the iPad. It needs a refresh. To be honest, I didn’t like the bluish-gray from the start.