iPad: The MacBook Air of 2010

I hate to write about Apple again but, really, how can I not? However, this article isn’t so much about Apple—and certainly not about the iPad—but about people’s reactions to them.

Looking across the social networks which, of course, experienced a tsunami of proportions so epic that even the mighty FriendFeed was forced to disable real-time updates lest the servers burst into flames, it seemed that the final tabulation of opinion on the iPad resulted in most people being simply underwhelmed. In fact, the people who seemed the most quiet about it, the ones who looked at the iPad wistfully but ultimately dismissed it were the only ones who seemed to take it at its value. Others, on the other hand, seemed to take personal offense at the iPad’s shortcomings; in particular, many a wagging finger was leveled at the iPad for not having some of the features of its smaller but senior siblings, the wonder duo of the iPhone and the iPod Touch.

OMG WHAT NO CAMERA I CAN’T BELIEVE THIS WHAT A DISAPPOINTMENT IFAIL IFAIL IFAIL!

The problem here, at first glance, seems one of the iPad not living up to its hype which, when you think about it, is kind of insane to expect anyway. The iPhone was, in many ways, truly revolutionary but, once you strip away the hype of that device, what you have is just a smartphone with a snazzy interface. In all honesty, does it really do anything different than most other smartphones? Like the Droid advertisements like to claim, the iPhone actually doesn’t do as much as other smartphones. However, what it does, it arguably does better. But, in retrospect, it’s easy to forget how many people dismissed the iPhone outright as well when it was first introduced.

OMG WHAT NO MULTITASKING WHAT A DISAPPOINTMENT IFAIL IFAIL IFAIL!

Yet there are millions of iPhones out there, all of them happily chugging along their quotidian duties with no real multitasking anywhere in sight. Heck, we lived for two years without cut and paste and most of us didn’t often miss it (but, oh, when we did miss it we truly missed it). Most people who complained about it were people who had no intention of ever buying one anyway. I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who rationally told me that the lack of cut and paste was the deal breaker.

Now, if you look at the iPad, we’re back at square one but with one major difference: heightened expectations. You see, the iPhone had no predecessor. It was a whole cloth birth of something entirely new for Apple. It wasn’t a refinement of an existing product line: it wasn’t the MacBook Air. The iPad, however, especially because of its form factor, was instantly seen as having rather big shoes to fill. If it was anything less extraordinary and evolutionary than the iPhone, it was going to be immediately crapped upon by people who seem to think that their personal expectations are some kind of universal measuring stick. And, by that measurement, the iPad was guaranteed to disappoint unless it projected holograms 8″ tall on the screen or if gold coins spewed out of the dock port when shaken.

But, this has nothing to do with hype. The hype was just anticipatory masturbation, it was everyone shaking the presents under the Christmas tree trying to figure out what was in there. Hype didn’t make the iPad seem less than what it was; hype just made everyone irritable. What diminished the iPad’s impact was the fact that it was seen as the second iteration of an existing product: the iPhone (and thus the iPod Touch). People walked away deflated just like they did when the Air was introduced.

Wow, it’s sexy and all but… why would anyone want this?

Sound familiar? The Air lacked a built-in DVD drive. The iPad doesn’t have a camera. The Air was considered underpowered; the iPad the same. The Air underwhelmed because it was just another version of the MacBook. The iPad underwhelmed because it’s seen as just another version of the iPhone. And they may be right about the Air but are they right about the iPad? Only time will tell. People are already dismissing the iPad without ever having even held one.

If anything, the iPad is more closely related with the Air than with the iPhone. Don’t let the form factor and OS fool you. Like the Air, the iPad isn’t really meant to be ‘the computer for the rest of us’. Not yet, anyway. Like the Air, this is a computer for people with extra money who want a computer to fill a niche they probably didn’t know they even wanted filled. The iPad isn’t meant to supplant the iPhone (for one, it’s too big) nor is it meant to knock your MacBook off its pedestal (for one, it’s too underpowered). As someone (I think it was Jesse Stay) pointed out, the iPad is a living room device. It belongs next to your remote control (and, with the right app, may one day replace it).

What it boils down to here is that hype is not to blame for people feeling underwhelmed, it’s family history. The first born baby is always significant; it’s always truly a life changing event. When the second baby comes along, you’re already experienced with child-rearing. So, when people look at the iPad, they’re seeing the sibling which looks and behaves a lot like their older brother or sister. ‘Oh, it’s another baby.’ What did you expect? A feathered dragon that barfs unicorns riding dolphins?

And that’s really the final question? Strip away the hype and ask yourself, what did you really expect it to do? What revolutionary technology did you expect that would make it as remarkable as the iPhone? I bet most people can’t do anything except name off features that the iPhone has that the iPad lacks. Or they can complain about Flash. Every other complaint is probably more evolutionary rather than revolutionary (i.e., why can’t I sync over wifi?).

Oh, and if you don’t believe me, imagine for a moment if the iPhone (and thus the iPod Touch) didn’t exist and the iPad was introduced today. How differently do you think the aftermath would have played out then?

Tagged as: Apple, iPad