Tuesday, May 04, 2010

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A million!

It seems that as of last Friday, there are one million sheep early adopters of the Apple iPad. Let’s see: that’s less than a month to go to one million. As with the iPhone before it, people had lined up ahead of time to be the first ones to buy it, and Steve Jobs notes that it took more than twice as long — 74 days — to hit a million on the iPhone. And that’s just the iPad WiFi-only version. The version that includes 3G just went on sale over the weekend, after the Friday figures.

It is slick, that’s true. I bopped down to the local Apple store a couple of weeks ago, to have a look at one, to hold one in my hand and try it out. Yes, it’s slick. The screen is crisp, and it’s a nice piece of technology.

But I found it a little bit too heavy. As light as it is, at only a pound and a half (680 grams), remember that you have to hold it in one hand while you do the taps and gestures, and use the on-screen keyboard, with the other. And it seems just a tad too heavy for that to be comfortable.

More important to me, though, is the fact that it has no multitasking, and is a specialized machine that only runs specially-designed applications. For me, that just took it off the table. That was also the reason I ruled out the Lenovo Skylight that I’d been mulling over. I want a real computer, with a real operating system, running real applications.

But a million people — OK, somewhat fewer, since I’m sure some folks bought two (or more) — disagree with me. And I hope they’re enjoying their snazzy, spiffy new toys.

Anyway, on the day the iPad went on sale[1], I bought one of these little guys at the local Best Buy store. And I quite like it. It’s small enough, it’s light enough (heavier than the iPad, but you’re not expecting to hold it while you use it), it has a decent keyboard and a crisp screen, and it runs Windows 7[2] and all the usual Windows applications. No 3G, but I didn’t really need that and wasn’t looking for it.

The only hassle is getting used to Windows 7, especially since I’m not using it all the time (the MacBook is still my primary computer). I never used Vista, and so many things have changed between Windows XP and Windows 7 that it’s almost like learning things all over again.


[1] Coincidentally, not through any particular planning.

[2] Yes, ha-ha. I’ve heard all the snide comments about whether Windows is a “real operating system.” Stop that; it is, whether or not you like it.

1 comment:

HRH said...

In fact, every article that I have read about iPad, was discouraging thus far, especially on the topic of price versus functionality. Perhaps there are many loyal Apple fans amongst those one million purchasers, who buy Apple products regardless.