iPad? More like iThing...

A slightly late, but absolutely neccessary, post on the new Apple iPad. If you've been tied up and gagged in a cellar for the last few months or are a technophobic (see previous article) then you won't have heard of the new piece of Apple tech - the iPad. Basically a larger version of the iPhone and meant to bridge the gap between smart phones and netbooks, realistically it's another piece of Apple tech to join the ranks of expensive gimmicks for touch screen obsessed Apple fans. 
First, the technical run down, those of us who are less technically adept may wish to skip this section as it is stuffed, almost entirely of technical jargon.

The iPad has a larger 9.7-inch (25 cm) LED Backlit Multi-Touch display with a pixel resolution of 1024x768, 16 to 64 gigabytes (GB) of flash memory, a 1-gigahertz (GHz) Apple A4 processor, Bluetooth 2.1, and a 30-pin dock connector to sync with iTunes and connect wired accessories.
It is similar in functionality to the iPod Touch, running the same operating system (iPhone OS) and almost all of the same applications.

Two models have been announced: one with 802.11n (available in March 2010 in the United States) and one with Wi-Fi; 3G, which can connect to HSDPA cellular networks; and Assisted GPS(available in April in the U.S. and several other countries). The price on the Apple website for this piece of tech is $499 or £316.

Apple's first device to use its iBookstore service and companion iBooks eBook reading application, the iPad has been compared to Amazons's Kindle

Shown below are some images of front, back and side views of the iPad.

That's all well and good and if you check out the Apple page on it, even the technical specs show little flaw in this latest gadget, so what's wrong with it? Surely this article wouldn't have been put on my blog if their wasn't something wrong with it? Fear not, their are many problems with the iPad. The first of which is the fact of what it is, a tablet PC. The problem with this is that it doesn't have a disk drive or a keyboard (except an on-screen keyboard which would be difficult to type with) and the second problem is the problem with all Apple Gadgets - compatibility. The iPad is no exception to Apple's compatibility problems - it has no support for Flash and the only software that can be loaded is software off the Apple AppStore - which is fine if your technologically illiterate or are Apple obsessed, but the majority of people interested in new and innovative technology aren't and are probably working for Google.   

Needless to say, the iPad will probably be a success as it will be fuelled by the thousands of Apple fans and touch-screen obsessed people that know nothing or next to nothing about technology and are generally blinded by Apple hype. Nevertheless, I shall still attempt to enlighten the masses as to what they should do if blinded by Apple hype and are thinking of buying an iPad. Either:
 - Buy a Netbook - if you're often on the move and don't have the funds to buy a laptop,
or
 - Buy a Laptop (not a mac) - if you have enough funds to buy one and aren't always on the move.
or
 - Buy a Smart Phone - if you don't need to do anything more than simple tasks but like a powerful mobile,
or 
 - Buy a Desktop PC (not a Mac) - if you have the funds and want a high performance PC
But do not, under any circumstances, buy an iPad...