Borderline Fantastic

There were two things I didn’t hear yesterday that I expected to hear more chatter about relating to the iPad. I didn’t get around to posting them last night. I saw them mentioned today, but not too widely.

Multitasking – This was talked about a lot, but as something that was left out and people were disgusted by it. No one seemed to even mention that maybe it just won’t be ready in time for launch.

This thing is apparently running iPhone OS 3.2. An entire new product, with all new versions of apps, and it doesn’t jump to 4.0? This seems very strange to me. iTunes has seemed to jump full version numbers for no particular reason.

This is also the first version. The first iPhone had no apps! I never used one but when I got my 3G, I couldn’t imagine what you did without apps. Notifications and MMS took forever, even after being announced. Just about everything, except for MMS has been made available on previous versions of the phone.

Speaking of Notifications and MMS, perhaps they are hesitant to pre-announce software features after those.

All of that make me think that there are a lot more updates to come, just maybe not until the summer.

Boy Genius Report had a story about this today.

Subsidies – AT&T was nice enough to offer a data plan without a contract? No mention of $175 off if you did get a contract? I thought that was strange.

This Mashable post brings up that point as well as the possibility that content creators may give discounts with subscriptions. The post also makes a very good point about how the iPad is for consumption of content, rather than creation. One of the reasons I discounted it as something I would need is because of that lack of content creation capability.

This is my obligatory iPad post. I decided to look at it by finding some reasons someone like me might want one.

If I read more books I would choose an iPad over a Kindle. I assume the iPad will have all the features of the Kindle. I assume they will be releasing an iBooks app for the iPhone that will allow syncing of purchases and where you are in the books. At least this announcement will keep me from making an impulse buy of a Kindle that I don’t really need.

If I didn’t have my MacBook I would consider this for surfing on the couch. However, I use my MacBook the same way I use a desktop. I do a lot of things that require a lot of typing. Editing code on the iPad doesn’t seem like it would be a whole lot of fun.

If I had a kitchen in a large house (and if I spent a lot of time in that kitchen) this would be handy for quick surfing, calendar, contacts, iTunes. Really, exactly the things they are marketing it to be best at.

If I didn’t live close to home. My favorite demo of the bunch was from mlb.com. Having the screen to show mlb.tv would be spectacular. Why would I have to move away? Because I’m in the blackout area, so I wouldn’t be able to watch Phillies games on it. I really would get this just for that purpose. Set it up on an end table with the game on every night. Sure, I’d use the other features, but they’d just be bonus features that came with my PhilliesPad. Imagine if it came in team colors.

If I traveled a lot this would be great for plane rides. Watching movies, having my tunes, surfing in the hotel. Especially if I had a work laptop with me this would be useful. Last time I traveled for work I really wanted my MacBook with me. Getting 2 laptops through security wasn’t an issue. It was that I was holding up the line having another awkward item to take out of and get back in a bag.

If I took the train to work I would not be debating whether to buy or not right now. I’d be debating how much storage I wanted on my 3G enabled iPad. There are iPhone apps that I have said I’d get if I took the train. The Crosswords app for one, which I did finally buy a few weeks ago.

I’m not getting one but $499 is a tempting price. Although I’d probably want to get a 3G one in the likely case that at some point I’d want the service. That bumps the price up and along with the monthly fee, it puts is out of ‘Hey, that looks like fun to play with’ range. I’m really hoping someone I know gets one so I can play with it. I feel like I can let myself play with one. I didn’t touch the 1st iPhone until a few months before the 3G came out. I knew I’d love the iPhone but it was stupid to get one without 3G.