My problem with the iPhone has always been that while it really is a pocket computer, and a surprisingly good one considering the baby 256 processor, users are neatly prevented from editing documents. You can’t take your job to the beach, because while you can certainly stay on top of email, there isn’t anything you can do with a .doc except look at it.
So a year or so ago, when rumours about an Apple tablet started picking up steam, I was interested. Surely now that deal-breaking gap would be closed. Imagine my consternation when detractors were proven right, and we really were offered a giant iPod, complete with chains to the app store and still no way to get any word processing done.
Where I used to think that the iPad probably wouldn’t find much of a home with the average consumer (it’s big, it’s not light, and you can’t stick a DVD in it, much less a thumb drive), I predicted that every professional would have to have one, from doctors (easy wifi access to fully detailed records) to mechanics (large HD tech specs) to dock workers (manifests and routing instructions). James Cameron would use one to watch his actors traverse their CG world in real time. When the iPad was revealed shackled to the app store, I was worried.
Not that I had to worry for long. That same day, Apple announced the iPad-optimized version of iWorks. That, plus the Citrix announcement that you’ll be able to run Windows 7 on it, implies heavily that you will have access to the file structure, more like the iPod than the iPhone.
I don’t have any interest in anything Windows (there’s nothing in my world that Mac and Snow Leopard can’t do better) but having that option means wider adoptability, and that means iPad is in a pretty good position. If I can mount it as a drive on my primary computers, then yes, I’m interested. And apparently there’s an available attachment for pulling pictures off your camera, and that means USB connectivity. If it’s 2-way… now we’re getting somewhere.
Do I need an iPad? Probably not. My shiny MacBook Pro travels well enough to set and back. Do I want one? Yes. Yes I do. Complete with unlocked 3G access and 64 gigs of memory. I will sew bigger pockets on my cargoes.