Home > iPad Resources > Reasons to Buy an iPad - 4 Reasons for You to Buy an iPad
Reasons to Buy an iPad
Here's four reasons for you to buy an iPad:
1. Background processing.
At the Apple press conference, we didn't see the iPad using more than a single app at a time. This implies--and this may not be the case, so take it with a grain of salt--that background processing won't work on the iPad, at least not initially. That's not good enough. We want to listen to Pandora while surfing the web and want something more than the Notifications system for background program use. It's time to grow up, Apple, and let us operate as many apps as we want at one time. Sure, this might make the iPad less stable at certain points, but most consumers are willing to sacrifice a little stability for a whole lot of usability.
2. The full web experience.
On the iPhone, we can't access the normal web versions of many of my favorite websites. This is the fault of those websites, of course; they default to their Mobile versions, which are sometimes far less usable than they should be. But it points out a weakness in the iPad; if it's seen by websites as a mobile device, then that means that you can't edit my Google documents or use a ton of other websites. This adds up to less than a full experience when surfing the Internet, far from the "best ever" label that Apple's using in their early iPad ads.
3. The 3G problems.
One of the big draws of the iPad is its 3G connection. However, there are some questions that need to be answered. Will the 3G connection be available just through AT&T (which has well-publicized and understandable problems providing steady 3G connections to the masses of iPhone users), and will it cost as much as the iPhone's data connection? It's unlikely that the iPad will be able to use the same "unlimited data" plan as the iPhone, so you're tacking on a significant monthly charge in any case. How will the existing 3G networks stand up to the draw of the iPad, which already promises to be an extremely popular device? Giving Apple's service providers some time to hash out the inevitable problems is nothing short of common sense.
4. Apple's stranglehold on app development.
Sure, Apple's App store has a plethora of awesome apps, however, Apple strictly controls what apps can be sold in their store, and this is problematic. Say that an App is developed that allows the iPad to use the iPhone's data service. There's no way that it'll get through. As much as Apple fans will hate to admit it, PC and Linux computers have more freedom when it comes to the programs that can be installed on them. We everyone may be frustrated by Apple's ability to rip perfectly good apps out of their store due to a violation of their sometimes overbearing "terms"--the functionality of the iPad could be severely compromised if Jobs & Co use a similar stranglehold on the development community for the iPhone.
Note: If you buy an iPad and want to enjoy your DVD videos on iPad, you can use this DVD to iPad Software, it can perfectly rip DVD (including protected DVD) to videos so that you can enjoy watching DVD on iPad on the go.
iPad Technical Specifications:
Height: 9.56 inches (242.8 mm)
Width: 7.47 inches (189.7 mm)
Depth: 0.5 inch (13.4 mm)
Weight: 1.5 pounds (0.68 kg) Wi-Fi model; 1.6 pounds (0.73 kg) Wi-Fi + 3G model
Video formats: H.264 video, in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats; MPEG-4 video in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats.
Audio formats: AAC (16 to 320 Kbps), Protected AAC (from iTunes Store), MP3 (16 to 320 Kbps), MP3 VBR, Audible (formats 2, 3, and 4), Apple Lossless, AIFF, and WAV.
Other Requirments: H.264 video up to 720p, 30 frames per second, Main Profile level 3.1 with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio; MPEG-4 video, up to 2.5 Mbps, 640 by 480 pixels, 30 frames per second, Simple Profile with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio.
