iPad?, No thanks!
Last month, Apple launched its newest toy yet, the iPad. This device comes at a time when I feel that Apple has taken a substantial amount of my hard earned cash over the past 8 years and I am now seriously trying to resist any temptations to send more of my money to 1 Infinite Loop Cupertino, California – an address that sounds as beautiful as the gadgets they produce.
In one of the so many articles about Apple’s success story it is said that ‘since its establishment in 1976, Apple has upheld its philosophy of comprehensive aesthetic design resulting in a unique reputation in the consumer electronics industry and a customer base that is devoted to the company and its brand’ – that customer base includes yours truly. In 1991, I used my first Apple product - a Macintosh desktop, which was also the first computer I ever touched. While it was nice and easy to use, the lack of compatibility of its operating system with the more popular IBMs (Windows operating system) meant that I had to ditch it and adapt to computers with Windows.
Over the following 10 years, I did not have much contact with apple products but enter the iPod and I was willingly and gladly lured back into the Apple world. My first one was a shuffle, which I bought in 2003 (now that sounds like ages ago). I followed it up with the Nano as soon as it became available within my means. At that moment, I was ready to take the leap of faith and move to apple’s Mac Book. In 2009 I became a proud owner of a Mac Book Pro that set me a few thousands of dollars back and to make matters worse I had folk out an extra 150 bucks to buy MS office that is adaptable to apple’s Mac Books. In the same year, I became a proud owner of the iPod touch with it’s very important and extremely useful Nike plus to a workout freak like me. On acquisition of the iPod Touch, I entered stupid challenges and competed for useless causes like running for my birth year. Right now, I am a converted apple user and like one user said ‘even if they made underwear, I would buy them’. To show my commitment and undying love of Apple products, I recently acquired the iPhone which I thought was the pinnacle of Apple products and I vowed not touch any other product from these good gentlemen. However no sooner had I completed the word ‘never’ than apple launched the Ipad. Now, though I am an addicted Apple user, I am almost absolutely sure that I will not need the iPad. From all the reviews I have seen, it looks good for surfing the web and reading digital books nothing more. Both functions, I can ably handle with my Mac Book and if there is a need to do something urgently, I will use the iPhone. Forgive me if I sound like a nerd but I have not found a reason to read books or any other material electronically with mini-laptops, the iPad or similar devices. First and foremost, I need to pay several hundreds of pounds for these devices that need regular software updates, weigh almost a kilogramme and need frequent battery recharges. I do accept that the younger generation has been brought up on these technologies (the e-mails I receive from my kids and nieces written in 'txt spk' is evidence of this) and no doubt paper-based content will be less and less common in the future. However, as long as I continue to spend a significant part of my working day reading emails, writing reports, searching the internet, I will still find it quite relaxing and enjoyable to take a break and read a real book by the pool side, in a café or outside in my garden (when its not raining!). Not to mention how difficult it can be to read text and images on some devices despite the contrast, brightness and magnification facilities - I do wonder what affect looking at an iPad screen for 5 hours a day has on eyesight? I am having second thoughts about buying everything that Apple forces on us and unless the underwear unzips and removes itself from my rotund body, I am done with apple gadgets.
In one of the so many articles about Apple’s success story it is said that ‘since its establishment in 1976, Apple has upheld its philosophy of comprehensive aesthetic design resulting in a unique reputation in the consumer electronics industry and a customer base that is devoted to the company and its brand’ – that customer base includes yours truly. In 1991, I used my first Apple product - a Macintosh desktop, which was also the first computer I ever touched. While it was nice and easy to use, the lack of compatibility of its operating system with the more popular IBMs (Windows operating system) meant that I had to ditch it and adapt to computers with Windows.
Over the following 10 years, I did not have much contact with apple products but enter the iPod and I was willingly and gladly lured back into the Apple world. My first one was a shuffle, which I bought in 2003 (now that sounds like ages ago). I followed it up with the Nano as soon as it became available within my means. At that moment, I was ready to take the leap of faith and move to apple’s Mac Book. In 2009 I became a proud owner of a Mac Book Pro that set me a few thousands of dollars back and to make matters worse I had folk out an extra 150 bucks to buy MS office that is adaptable to apple’s Mac Books. In the same year, I became a proud owner of the iPod touch with it’s very important and extremely useful Nike plus to a workout freak like me. On acquisition of the iPod Touch, I entered stupid challenges and competed for useless causes like running for my birth year. Right now, I am a converted apple user and like one user said ‘even if they made underwear, I would buy them’. To show my commitment and undying love of Apple products, I recently acquired the iPhone which I thought was the pinnacle of Apple products and I vowed not touch any other product from these good gentlemen. However no sooner had I completed the word ‘never’ than apple launched the Ipad. Now, though I am an addicted Apple user, I am almost absolutely sure that I will not need the iPad. From all the reviews I have seen, it looks good for surfing the web and reading digital books nothing more. Both functions, I can ably handle with my Mac Book and if there is a need to do something urgently, I will use the iPhone. Forgive me if I sound like a nerd but I have not found a reason to read books or any other material electronically with mini-laptops, the iPad or similar devices. First and foremost, I need to pay several hundreds of pounds for these devices that need regular software updates, weigh almost a kilogramme and need frequent battery recharges. I do accept that the younger generation has been brought up on these technologies (the e-mails I receive from my kids and nieces written in 'txt spk' is evidence of this) and no doubt paper-based content will be less and less common in the future. However, as long as I continue to spend a significant part of my working day reading emails, writing reports, searching the internet, I will still find it quite relaxing and enjoyable to take a break and read a real book by the pool side, in a café or outside in my garden (when its not raining!). Not to mention how difficult it can be to read text and images on some devices despite the contrast, brightness and magnification facilities - I do wonder what affect looking at an iPad screen for 5 hours a day has on eyesight? I am having second thoughts about buying everything that Apple forces on us and unless the underwear unzips and removes itself from my rotund body, I am done with apple gadgets.
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