Rant #182: Rotten Apple

I am all for technology. I love to hear about new breakthroughs which allow us to do things that we couldn't do before and/or do things that we could do before in an easier way.

But the latest product release from Apple, is, in my estimation, a real lemon.

Yesterday, they released the iPad, a tablet computer that amounts to a larger version of the iTouch. It has a couple of bells and whistles that the iTouch doesn't have, but, for all intents and purposes, that is what it is, and iTouch on steroids.

Like those devices, it has a touch screen that lets you navigate around to hook up to the Internet, play games, view photos, and read e-books.

And all for just a starting price point of $499!

Why anyone would want to have this device is beyond my comprehension. For that amount of money, you can get your standard laptop computer, which can adequately do everything that this device appears to be able to do.

Sure, this new device is built for e-books, but honestly, if you want to read a book, don't you want to read a book--not a book generated by an electronic device?

I can't see how this is going to play into something that we all need. Unlike the iTouch, it is something you can't put into your pocket, unless you wear overalls designed for King Kong.

I think what Apple has done is provide the world with something in between a laptop and an iTouch, creating a new category unto itself, and thus, they hope, a new need.

But sorry, I don't see people buying this. How much technology can one have at their fingertips before that technology is too much? I think you have that scenario here.

And for that price--which, remember, is a starting price--I just don't see it.

But then, I carry around a cell phone that I almost never use that dates back about 10 years or so. It has absolutely no bells and whistles, and people marvel how I can still use it in this day and age of phones having cameras, various applications, etc.

But somehow, I manage.

That is my point. I think somehow, we will manage without the iPad.

We have up until yesterday, and we will do just fine without it in the future.