Why I haven’t bought an iPad yet

When I already have an iPod Touch and also an iPhone (iTouch which can make calls), why should I get an oversized iPod Touch, with a few traces of the Mac? - This is probably the question that arises in most of our minds – I mean those of us who haven’t bought an iPad yet. Apart from being yet another gadget that doesn’t mind slipping into your uber-luxurious Gucci handbag, what does the iPad have? Somewhere between notebooks and mobile phones, there exists a category called tablets. They are definitely more than an eBook reader, a bigger music companion and of course a much attractive gaming gadget.

Gadget designers and whole lot of technology researchers have been suggesting that 2010 would be the year of the Tablet, and a huge number of consumer tech players are either making their own or already out with what they call “the iPad rival.” You would be surprised to know that Steve Jobs actually started work on the iPad much before he launched the iPhone itself. He dreamt of something big and ended up giving us a shrunk version of it three years ago. Probably he attempted to judge your response on a small scale before he could throw up the big surprise.

When we ‘Google’d definitions of the iPad, we thought we would much-rather agree with what Cnet had to say about it: “It’s simply a fun way to surf the net, look at photos and videos and check email with a push!” Saying this, the review actually says you don’t need one actually, but if you can justify, it can be tons of fun. Truth well said. The iPad doesn’t offer the flexibility of a netbook, it doesn’t intend to either. And I am sure those who buy it don’t expect it to.

We didn’t demand for a computer before it was invented. We didn’t know we want a notebook before someone shrunk the personal desktop computer. We didn’t even know it could be shrunk further before a netbook came into the market. Gadget makers strongly believed the way forward is to go smaller, and we consumers have agreed that miniature is the name of the game. In the world of consumer technology, things work differently. Products create demands, here.

When we just thought the iPad was a little early for its times, we were proved wrong. Two months and over two million iPads have been sold so far. And over a dozen more iPad-like gadgets have entered the fray! Will these dozen odd look-alikes create another million dozen demands? Followers might not be capable of dethroning Apple’s leadership. Now that doesn’t mean they can’t come out with better stuff.

With more than a dozen odd tablets on the way from the gadget machines, I think it is better to be a late adopter.