Top 5 reasons not to buy an Apple tablet
January 18th, 2010
AMPA, FL — Rumors of a pending Apple tablet computer have been heating up to a crescendo as of late. There are no shortages of people extolling its many virtues, sight unseen. Here’s why you should spend your money on something else.
1. Short battery life
Think your iPhone has short battery life? The iTablet will have battery life more in line with the current crop of slim MacBooks, that is to say, not very long. There’s a reason airports are full of recharging stations.
Tablets will almost certainly have to be plugged in. A lot.
I’ll bet the image of wires hanging off of your iTablet isn’t all that appealing.
2. Suboptimal comfort factor
A tablet is no iPhone. It’s a computer without a keyboard. The screen might be bigger, but the trade off is that it will be harder to hold comfortably. A laptop can be rested on your lap while you adjust the screen for optimal viewing.
The iTablet will be the screen, so you’re going to have to figure out a balance between comfort and viewing angle. The lack of a rubberized back could compound the problem even further.
3. Tablets are nothing new and they’re still not popular
This type of technology has been around for two decades, but has not been much of a hot ticket. Why would it do better now? Yes, the technology is finally there and touch interfaces have come a long way, but despite the headlines, no one is calling the new crop of Android and Windows tablets a game changer. How will Apple tablet overcome the endless hype? It won’t.
4. You won’t really need one…
What can you do on a tablet that you can’t do on a laptop, netbook or iPhone? That’s a tough hurdle. It’s a much more attractive device to content companies with struggling business models than it will be to consumers in the long run. There may be some specialty applications in specific industries, but that just relegates the iTablet to a niche device.
5. …especially not once you see how much it costs
It won’t be cheap, and if the rumors are true, it will also have a 3g data connection that you’ll have to pay for. One more hefty recurring monthly bill will be too much for most people to swallow.
Copyright 2010 The E.W. Scripps Co. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
