iPad2–Just What I Didn’t Think I Wanted

Truth is Apple took a product which is incredibly loved and by all outward appearances made it more lovable.

I traded tweets with Darren Kramer this evening. We were talking about the new iPad2, a device I find surprisingly alluring.

“I am so impressed with how that company relentlessly innovates. Go ahead, confess your love for Jobs.”

Darren is such a Steve Jobs fanboy, but he’s right!

Truth is Apple took a product which is already incredibly loved and by all outward appearances made it more lovable.

Apple has slimmed the iPad2 by a full third. At the same time it added a speedier cpu and graphics processor. On the outside are two video cameras (front and back) to facilitate video chatting and movie making. On the inside there’s Garage Band for audio and iMovie for video.

It’s got a ten hour battery! This is going to supplant laptops on airplanes, vacations and Metro North.

To paraphrase Wallis Simpson, the American-born Duchess of Windsor, a tablet computer can never be too rich in features or too thin!

I wanted a tablet which would run the Android operating system and be comparable to the original iPad in its capacity. Not anymore. The bar has been raised. Nothing outside Apple is even close.

I don’t want to like Apple products. I have it out for them. To me Apple stands for smug self righteousness. Apple is the rich kid who got into college because of his father’s influence.

On the other hand they deliver!

11 thoughts on “iPad2–Just What I Didn’t Think I Wanted”

  1. Indeed, Geoff, I’m impressed that you’re tempted by the Apple. Go ahead, take another bite (after all, don’t you really like your iPhone?). Besides, I’m sure that you’ll be able to enjoy all the geeky fun that comes with jailbreaking the iPad 2 within weeks of its arrival.

    Seriously, I’m not mocking you. I am a long time fan of Apple’s products (been a Mac user for the past 24 years), but I really appreciate that you want to be able to really get “under the hood” so to speak when it comes to computers and the like.

    If you do get the iPad 2, I will look forward to reading about your experience with it.

  2. I heard all the wonderfulness of the iPad 2 from my husband last night. In fact, he showed me – on his iPad!! That is the problem with people who have to have all the gadgets the minute they come out. What will iPad 3 do for us?

  3. The only thing spec wise that the Ipad 2 has over the Xoom is it’s thinner and slightly cheaper.The Xoom has HDMI port, much better cameras, higher rez and larger display, can playback 1080p video, etc and as you mentioned the openness of Android. I will give you the “looks” factor of the Ipad 2 though!

  4. I agree, I do not want to like Apple……..but they deliver. Although after 2 attempts to fix the voice mail on my wife’s iPhone, which of course AT&T can be of no help, because Apple is above us all and has their own tech support people……..problem is, they have not been available to help me yet……. AT&T may not be able to help, but they are there when you need them.

  5. I agree – I have never bought an Apple product, but I have decided to buy an IPad2 – a friend has an Ipad and I love it. I have avoided Apple partly because my workplace is all PC, but also because IPhone requires ATT and I have been fighting them for years. But the IPad can be just WiFi, and it has such a long battery life that you can do all sorts of things that you can’t do with a laptop. So I’ll be at an Apple store for the first time in my life next week. (Not standing in line – but I’ll be there!) Enjoy!

  6. “This is going to supplant laptops on airplanes, vacations and Metro North”

    Speaking as someone that lives in airport and on airplanes…. It already has! I counted eight of us with them in Business Class the other night. I love mine (and never thought I’d use it as much as I do) and it has replaced my laptop for 90% of my trips.

    Yep, count me among those that continually bite the Apple, but there’s not much I can fault Apple with all of the products I own. I’ll be ordering iPad2 and cannot wait!

    -Mike

  7. If I didn’t already have the first version, I’d buy one in a heartbeat! I live on this thing.
    I never expected how much I would find to use it to for, but I no longer spend hours a day on the computer. I spend it on the iPad. And I was not an Apple fan.
    Go for it. Just watch the darn spelling correction.

  8. Geoff, Ty is turning 16 this month and has waited patiently since christmas to purchase his IPad2. Love to the family!

  9. But still no flash support. I don’t see how it can fill the function they want it to fill without flash support. And I’m betting they held the camera out of the iPad 1 just so they’d have a new feature for this one.

    It’s definitely a step in the right direction, but I don’t think the technology has gone where it needs to go yet. I’m going to wait a while longer before I get a tablet.

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