What Were They Thinking?
Fresh when it gets here from
Julie Barrett
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
So I finally got to take a look at the iPad hype today. What? No camera? No mutlitasking? No Flash?
Seriously, I'd almost jump in line (the only thing holding me back would be the cold, hard cash) for a tablet with a pressure-sensitive touch screen, camera, and the ability to run real computer apps like say, Photoshop.
Wait. Paul has one. It's an Acer convertible notebook.
Okay, so it's an iPhone on steroids. But that name! Are there no women roaming the halls in Cupertino? I can only imagine the following scene as a woman tries to get the attention of the man at the top of Apple:
"Pardon me, my Lord, but the iPad has got to be the worst name for a tech device since Sir Thomas Crapper put his moniker on the flush toilet. Microsoft's Bob stands head and shoulders above the iPad - and he doesn't have shoulders! Sir, you have just alienated 50% of your market, and 40% of the rest wonder if it will be discretely handed over the counter in a brown paper bag. The other 10% would buy the iCrapper. If you price it at $50K you might salvage your third quarter."
As she is carried down the hall for ritual disemboweling she calls out: "For the love of all that's good and holy, do not call the case quilted or refer to the kickstand as a wing!"
Some people ask, "so, what's wrong with a notepad?" I answer: It's the ubiquitousness of whole "i" line. You've got the "i" this and the "i" that and the "i" the other. Do you have the notenano? The notephone? The notemini? The notepod? All from the same company? All with the same interface? Hey, with the notepad, you have your choice of pen. Or pencil. Or crayon. So when someone says "iPad," I don't think of a tablet. I think of the things I stockpile monthly. With a USB cable. Oh, dear dawg, get that out of my head.
Oh, I suppose the iPad goes well with the iPod in terms of name symmetry. I'll give Apple that. And I expect I'll get used to the name - eventually. But for now, it's just plain wrong.
Tags: Technology
Filed under: Technology
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