The Teckki Says

Based off of what I am reading about the Apple iPad that everyone wants, I have come to the understanding that I already have much of what it will do based off of owning an iPod Touch. Since the first models coming in March will be wifi only (as Touches are), I have noted some frustration as an owner, and having looked for apps to make up for deficiencies. Here are five things that and iPad won't do:

(1). An iPad won't replace a Windows or Mac-based computer. For all of you iPad droolies looking to ditch the computer or laptop for an experience of bliss, figuring that all computing should be this way, you will find yourself frustrated, if not disappointed. PC's have gotten us used to switching back and forth between applications, and in many cases, sharing files between them. My experience with the Touch has produced a sore spot in this area, having to purchase several applications because the last one didn't do everything I thought it would do. A particular pain was the lack of file sharing between applications. Most of you are used to using Microsoft applications, and if you do any special tricks, like using Excel to edit table data in a Word document, stick to the big box or laptop.

(2). There isn't always an app for that. Apple tightly controls the environment apps run in, and coming from the Palm Pilot world, I found that I was leaving superior applications and settling for serviceable ones. A database program I had on the Palm allowed extensive customization to suit my needs. I didn't bother to get its Apple edition, which for $10 was seriously lacking, and a large trail of reviews loudly bemoaned this. The developer cited the restrictive environment Apple required as the reason it could not carry over many of the features that made its software so popular on the Palm, no consolation for those of us who ditched a pretty good Palm in favor of the iPod Touch

(3). No direct hard-drive access. After thirty or so years of accessing C-drives and folders, this has become innate for most of us. While accessing a drive directly may sound geeky, it had the advantage of allowing you to put ANYTHING there for storage. Apples’ logic appears sound on this one - if an app can't view or use it, it doesn't need to be there. However, when I am archiving files, I am precisely looking for storage, and nothing else. This is actually a step back to my iPod Classic, which I have attached to my Apple Airport network box, and use the hard drive to wirelessly store files for all of my computers to share. Heck, I can even stream iTunes from the Classic by loading the iTunes software on the PC, leaving the music on the device.

(4). Play Flash. You really don't know how much Flash is integrated into the web until you get an iAnything. From animated buttons to slide shows to video, Flash powers most of them, and they don't show up on an iPhone or iPod Touch, and they won't show up on an iPad. I took the opportunity to look up Disney on my computer, then on my Touch. The site knows the difference, shunting my touch to the mobile version. The graphics are beautiful, but they don't come close to the Flash version. You won't be this lucky most of the time, as most sites don't display Flash content at all, leaving wide spaces of website pages white with a plugin symbol in the middle.

(5). Running multiple applications. Sometimes you want to check your email while in the middle of typing a letter. If my touch is any indication of how this is going to work, we’ll be back to the era were we hit the save button every five minutes, or at least when we switch applications. On a Mac, you can type a letter, check your email, play a song, and go back to typing the letter. In the Touch world, and I suspect the iPad world, such multitasking is not allowed. Most applications run one at a time. The music player seems to survive the switch to another app, but if you are responding to an email, you could lose your word processing document.

In many ways, my Touch was a big step forward, albeit some small steps backward. There were some things that were never going to be replicated on the Touch, and I adjusted. My advice to you is to thoroughly check out everything you want to do before you buy this must-have device. $500 is a lot of money to plunk down on a device that won't adequately replace your current device, no matter how much you want it. If you are looking to run some heavy video editing application or downloading your pictures to this device from your camera, forget it, because that's not what this is for. However, it should do much of what you want it to do in style!

In reading the article Phones, PCs put e-book within reach of Kindle-less, I can't help but ask how many times are we going to have this debate? Everybody wants to think that they can do everything from their phone. Every generation of smart phone is supposed to replace all of the older, larger devices it incorporates.

By now, Dell, HP and other large footprint computer companies should have shelved their desktop and laptop operations a long time ago. With so much computing power built into our phones, we should have all replaced our "big boxes" with these devices. In fact, we should be upgrading our old, less powerful smart phones with newer models that would allow us to throw away more hardware, like mice and keyboards, because if they aren't already built in, touch screens will finally render these devices obsolete.

But everyone I know still has a computer.

It's the real estate, stupid!

Smart phones are definitely more powerful than computers of just a few years ago, but I am not doing work I did a few years ago, I am doing TODAY's work! My screen of a few years ago was 19", it's now 22", and a larger one would not hurt. The likelihood of me putting larger screens into a backpack or a back pocket have long been nil. Looking at pictures, documents and websites on a 2"x2" represents such a step backwards in both size and resolution that I can't see (no pun intended) why we still think smaller is better in this case.

My need for memory (4GB and counting), hard drive space (160GB primary, several external drives) and connectivity to
additional devices (I have a hub in addition to 8 on board USB slots) requires more than I can expect from a device as small as a smart phone. Try sticking a thumb drive (which many of us have) into a phone slot.

There are things that I find wonderful about a smart phone: Keeping my contacts and appointments, acting as a portable Yellow Pages directory, a GPS system when I get lost (or before), and text messaging. Since I use email as a documentation system, I limit usage to quick notes and replies, and I don't attach nor appreciate receiving attachments over cellular lines.

Oh, I forgot the most important thing I need from a smart phone - the ability to make calls.