iPad vs. iPod Touch

iPad vs. iPod Touch

The iPad is a lie! It's not a tablet pc. And especially not the tablet pc everyone wants. It's more like they designed a new iPod touch and forgot to shrink it to a handheld format.

	iPod touch	iPad
Storage	8, 32, 64GB	16, 32, 64GB
Processor	+/- 400Mhz (8GB), +/- 600Mhz	1Ghz
Camera	No	No
Battery life	30 Hours (music)	10 Hours (webbrowsing)
Screen	3.5″	9.7″
Resolution	480×320	1024×768
Ports	Dock connector, Audio out
Networking	Wifi 11b/g, Bluetooth	Wifi 11a/b/g/n, 3G/Edge (optional), Bluetooth
Controls	Home-, Volume-, Powerbutton
Multitouch	Yes	Yes
Standalone	No	No
OS	iPhone OS	iPhone OS
Multitasking	No	No
Finder/file access	No	No
File downloads	No	No
Portable	Yes	Somewhat

Note that the iPad is a better device specs-wise, but that's what you would expect in a new iPod Touch.

The lack of multitasking and the "feature" of iPhone OS makes it a bit of a useless thing. Nice for in and around the house. But imagine you sitting in a bus or train with it. Playing some game or whatever. Try it… Take a paper and fold it to a A4 sized slab and see how it not fits with your environment because it's too big.

The lack of a real OS makes it an iPod. Simple as that. If it has OS X and a desktop it would be a real computer that could replace something. Now it's just something that adds to what you already have. But at the same time you just know it's a bit useless because it lacks the software you need.

No iBooks outside the US? What the hell! Is this gonna be like the video store Apple is so happy about but never leaves the States? Damn Apple! Fix that stuff or do not present it as if it's the greatest thing ever. If i, we in Europe, cannot use it. It's as good as useless.

The, for me, actual dealbreaker; No multitasking. How can you even try to justify that. A device that you claim will compete with Netbooks but cannot open multiple apps at the same time. Insane! It's not even a standalone computer. Yeah, it syncs with iTunes. Like your iPhone and iPod.

No file access, if only… only, they had given us a browsable home folder. You know. A place to store and access files outside the app you run at that moment. It is so very simple and obvious. This folder should be shared by default via Wifi and have the subfolders like your mac has. Images, Videos, Music, Documents. Etc. But no. iPhone OS cannot do that. You have to open the Images app to see your images. And you have to open Pages to see your documents. But only the ones Apple supports.

It's failboat! A big huge failboat!

However, most of it is fixable with software i'm sure. And i hope Apple will, because i want an iPad. Just not this one! For now my iPhone can do more and is more useful.