Open Letter to Steve Jobs,
I took the liberty to write you a letter after yesterdays announcement of the iPad to express my concerns about the future of your product and also why Im unsatisfied by what the iPad has to offer.
Yesterday the iPad was announced as a possible market penetrator that, as you said, would fit between an iPod touch/iPhone and a Mac. I certainly agree with that, I think that there is room for one more product as long as it is affordable (and in my opinion, it turned out to be so, given the $499 entry price of the iPad). On the other hand, Im disappointed due to the lack of innovation on the software side of this magical and revolutionary device. Lets be real, there is little innovation when talking about software on the iPad (which is basically the iPhoneOS), and I think the iPad has yet to demonstrate its a revolutionary device. As you said on the conference, there are 75 million people who already know how to use an iPhone and/or and iPod touch, and at the same time, there are 75 million people who already have a sort of portable iPad on their hands! I know, I know.. this has a bigger screen so watching a movie, browsing the web is much easier. Listening to music? not so much... but the fact is that the lack of software innovation is, unfortunately, going to keep me away from buying one of these things (even though I already know how to use it - I feel like I already have it or at least doesnt offer anything truly new). In my humble opinion, there so much room for creating a better UI that gives you something that the iPhone or the iPod touch could never give you.
You have probably already heard about the complaints of what the iPad is missing and why its a disappointment. According to PC World there are twelve things the iPad should have had. Dont get me wrong, I dont want those twelve issues fixed before buying and iPad, but there are two that keep me from doing so having already an iPhone or iPod touch. These are, the lack of a revolutionary UI, and the lack of a video camera for iChat.
Let me start with the second and least important one. Im the user of a netbook. Yes, those cheap computers that arent better at anything. The fact is that netbooks, even though theyre slow, let me video chat while Im in the University, or on a trip, or in anywhere else where I dont carry my MacBook Pro because I find the netbook a lot lighter. Certainly the iPad is lighter than the netbook, but it wont let me video chat.
Now, about the UI. Please please pleaseee! get rid of the iPhone OS and start a new iPad OS! Not that the iPhone OS isnt any good (its actually excellent and I love my iPod touch in terms of hardware and software), but it was developed for the iPhone, a device with a limited screen size, with limited processing capabilities. The iPad has a much larger screen, and certainly has much better processing capabilities. In a way, I feel that the UI is being underused. Having such a beautiful screen just to display the same icons that the iPhone has? There so much more that could be done, and there is so much more the iPad could and should offer in order to say: wow, I need that!. I have a few ideas, but the purpose of this letter is not to sell them (I bet people at Apple have tons of great ideas) but to let you know that the iPad has to be much more than just an iPhone on steroids. As you said, the iPad needs to better at certain things in order to fit an already crowded market, and in my opinion, its only partially better. Let me explain why the UI is underused to me. When I get home and I lift the screen of my MacBook Pro, I ALWAYS do the same things first. These are, checking my email, checking the weather for the next few days, checking the latest news, checking the currency values (which are of particular interest to me) and opening the calendar to see what things need to be done or where do I need to be today or tomorrow. I do all of this by opening the dashboard, the calendar application and safari, and I do it all more or less at the same time. The problem with the iPad is that it offers no multitasking, meaning that I have to open (and close!) five different applications in order to do the same that I do on my MacBook Pro. Is the iPad better at doing those things? I think not. I wish there was some sort of iPad Dashboard/Home Screen where you could organize the most important things you need to see with many widgets (or whatever) to choose from (created by the same people who create the applications). In the end, having such a screen just to display icons of applications that open independently is not the most efficient way to display information. As I said, theres much more to be done in order to the iPad become the device I need, and not just want.
Sincerely yours,
Jesus Montiel Maillo
P.S. By the way, the fact that it doesnt have Flash, a rear camera, HDMI, etc, is not an issue to me, but those two things I mentioned earlier are, and will keep me from buying.
I took the liberty to write you a letter after yesterdays announcement of the iPad to express my concerns about the future of your product and also why Im unsatisfied by what the iPad has to offer.
Yesterday the iPad was announced as a possible market penetrator that, as you said, would fit between an iPod touch/iPhone and a Mac. I certainly agree with that, I think that there is room for one more product as long as it is affordable (and in my opinion, it turned out to be so, given the $499 entry price of the iPad). On the other hand, Im disappointed due to the lack of innovation on the software side of this magical and revolutionary device. Lets be real, there is little innovation when talking about software on the iPad (which is basically the iPhoneOS), and I think the iPad has yet to demonstrate its a revolutionary device. As you said on the conference, there are 75 million people who already know how to use an iPhone and/or and iPod touch, and at the same time, there are 75 million people who already have a sort of portable iPad on their hands! I know, I know.. this has a bigger screen so watching a movie, browsing the web is much easier. Listening to music? not so much... but the fact is that the lack of software innovation is, unfortunately, going to keep me away from buying one of these things (even though I already know how to use it - I feel like I already have it or at least doesnt offer anything truly new). In my humble opinion, there so much room for creating a better UI that gives you something that the iPhone or the iPod touch could never give you.
You have probably already heard about the complaints of what the iPad is missing and why its a disappointment. According to PC World there are twelve things the iPad should have had. Dont get me wrong, I dont want those twelve issues fixed before buying and iPad, but there are two that keep me from doing so having already an iPhone or iPod touch. These are, the lack of a revolutionary UI, and the lack of a video camera for iChat.
Let me start with the second and least important one. Im the user of a netbook. Yes, those cheap computers that arent better at anything. The fact is that netbooks, even though theyre slow, let me video chat while Im in the University, or on a trip, or in anywhere else where I dont carry my MacBook Pro because I find the netbook a lot lighter. Certainly the iPad is lighter than the netbook, but it wont let me video chat.
Now, about the UI. Please please pleaseee! get rid of the iPhone OS and start a new iPad OS! Not that the iPhone OS isnt any good (its actually excellent and I love my iPod touch in terms of hardware and software), but it was developed for the iPhone, a device with a limited screen size, with limited processing capabilities. The iPad has a much larger screen, and certainly has much better processing capabilities. In a way, I feel that the UI is being underused. Having such a beautiful screen just to display the same icons that the iPhone has? There so much more that could be done, and there is so much more the iPad could and should offer in order to say: wow, I need that!. I have a few ideas, but the purpose of this letter is not to sell them (I bet people at Apple have tons of great ideas) but to let you know that the iPad has to be much more than just an iPhone on steroids. As you said, the iPad needs to better at certain things in order to fit an already crowded market, and in my opinion, its only partially better. Let me explain why the UI is underused to me. When I get home and I lift the screen of my MacBook Pro, I ALWAYS do the same things first. These are, checking my email, checking the weather for the next few days, checking the latest news, checking the currency values (which are of particular interest to me) and opening the calendar to see what things need to be done or where do I need to be today or tomorrow. I do all of this by opening the dashboard, the calendar application and safari, and I do it all more or less at the same time. The problem with the iPad is that it offers no multitasking, meaning that I have to open (and close!) five different applications in order to do the same that I do on my MacBook Pro. Is the iPad better at doing those things? I think not. I wish there was some sort of iPad Dashboard/Home Screen where you could organize the most important things you need to see with many widgets (or whatever) to choose from (created by the same people who create the applications). In the end, having such a screen just to display icons of applications that open independently is not the most efficient way to display information. As I said, theres much more to be done in order to the iPad become the device I need, and not just want.
Sincerely yours,
Jesus Montiel Maillo
P.S. By the way, the fact that it doesnt have Flash, a rear camera, HDMI, etc, is not an issue to me, but those two things I mentioned earlier are, and will keep me from buying.
