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I’d been looking forward to this event all year, had even decided that I was going to buy it almost no matter what it cost. A device that bridged the gap between smart phone and laptop, with the Apple style and design, how could one not want that? Unfortunately, after all was revealed I was left sadly wanting. Sad, because it was not the device I was hoping for. And sad because this might be the first time ever I’ve found an Apple product undesirable. Anyway, let me count the ways:

• no multitasking: I can see me sat on the sofa enjoying a movie on the awesome big screen, decide to tweet what a fantastic device it is, so have to quit the movie, launch EchoFon, tweet, restart the movie, find where I was and carry on. Oh wait, what time does the Pizza place open? Quit the movie, open Safari, find the answer, call them (on the iPhone), and back to the movie. No, guess not.
• Apple says what I can do: The closed nature of the device in hardware and software means I can only do what Apple says I can. Surf the web with a tabbed browser? No, sorry, Safari only. Want to edit your photos, well there’s probably an app for that (but not iLife apparantly) but once I’ve edited them I can’t stick a thumbdrive in and copy it to my non-standard website. Not unless someone writes an app for that (and Apple approves it).
• Still no Flash: Like it or not, Flash pwns the Internet. No Hulu for the iPad owner, either. Or Vimeo or Viddler. No Facebook other than leaving each other messages, can’t run any FB apps. Yes, HTML 5 could make Flash obselete but thats still a couple of years and by then I am sure the iPad will be a very different beast.
• Assisted GPS: The iPad has the possibility of making an awesome Electronic Flight Bag (all the charts, regs etc, flight planning tools) but with a real GPS it could have replaced my aviation GPS into one awesome EFB. But assisted GPS won’t cut it in the air so I still need a $800-$2000 piece of kit for that, and it can run some apps as well….

I don’t hate it. On the contrary, it’s sexier than Megan Fox on the beach and I bet the experience is to die for. But it doesn’t do anything for me at this price point that I can’t do on my iPhone or MacBook Pro; I don’t see that it fills the gap between the two in any way like Steve said it does. So for now I’ll pass but with iPhone OS 4.0 coming out (with multitasking??) and future revisions likely I certainly don’t expect to be iPad-less in the long term.

These guys do a good job at expressing some of my thoughts: Engadget on the iPad.

Regular readers of these ramblings will remember all the to and fro-ing over the last few months, will I get an iPhone, no I won’t, yes I will, Apple sucks, I want to give them a kidney.

Most of the reason for not getting one so far has been the effort required, getting in line early in the morning – not much worth doing that for. But today I read on one of the Apple sites that AT&T was now offering the iPhone for sale for business orders. I checked out the website and it invited me to enter my business email address to see if I was entitled to any discounts. I did – I was!

Turns out my employer has an employee discount scheme with AT&T and that was enough to get me in! From there I could add the iPhone to my shopping basket and, better still, the plans were discounted by about 15% so I ended up with the second cheapest plan for the same rate as the cheapest one.

The order went through and I was told 7-10 days. So imagine my surprise when tonight I got an email saying it had shipped already! Will arrive Monday or Tuesday, I guess.

Since I am a little late getting to the party I shall try to resist all the iPhone posts that have come before me.

The recent $500 models of the iPhone and iPod Touch have left me feeling a little colder towards the iPhone. My current contract expires in a week so the timing is perfect for a new phone. But, as I’ve said before, it’s crazy to buy an iPhone right now with the 3G models most assuredly coming out in a few months: Apple’s buyer remorse is guaranteed with that plan.

The new models made me realise that any new 3G iPhone is going to be in the same ballpark as these models, almost $500. As mega-fantastic as the iPhone is, my parents didn’t raise me to spend that kind of dough on a phone that requires a two-year contract. It’s insane, insane I tell you. So… I think I am going to get a Blackberry or other internet-friendly phone for free (thanks Wirefly!) and then perhaps in the summer spend some of the annual bonus on the Touch.

Yeah, it’s a little sucky but there are plenty of things in life I’d really really like but just can’t justify buying. Got to make the tough choices, I suppose.

61%How Addicted to Apple Are You?

Were it not for the fact that my current Verizon contract doesn’t end until Feb ‘08, it’s a fair bet to say that I would have an iPhone now. So until recently I’ve been pretty sure that come mid-Feb I’d be in the Apple store like a salivating dog but now I’m not so sure. The biggest problem is timing: the iPhone 2.0 is unlikely, I would guess, until the spring/summer of next year. So I’d be in the familiar Apple trap of buying something I’d come to regret in a few months – no GPS and no 3G makes Paul an unhappy consumer.

Now there’s no guarantee that I’d be able to even afford the new iPhone, of course, and to be fair Brawley isn’t exactly awash in 3G coverage, which then flip flops me back to the idea that perhaps iPhone 1.0 is adequate after all? Or maybe the idea is to get an iTouch and a new phone with the Google Maps with My Location feature on it, and call it good?

I hate Apple Buyer’s Remorse.