So the new Apple iPad is unveiled. And that’s my reaction… “meh”.

I’ve warmed up to Apple products over the years, without becoming a mindless Applevangelist like my friend Luis. (He has a bunch of Apple stock, which has turned out to be a pretty good buy, but even if he didn’t own stock he’d still be showing them the love.)

He wrote a big long post that takes on most, if not all, of the criticisms of the iPad. It’s a good post. But while I think he hit the points well, I find myself unconvinced by the arguments.

My wife has been waiting for the iPad. I bought a netbook computer back some months ago and I just love it. It does everything that I want/need a portable laptop to do, but without tons of extras that would only add weight and more importantly, price. Netbooks are perfect for use on the road, when you don’t want to tote around a heavier computer.

Ginger, though, is a big-time Mac person. Her main computer is her MacBook; it’s old (I don’t even know how old it is) and still runs okay. She could use a more powerful machine, and a bigger hard drive, but lately has been burning a lot of discs and clearing out space, so she’s got more room and is okay with her machine for now.

What she’d really like is something that’s more use on the road- and as a flight attendant, she’s on the road a lot more than the average bear!

So she’s held off from a netbook for a long time, hoping that Apple would put out something pretty awesome.

Now? She’s kind of “meh” when she saw the iPad. Same reaction that I had, really.

Here’s the main thing: Despite the protests of “it’s upgradeable! The software and OS will be changing!” the reality is that even if you upgrade it, it’s still not much more than a bigger iPhone or iTouch-verion iPod. That’s the reality.

No keyboard. Okay, many of us have adapted to typing reasonably well on the iPhone’s virtual keypad, and the much-bigger size of the iPad means it’ll be even easier- but in reality you just can’t touch-type on it. It’s not meant for much more than even light-duty text entry (barring some revolutionary voice recognition software upgrade to the OS.)

Then there’s the utter lack of plugs. It’s kind of funny to see some of the same people who rail against Microsoft as being a lock-out-monopolistic type of company turning around and defending Apple. Apple’s even WORSE about trying to screw over the consumer and make them pay more via a monopoly; Microsoft is content to stick with the software, but Apple wants the software AND the hardware.

So if you want to plug in… well, damn near anything useful, then you’re going to have to use an adapter plug. Memory card from your camera? You’ll need an adapter. Anything USB, from a mouse or keyboard or microphone or external drive or any of about a bajillion other devices that you might want to use? You’ll need an adapter. Network cable so you can get higher speeds? Not even possible (I think- it could be that it’ll work with an adapter.)

You get the point. Basically, as it comes, you have to either want to use it exactly the way that Apple says, or you’ll have to spend extra dough.

And getting to what you can do on it… a lot. It’s a really cool machine in a lot of ways. But what does it really do that an iPhone can’t? Not much; it just does most of the same stuff BETTER. Surfing the web on this will be better than on an iPhone, because it’s got a bigger screen. Reading your email will be better, same thing. Many of the apps for the iPhone will be better, and I’m sure new ones will come out that take advantage of the iPad’s higher-powered CPU… but overall? Meh.

Costs. Here’s where it really sucks. For 200 to 300, maybe 350 bucks, if you’ve already got an iPhone, you can buy a netbook that will do almost anything that an iPad can- and which will do several things significantly BETTER. And that 350 dollar investment in a netbook is at least 150 dollars less than the least-expensive iPad. What does it buy you?

For one thing, a keyboard. Okay, maybe this is more important to me than to you, but I think it’s pretty dang important. It also buys you a built-in camera (facing the user) for use on video conferencing. And the biggie is that it gets you as much as 250GB of storage- compared with the iPad’s measly 16GB.

Oh, but you can get more storage on the iPad. Heck, you can get up to 64GB… of course, that’ll cost you $700. For a Wi-Fi-only version.

What? You thought it came with an almost-everywhere data plan through AT&T Wireless? Well, sure, but that version, with 3G built in, costs more. For the 16GB version with 3G, it’s $630; for the 64GB version with 3G the price is a stunning $830.

And then you’ve got to add the data plan costs; that’s another $30/month. Granted, you could then drop the data plan from your iPhone if you want, and the price would be a wash- but now your iPhone is just another cellphone, with no web surfing or email or even visual voicemail. No apps like Google Maps or a whole host of other apps that need the data plan.

Of course, if you get the netbook, you can simply tether your iPhone to the netbook and it doesn’t cost anything extra.

This, I think, is where the iPad is going to run into the most troubles. Yeah, it’s super-neato-cool. Yeah, it kind of fits into the market in a spot for something even lighter-duty than a netbook. Yes, it’s got superb design.

But holy fucking bank vaults, Batman, the thing is expensive. It’s going to add ANOTHER $30/month to your already-too-high cellular bill, and the costs of the damn thing up front are huge compared with devices that pretty much cover everything it does.

And here’s why I think all of this: If Ginger had really insisted, Santa would probably have brought her an iPad next year. Santa can afford it in our household, even with the additional data plan costs.

But she said “how much is it?” and “I can’t plug a camera memory card right in?” and looked at it, and said “well if we can spend 300 to 500 dollars less up front AND not have to add to our cellular plan, let’s just get a netbook. Do they come in pink?”

Why yes, honey, they do.

http://www.amazon.com/ASUS-Seashell-1005HA-MU17-PI-10-1-Inch-Netbook/dp/B002P3KMYE/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&s=pc&qid=1265098280&sr=1-7

Only question now is whether she has to wait until Santa brings one, or until her birthday in a month or so.

So is the iPad bad? No, not by any means. It’s a pretty awesome device. It’s slick, has cool design, and has a ton of really neato stuff about it. I love my iPhone, and it’s essentially a big iPhone (except without the phone part of it).

But do I want one? Meh. It’s just kind of expensive. Get it down to the 150-400 dollar price range for the 16GB to 64GB storage range and MAYBE it’ll be worth it to me. Until then, not so much.