The Tablet, what is it good for?

I came across an article, I forget the link, that says the iPad is boring and doesn’t serve to increase productivity in the slightest. Its basic intent is to bleed you dry one app purchase at a time. A few interesting points and some of them are valid. There is no doubt the iPad was built to make money off apps. Without apps the iPad doesn’t do anything. But, is that really a problem?

Sure, when you turn on the iPad it stares back at you blankly. You can look at the time and check what day it is. Honestly, I wish Windows was so boring and scaled down. I wish I could install Windows for the first time into just a few megs of space and go to an app store so I could download and use only the apps I really wanted instead of having a bloated OS that takes up gigs of space and still doesn’t do anything useful out of the box.

Indeed, the App Store is out there to make money 99 cents at a time. I don’t really see a problem with that. There are lots of choices in the Windows world and lots of choices in the App Store. There are more writing apps in the App Store than you can shake a stick at. And there are dozens of alternatives to Word and Office Suite. From where I sit, all apps have equal footing in the app store. That’s definitely a plus.

Do I get bored with my apps? Sometimes, but here is the difference. I’m more willing to download an app for $0.99 and say I don’t like it versus spending $19.99 on a Windows app and then saying I don’t like it. It makes a little more sense to spend $5 on several apps and get the one that comes closest to the feature set (and encourages the developer to continue with feature updates for those that didn’t make the grade) than spend 5 times that much on a single app, get frustrated and give up.

One of the comments made was that it’s so boring you need to keep updating it with new apps and games. I don’t think that kind of comment even makes sense. There is such an overwhelming number of good apps for the iPad that you want try them all out. Mind you, the App Store is quickly becoming a festering dung heap with stupid fart apps and plenty of similarly styled pieces of crap. I’d rather Apple never accepted them, but that’s censorship and it’s better to let me ignore them rather than have Apple decide for me.

If anything, I think the iPhone and iPad have revitalized developers. They have a new market. They can create new styles of apps. They can experiment and play at relatively lost cost and risk. I think that’s a marvelous thing.

Is iOS boring? Yeah, as it should be. It’s the OS, there is no need for it to be sexy. But, does it give me what I’m looking for? Absolutely, a simple and clean UI that lets me find my app and start it in seconds. I only hope it stays that way.

If you’ve come as an elf, see it through as an elf.

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