Now that Apple’s long-awaited official announcement of the iPad has come and gone, Apple reviewers have had a chance to take a deep breath and take stock of what CEO Steve Jobs has delivered. In the wake of all the hype of the tablet computer as a “Jesus device,” Apple fanboys and the general public were struck with an anticlimactic feeling. “Is that all there is?” many asked.
In the week or so since the announcement, the technology press has made much of the iPad’s failings — starting with jokes about feminine hygiene products but continuing on to real shortcomings such as the lack of support for Adobe Flash-based video.
After all the hype, is the iPad a letdown? “It’s not a bad first-generation product; it’s a reasonable offering,” Rob Enderle, principal analyst with the Enderle Group, said in a telephone interview. “It’s going to mature a lot in the second and third generations, and the market will open up for them in that time frame. There’s too big a bar to get a big wave on the first generation.”
Ready for the Second Generation
What does the iPad need in that second generation? “We need another carrier other than AT&T, and we probably need a different screen that’s viewable outdoors,” Enderle said. He said this first-generation iPad is probably comparable to the original iPhone.
“The iPhone was kind of crippled when it came out — it took two generations to reach its potential,” Enderle said. By contrast, “the screen and the mobile provider can probably be done by the second generation.”
Jobs actually announced six versions of the iPad — three Wi-Fi-only configurations and three with a 3G plan. Enderle expects the 3G models to be more popular than the Wi-Fi versions, even with AT&T’s weak coverage. “The Kindle is so much better with…