Although I do now have a desktop running Windows 7 that I primarily use at home, I am still a Mac guy with my MacBook Pro which is used on the go and around the house (can’t carry the desktop to bed with me, or to the kitchen bar while cooking).
I have resisted buying an iPad for the longest time because, although it’s undeniably really cool…it doesn’t serve any real function I can’t already perform some other way. I have a laptop I carry with me basically everywhere anyway, so it doesn’t serve well as an “alternative” to carrying around a computer. As a Computer Science student, I need more from a computer than the iPad can offer.
The iPad is primarily a portable media consumption device. I consume a lot of media, yes, but I can do that on my MacBook Pro and it’s portable as well. Many of the attractive ideas of the iPad can be done with something I already own and already carry with me, like watching movies (my laptop), reading books (Kindle app on my Android), and simple web browsing (either device, really).
Because I’m carrying them anyway, it doesn’t make sense for me to add a new device (especially when it costs so much) to my workflow that doesn’t really offer me any new functionality. True, the iPad does all that it does with more “style” than currently–I mean, iBooks on the iPad clearly would be more engaging than Kindle on my small HTC Incredible screen–but that just isn’t enough for me yet. Especially when I’m a student and the monetary investment in buying an iPad is quite different than if I was making $100k a year somewhere.
That being said, the new iPad 2 is really, really nice. It’s getting closer to being something I might actually buy, but not quite. I still feel like if I were to buy it the new would rub off fairly quickly and I’d be left wondering “Why did I buy this?”
Naturally, me being a dreamer, I can foresee the future when it would make sense for me to have an iPad lying around my house. One day I’ll have a home which is very integrated and the iPad could serve many functions such as controlling lighting, volumes of speakers, air conditioning, etc. These things make sense for having an all-controlling tablet lying around my house. In fact, I wouldn’t mind being involved in developing these kinds of things. Who knows where I’ll end up in my development career. For now, I’ve got a head full of ideas and nothing standing in my way.