Hands off! Don't touch! It's my iPad! Buy your own!

Smartphones, iPhones and iPod Touches are personal devices that are meant to be used only by one user. They are perfect for individuals because they are small, fit in your pocket, cheap, and everyone has their own. A computer on the other hand is large, expensive and is designed to be shared by several people. Everyone in the household can have their own account with their own settings, their own music, photos, apps, bookmarks, usernames and passwords to websites, and so on. So is the iPad a personal device that is designed for one person to use or is it a device that the whole family can use? It's a very important question and you might not like the answer.

Whether you have a smartphone, iPhone or iPod Touch, it's a personal devices that is set up for your private email accounts, it has your own private calendar, appointments and contacts, the web browser remembers your login user names and passwords for various websites, the Facebook app goes straight into your account and shows your wall, and when you post an update it goes on your account, and when you upload a photo it goes into your album. Your Twitter app shows your Twitter feed and postings are made to your Twitter account. When you browse the web, the browser has your personal bookmarks, and usernames and login details are remembered and you automatically log in to sites as you.

When you put the iPad down, someone will say "Can I use the iPad now?" or "Pad the iPad over I want to go online." You'll have to say no. Hands off! Don't touch! It's my iPad! Buy your own!

When you put the iPad down, your wife or kids are going to be dying to use it, it's so cool, but just think. They'll have access to your email accounts and will be able to read all your mail and send mail from your account. It'll have your calendar appointments and they'll be adding their own, which will then appear in your calendar on your computer when you sync the iPad. They'll want to add their own contacts, which will then get mixed up with yours (would your kids want to put all their friends into your contact book?). Your kids will be logging on to your Facebook and Twitter accounts, your eBay account, adding bookmarks to websites you have no interest in, which then get synced to your desktop computer. They'll be automatically logged into all the websites you've signed up for as you because usernames and passwords are stored. They'll be buying and downloading content from iTunes on your account and their music will be mixed in with yours.

Every single app in the iTunes store is designed for a single user. OK, it doesn't matter if it's iFart, but a lot of apps use personal information, files, settings, login details, and so on, and they are not designed for multiple users. Facebook and Twitter apps are good examples, but there are many others. iWork for the iPad for example - will other people that use the iPad have access to all your files? Can they load them, change them, delete them? Are you sure you want to pass your iPad over to your kids to play with?

I've not used the iPad, but from what I've seen and heard I can't see anything that would allow for multiple users in the way that a computer allows multiple accounts each with their own settings and files. The iPad is a souped up iPod Touch and it's designed for a single user. All apps are designed for single users. So when your wife or kids ask to use the iPad, you'll have to say no, go and buy your own.

Are you seriously going to buy everyone in the household their own iPad at $500 each for the base model with no extras? No way! The iPad is too big and too expensive to be a personal device and it needs to be a shared device like a computer with separate accounts for each user.

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Picture yourself using an Apple iPad

Can you picture yourself using an Apple iPad? Where? When? What will you be doing on it? Are you at home sitting on the sofa viewing your photos? Are you on a train commuting to work and browsing the web? Are you in a coffee shop catching up with your email? Yes, of course you can picture yourself doing all these things, but before you pitch your tent outside the nearest Apple store to be the first in the queue for the iPad, you also have to consider the alternative ways of performing these common activities.

If you are at home you will have your smartphone with you, a desktop computer, and possibly a laptop computer too. You could browse the web on the iPad, but you could also sit at your desktop PC (I don't just mean Windows PCs, but all personal computers including Mac and Linux) with its much larger monitor - and Flash. You can also do much more with the content available on the web too, such as save files, clip text or images and save them for later. You could view your photos on the iPad, but you could also hook your camera up to the big LCD/plasma TV in the lounge, or use your laptop/desktop PC and then tweak the photos in a photo editor, organise them into albums, turn them into videos and so on using a desktop or laptop.

You could play games on the iPad, but you've probably got an Xbox, Playstation or Wii that's much better. You also have the PC too, which is a good gaming platform. The joysticks, game pads and other controllers make consoles and PCs much more fun for playing games. You could watch streaming TV or video on the iPad, but wouldn't it be better on your desktop PC with its large screen, or even a laptop with a 15in screen? You can also easily hook up a PC to your LCD or plasma and watch streaming TV/video in high definition on a 40in screen or whatever you have. You can picture yourself listening to music, but if you get up and walk around then it's awkward to carry and an iPod will fit your pocket. If you want to look up recipes on the web in the kitchen you could use the iPad, but you could easily plonk your laptop on the worktop  and use that instead. An iPad would be marginally more convenient, but not greatly so.

Yes, I can picture myself using an iPad at home, but whatever I do, there is an alternative and that alternative is often better.

Can you picture yourself on the train commuting to work using an iPad? Can you picture yourself in a coffee shop using an iPad? No doubt you can, but when you leave the house you either need to work or you don't. If you don't need to work then a smartphone has everything you need, particularly the iPhone, which is also a great music and video player, and has email, contacts, web browsing and more. Sometimes you want to travel light and a smartphone is perfect. You can keep in touch with friends and work colleagues, tweet, post to Facebook and more. It would not be convenient to carry around a large iPad. It won't fit your pocket and you'd need a bag or carry case.

Sometimes when you are out you need to work on on the go - work on a presentation, a document, a spreadsheet, DTPed brochure, or whatever. If you need to work you need a laptop and nothing else will do. An iPad isn't really suitable in these situations because it is much less functional than a laptop. It's lighter and thinner, but that doesn't make up for the inability to do useful work.

I couldn't leave my phone at home because the iPad doesn't make calls, and I couldn't leave my laptop at home because then I wouldn't be able to do any work.

Whether I'm at home or out, I can't really see how an iPad would be superior to either my smartphone or my laptop. In a small number of circumstances it might be more convenient because of its portability compared to a laptop, but those circumstances are rare. With two computers, a laptop, an iPod, a smartphone, and an LCD TV at home, why would I need an iPad? And when I'm out, an iPad is less portable than my smartphone and less functional than my laptop.

I'm not anti iPad and I think Apple has produced the best tablet computer ever. No-one has come up with a design that is anywhere near as good as it. However, I just don't think that there is a gap between the smartphone, netbook, laptop and desktop PC markets.

The iPad will definitely be a success and Apple will make loads of money from it. Apple fans and gadget lovers will ensure that. The only question is how much of a success it will be. Will it sell like the iPod (do you know anyone that doesn't have an iPod - or iPhone which is also an iPod?), or will it sell like the Apple TV (ask your friends about the Apple TV and most won't have heard of it)? I suspect it will sell more like the Apple TV, at least in its current form.

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Apple iPad vs Dell Inspiron 15

Apple surprised everyone with the price of the new iPad and it is just $499, which is probably a couple of hundred less than people were expecting. Of course, the iPad looks fantastic and it is a very desirable gadget, but seriously though, if you had $499 to spend, would you really buy an iPad?

Any sensible person would look at the alternatives that are on offer and a trip to the Dell website revealed that for less money you could buy an Inspiron 15 laptop computer. This is just one example from one company and there are many alternatives, but it serves the purpose of this comparison.

	Dell Inspiron 15	Apple iPad
Processor	Dual core T4400 2.2GHz	1GHz A4
OS	Windows 7	iPhone OS
Display	15.5in LCD	9.7in LCD
DVD	8X DVD burner	None
Memory	3Gb
Storage	250Gb	16Gb
Wi-Fi	Yes	Yes
Battery	8 hours	10 Hours
Keyboard	Built in	Costs extra
Case	Built in	Costs extra
Camera connection	Built in	Costs extra
USB	Built in	None
Price	$489	$499

An Apple iPad is really quite limited both in the hardware and the software it can run and for less money you can have a powerful laptop computer. I know there are a thousands apps in the iTunes app store, but a lot of them are very simple. Just think, you can run iFart even bigger and better on an iPad! The Dell on the other hand can run Microsoft Office, Photoshop, and a zillion other freeware, open source and commercial applications. The Dell is a real computer that runs serious software (and fun apps and games too). OK, the iPad runs iWork, but who uses iWork? It also costs extra whereas OpenOffice for the Dell is free and has more features.

Of course, I would like an iPad because it is lighter, more portable and looks fantastic, but when you compare the capabilities of a laptop, even a budget one, the laptop blows the iPad away. When it comes to spending my own money my head rules over my heart and I would have to buy the Dell even though I'd love the iPad.

Remember that this is version 1 and they say you should never buy version 1 of anything. I think that two or three generations down the line when Apple has improved the hardware and operating system and when developers have written some cool apps for it, it will be a good buy. Just compare the latest iPhone 3GS with the original iPhone on launch day to see how much it has changed. If the iPad is developed in a similar way then it'll be great in three years time. Right now though, it looks cool, but I think my money would go elsewhere.

(PS. There are lots of optional extras for the Dell. I chose a better battery which added $40 to the price, but it lasts nearly as long as the iPad. The Inspiron 15 actually starts at $449.)

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Apple tablet's future is uncertain

News stories about the Apple Tablet are everywhere and even with CES running at the moment (one of the biggest electronics shows around), hardly a day goes by without someone somewhere writing about it.

There is lots of new technology at CES and 3D television appears to be the next big thing. Every TV manufacturer is working on 3D TVs, but they don't have mass market appeal. Sure, some people will always buy the latest technology simply because it's the latest, the coolest and no-one else in their street or circle of friends has it. But it is hard to see large numbers of people replacing their TVs with them and sitting watching with funny glasses on. What's more, many people have only recently replaced their old CRT TVs with flat screen LCD and plasma screens, and it wasn't cheap. It is unrealistic to expect people to rush out and buy new TVs just to get 3D.

Another big thing at CES is the number of ebook readers and tablet computers. It seems that in 2010 there will be a glut of the devices. It is inevitable that many will fail to achieve significant sales, but there could be a few that become quite popular. Apple's tablet could be one of them. The company certainly has a knack for producing products that are regarded as cool and fashionable. What's more, the company has fans that will buy anything that it produces. For this reason alone, the Apple tablet will not be a failure.

However, will it be a mass market big seller like the iPod? Now that's a difficult question to answer. The specifications are unknown as I write this, but even if it is a fantastic device, it is still hard to see mass market sales. I have a smartphone, a laptop and a desktop, so where does a tablet fit in? If I need to travel light I can carry the smartphone, if I need a computer I can carry a laptop, and if I'm at my desk I can use the desktop computer. All my needs are catered for and a tablet doesn't fit in.

On the bright side though, Apple does have a habit of thinking outside the box, as the saying goes. Before the iPhone was released many people reckoned that an Apple mobile phone would be a failure. But that is because they were thinking that it was just another phone. It is true that an iPhone isn't a particularly good phone, but it is a brilliant hand-held computer with a touch screen interface and it is this side of it that has made it a success.

As a tablet computer, the Apple tablet might not be that hot, but that might just be a small part of its capabilities. Rumours are that it is an ebook reader and there are certainly going to be a lot of these devices around this year. They are still too expensive to be mass market products though and sales will be slow until the price falls to around a quarter of what they are right now. This will surely happen, but not this year. Apple's tablet will probably run many iPhone/iPod Touch apps at launch, but simply having a bigger screen to run existing apps won't convince many people to buy the device. It is likely to be able to run its own apps and developers will surely be working feverishly for the rest of the year producing apps for it. This time next year there will no doubt be many good Apple tablet apps.

Even if the Apple tablet is a great ebook reader and has thousands of apps, I still can't see a mass market for it. It won't be as cheap and portable as an smartphone and it won't be as powerful and functional as a laptop. At this point in time it is hard to see a market apart from enthusiasts. Of course, there are enough of those to ensure it is a minor success, like the Apple TV, but most people will probably look at it, think "That's cool," but won't buy it.

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