Pogue's iPad Review: a bit disappointed

> And the techies are right about another thing: the iPad is not a laptop. It’s not nearly as good for creating stuff. On the other hand, it’s infinitely more convenient for consuming it — books, music, video, photos, Web, e-mail and so on. For most people, manipulating these digital materials directly by touching them is a completely new experience — and a deeply satisfying one. Personally, I was a bit disappointed in Pogue’s iPad review, mostly because I think the whole “two reviews for two different people” gimmick was a bit of a copout. It just falls flat.

Tell us what you think, not what you think these other people will think.

He brings up a lot of valid points, but he does it in a form that caters too much to his two different audiences, rather than just telling both the haters and the fanboys the simple truth—that they’re both right and both wrong—he tells them simply that they are both right.

I know we’re all supposed to read both reviews, but most people will focus on their own side of the story, and conveniently ignore the truths of the other.

But the quote above is the part that bothers me most. I seriously believe that the whole “consume vs. create” argument about the iPad is flawed. iPad is not simply a consumption device. If it were, then the “it’s just a big iPod Touch” would ring true. But it simply isn’t. iWork is not something you can do on an iPod Touch. I believe that iWork is desktop-class content creation software. And I believe that iWork represents the future of how this device will be used. It may be hard to imagine Adobe Illustrator with a touch interface now, but trust me, it will happen. If not by Adobe, then someone else.

As Pogue points out, the killer app is killer apps. We haven’t scratched the surface of what killer apps are coming the iPad’s way yet. So while some may think of the iPad as a primarily consumption device, I don’t think they will for long once they own one.