09 Feb 10 The iPad as an iPod
I’ll admit, when the iPad was first revealed I was pretty impressed with it. Perhaps I was swept up in the hype leading up its announcement, or it could just be Steve Jobs’ power to make anything sound amazing. Soon after, with help from some of you, I started to realize what Jobs didn’t say in his keynote. Jobs poked fun at netbooks for not being an improvement over existing products, yet in many ways, they’re more capable than the iPad. Apple could have really made a revolutionary tablet device with a fully functioning Mac OS, but instead we have a slightly revised iPhone interface that lacks the ability to multitask. I don’t know if Apple is cautious of whether the iPad will sell or not, but it certainly seems like they’re playing it safe.
Since we’re all about music here, I wanted to know how the iPad is as an MP3 player. According to Cnet, who had some hands-on time with the device, the iPad’s music browser looks like a hybrid of iTunes and a standard iPod interface.
The player doesn’t differ too much from previous iPods, but oddly enough is missing a few options that would take advantage of the iPad’s larger display. With a screen that size, it would have been cool to navigate through fully scaled album art, but sadly there doesn’t appear to be a Cover Flow mode. Another missing feature is iTunes LP. Just announced in September 09, iTunes LP allows users to get lyrics, photos, and other information for select albums on iTunes.
While those features are mostly for eye candy, I don’t really see any reason not to include them on the iPad. Hopefully these issues and others will be resolved by its release.
