Let’s say that I own Apple products from all three categories. An iPhone for true mobility applications when I don’t want to carry anything like a bag. The iPhone fits nicely in my pocket, and gives me enough online experience when I’m about. A MacBook Pro for real productivity work like coding, video editing, anything else requiring heavy duty CPU power. And finally assuming I get this new iPad, a device that has a form factor that is easy to hold while lying in bed, on the couch, or sitting at the dining room table.
Given the above situation, I think I can imagine the following scenario:
- Come home from work
- Put my iPhone in the dock (its use is completed while I’m at home)
- Plug in my MacBook Pro so it is charging, and its contents are shareable on my home network
- Pick up my iPad in the living room and start any of the following activities (in order of most likelihood):
- Surf the Internet
- Check Email / Calendar (mostly reactive)
- Listen to my usual podcast
- Read a book
- Watch a movie
- Browse some pictures
- Play games
Of course I can do all of the above with my MacBook or my iPhone but I think the experience of the iPad could be better.
This is of course all speculative since I have not held an iPad in my hands yet, and therefore have no idea what the actual experience is like. So the above only holds water if the experience is indeed superior to what the iPhone or the MacBook (or for that matter any other device) can give me, and is good enough to drop down the $500 USD.
I guess that is all there is to say, without getting into, the iPad SHOULD BE this, or the iPad DOESN’T HAVE this. Just value it for what it is right now and see if it is worth it to you or not.