iPad = iFail

I enjoy the "Apple Store Love Song" by Fatty Spins as much as anyone else (check it out on youtube). I use an iMac to put out the Statesman. I own an iPod. My brother owns an iPhone.

The iPad, though, just doesn't do it for me.

I like computers. I like smartphones. I don't like "tweeners," though.

For those who don't know, the iPad is basically a gigantic iPhone that doesn't make calls.

So that's basically a gigantic iPod Touch.

But wait, it also serves as a reading device like a Kindle—a more expensive Kindle.

A Kindle costs $259 on amazon.com, and the Apple Web site says the iPad starts at $499.
Sure, the iPad can do more than a Kindle can, and sure, the iPad can do more than the iPod can.

But here's the trouble: you can get an iPod Touch for $199 and a Kindle for $259. Added up, that's $458—over $40 less than the base price for the iPad.

Price, though, isn't the reason not to buy the iPad: the lack of Flash capability is.

Flash is used in a lot of Web sites, especially if the Webmaster for the site is trying to appeal to people's emotions and aesthetically please people.

So, sites that are trying to sell you something (or sites in which you are trying to buy something) usually implement some kind of Flash element.

If you plan to just use your iPad's Internet capabilities for search results, YouTube, e-mail and data retrieving, then you're in good shape. Otherwise, you could be in trouble.

Of course, not having Flash could cut down on a lot of annoying advertisements, so that actually could work in your favor.

Also, a lot of the more fun Web sites utilize Flash, so that leaves me out of the target market for the iPad, apparently, because I love fun Web sites.

Also, it can't multitask.

I currently have 10 applications running on this computer in the Statesman newsroom: Word, Entourage e-mail, Photoshop, InDesign, Firefox, Acrobat, Preview, Calculator and iChat.

On an iPad, you cannot do that. It's the same way with the iPod Touch—you can't switch between applications without closing the first one.

To serve as a viable laptop, it needs to be able to do that.

This means it doesn't replace your current phone or laptop.

Also, I certainly wouldn't want to use the iPad as my laptop in class because the professor could completely see if you're checking Facebook instead of taking notes.

You might want to learn how to hold it close to your body and write on it that way if you prefer socializing to taking notes.

So, if it's not a phone or computer, then it must be a glorified iPod.

Honestly, that seems like what it is: a gigantic and clunky iPod.

It could be a status symbol, if you own one. Owning it may just be a "coolness" thing.

So who is willing to pay $499 to be the king of the Apple fanboys? Not me.

I'm looking forward to Apple making their new interface because I think it's official that they've exhausted all their options with the iPhone interface.

The next great thing from Apple should be great. This isn't it.

Ben Corn is a senior communication major and loves the snow