“Don’t you worry about the iPad lacking an SD card slot and USB port. Apple has you covered with adapters! How nice of Lord Jobs. Instead of building in two industry standards, users are forced to buy extra items with their new iPad. It’s not like the these standards are large and would take away from the oh-so-important design.But it really is ridiculous that the iPad doesn’t have an SD card slot built-in. USB port, fine. Apple is sticking with its massive dock connector, but an SD card slot — or microSD card slot — would actually open the iPad to some niche markets.
Just think about photographers. The SD card slot would allow them to quickly and efficiently preview their shots on a large screen. The USB port would even allow them to control some DSLRs directly from the iPad with the right app. But nope, can’t do it without an adapter. Even then, they would only be able to use one at a time because of the single dock connector.
So it seems that the iPad is designed to milk every last penny out of buyers. You see, having a flush-mounted SD card slot would allow consumers to get away with buying the 16GB model and increasing the storage themselves. That’s clearly not in Apple’s financial favor, but it’s not like anyone expected Apple to look out for the buyer anyway. This is a dealbreaker for me.”
If I were to think about situations where I would want to use an iPad instead of a regular computer, it’s on-the-go and traveling. It’s a nice, lightweight alternative to the laptop– except the reason I would want a laptop is, partly, so I can upload photos that I’m taking on my travels (I’m thinking particularly here of long periods on the road or even backpacking– markets that the iPad seems deliberately designed to appeal to). But without the add-ons, your left with an oversized iTouch– a cliche, I know, but one that I agree with even more now that I’ve had a chance to use one.
What really drove it home for me is when I saw beside the iPad display some new netbooks. Windows 7, Flash-compatible, USB and SD-port having netbooks. Yes, they lack a touchscreen, yes, they aren’t tablet-sized, but they play nice with the internet AS IT IS, not as they want it to be (I really don’t think everyone should have to give up on Flash just to give iPad users a full experience) and guess what? They were less than half the price. I’ll take the lack of shiny design and tablet capabilities over the lack of being able to use some of my favourite sites and upload photos any day, especially when it saves me $300.
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