Apple’s new iPad comes out tomorrow. Last month Apple enthusiasts shelled out $500+ pre-sale bucks for a product that hasn’t even been seen yet. Questions like: Does it work? Is it functional? Is it practical? were all overlooked by eager fans who wanted to be among the first to hold one in their hands. But for the common consumer, should you race to the Apple Store to get one, or would you be better off waiting a while before buying the iPad? We say wait, and here are 5 good reasons why:
PRICE DROP
Putting off your purchase a few months could save a few bucks in your pocket. When Apple introduced the iPhone in 2007, it slashed the 8GB version from $599 to $399 in just 10 short weeks. That quick of a drop on the iPad is unlikely, but the price could come down in as few as 6 months, says Michael Carnell, founder of the information technology firm Palmettobug Digital. According to him “The run-of-the-mill consumer can wait that long.”
BUGS
“This is Version 1 — there’s a lot that has to be worked out,” says Aaron Ray-Crichton, an independent technology consultant and founder of ARC Systems Consulting in Brooklyn, N.Y. Apple originally anticipated an iPad release in late March, but that has now been pushed into April. Some analyst reports have pointed to possible production problems.
APP AVAILABILITY
Currently, the iPad has very few apps of its own. Most are iPhone apps. Displayed on a 9.7-inch screen instead of a 3.5-inch one, they could appear too jagged or with too low of a resolution to be useful. If you’re looking at the iPad for the apps, hold off a month or two until developers can catch up.
CONNECTIVITY
A Wi-Fi-only device is fine if you plan to use it at home or in areas with Wi-Fi hotspots. But 3G connectivity, which will be available in iPad models later this spring, is standard for those consumers who want their iPad to work while traveling in the car or in other locations where Wi-Fi is non-existent. Otherwise, you could end up with limited access to the rich Internet content you’re expecting. 3G subscription costs will set you back an extra $180 to $360 a year. Given that cost, an iPhone may be a more cost-effective choice for some users.
COMPETITION
It’s still unclear exactly what the iPad will do best, or at least better than a laptop or iPhone. So, comparative shopping may be in order, depending on what you plan to use the iPad for. Shoppers looking for an e-reader may want to wait and see what Amazon’s expected Kindle 3 has to offer. Or, another soon-to-be-released contender, Notion Ink’s Adam could be closer to what the second-generation iPad will be than what the iPad currently is.
