The new iPad – Worth The Hype?

Apple’s first main release after the death of Steve Jobs was always going to be a tricky hurdle to overcome. Not only would they inevitably suffer from Job’s sense of ingenuity (as any firm would) but part of the excitement generated around their products was generated by their CEO’s infectious charisma.

So, then, to the new iPad. Is the latest Apple baby as visionary as their early work, or a case of the emperor’s new clothes? In other words, is there a future beyond Steve Jobs?

First of all, the distinct pluses:

It looks the part. Whether you consider apple to be the core of all evil or the leading light in a technological world, there’s no denying one thing: they understand aesthetics. Hell, part of the reason people pay hundreds more for Apple gear is that it looks the balls.

Rather unsurprisingly, the new iPad continues this trait. The screen on the new model looks absolutely amazing. Whether you’re watching a movie, reading an ebook or just Facebook stalking (we all do it), you can do so on the finest tablet screen we’ve ever seen. Good work.

It’s quick. Apple gear tends to be on the quick side anyway, and the new iPad takes this a step further, operating with a speedy A5X processor that offers quad-core graphics. Whilst it’s never going to operate with the same prettiness as a full, beastly iMac, it does nonetheless run speedily and deal with a fair few tasks at once.

Also, the use of iOS 5.1 (the same system that’s found on the iPhone 4S and iPad 2) remains as smooth as with the previous model, if anything running a bit quicker. If you’re after playing games and the like, you’ll have no trouble at all, with the majority of apps we tried out working smoothly.

So, it’s quick and looks great. What, then, could the flaws be…?

It’s a bit chunky. Ok, this is a bit nit picky, but one of the most fundamental unspoken rules in technological advancement is that devices should be less cumbersome than their predecessors. It was a bit of a surprise, therefore, to discover that the new iPad is a bit chunkier than the secondary model. Not stupidly so, but there’s definitely a difference.

There isn’t any space for expandable storage. One of the biggest bugbears that I have with Apple is their continued lack of features that really should be compulsory for any piece of computing equipment. In terms of the new iPad, this is the lack of additional storage space. Once you’ve used up what’s there, that’s it.

Hmmmm. All in all, there’s definitely some advancement from the iPad 2, but as with so many Apple products, there is the debate as to whether anyone with the previous model really needs to upgrade. Unless of course you’re a slaverying Apple devotee, in which case you won’t listen to a word of this anyway!

This post was written by Laura McGreary on behalf of the web hosting aggregator, Web Hosting Geeks.

Read more at Technology Blog by Ash Chuan