Why the iPad is a magical device, the future is now.

Over 23 years ago, Star Trek: The Next Generation artists and writers dreamed up a tablet-like electronic reading device. These hand held flat book-like devices looked very similar to Apple’s recent iPad. It was flat, sleek, easy to read and easy to use. It included a touch-based interface. We never saw how the space explorers inputted large amounts of text into the device (no keyboard). Instead, they passed them around like books. In some scenes, the crew carried around more than one device. Apparently, the writers never imagined cloud computing, wireless 3G/4G internet, and the ability to send files/documents to each other.

Why the iPad is a magical device

After owning the iPad since the day it was released, it took a long time before I truly appreciated its value, more than simply a big iPod. As software developers created better touch interfaces and apps, it became easier and faster to use. I do almost all my reading exclusively on the iPad, including webpages and books.

1. Lightweight and easy to carry around – This is so much more pleasant to use than a laptop.
2. Fast bootup time – There’s no power up power down, sleep, hibernate, etc. Simply click a button to turn on and click a button to stand by.
3. Intuitive – Touch apps require virtually no computer knowledge or learning curve to master basic functions.
4. Long battery life – The efficiency of these devices really make all day computing possible.
5. Low cost apps – Compared to the traditional software model, apps in the price range of $0.99 to $9.99 is a steal. Even though people gripe and complain, the prices truly are really low compared to $300 applications of the past.

What needs to improve

Since this is a first generation device, here are a few more improvements that need to be made before this can be a mainstream device.

1. Lower price – To be mainstream, the device needs to continue to be mass produced and push the prices down a bit more.
2. 3G/4G internet on all devices – A wifi only device was useful to keep the prices low, but in reality, unless there’s free wifi everywhere, it really needs to be internet ready.
3. Front and rear facing camera – conference calls.
4. Larger storage – Either the device should include additional storage space or faster network access to store files on the cloud.
5. More memory – Many apps crash a lot due to limited memory, boost this up to improve stability.
6. Built in device-to-device networking – iPads should be able to communicate with other devices seamlessly without much configuration other than security protocols.