I was at Apple's iPad launch on Wednesday, and maybe it was just Steve
Jobs' reality distortion field, but I don't quite understand why the
haters are piling on. A lot of PC-centric commentators are dismissing
the iPad as an overpriced gadget, wondering why it's lacking features
that are standard on even the cheapest notebook computers, like Flash
support, multitasking, USB inputs to connect peripherals, and video
outputs (HDMI would be nice). These are legitimate complaints--for a
notebook replacement. But the iPad isn't a notebook replacement, and I
don't think users will carry it with them on business trips. (Apple's
iWork demo confused matters, admittedly.)
Instead, I agree with
CNET's Ina Fried and Business Insider's Henry Blodget: this is a
consumer electronics device for puttering around the house and leisure
time--reading books and Web sites on the couch, showing pictures off to
friends, catching up on the latest Web videos. And, yes, listening to
music.t's also a golden opportunity for Apple to fix some of the
glaring shortcomings in its portable music experience. Here are five
things I'd like to see the iPad incorporate, perhaps through the next
update to the iPhone OS (which it uses).
Wireless sync.
The iPad is not a Mac. That means it doesn't run the full iTunes
client, so you can't share music from another computer over your home
network. Instead, like an iPod or iPhone, you must physically connect it
to the computer on which your music is stored, then wait for the music
to travel over the wire. This is, frankly, absurd. If you want me to
use the iPad to listen to music in my home, don't make me walk over to
my computer and attach it every time I want to load some new tunes.
Wireless sync would also be great for syncing other material like
pictures, videos, and apps. How hard can it be? Microsoft's Zune player
has had wireless sync for three iterations and more than two years.
Cloud-based music
service. Even if the iPad had wireless sync, the most affordable model
has only 16GB of storage. This isn't enough for most music lovers'
digital collections, especially if they're going to use the iPad for
other functions like electronic books and photos. So how about taking
that Lala acquisition and using it? Instead of having to load music onto
the iPad itself, I could sync it from my computer to Lala's online
music locker service, then stream it over the Web directly to my device.
Bye-bye, storage limits. Best of all, every time I update my music
collection, it's updated everywhere simultaneously. This is such a
no-brainer I'd be stunned if Apple doesn't make it available shortly
after the iPad launches.
Music-sharing with third-party
apps. There are some surprisingly sophisticated DJ apps for iPhone, like
TouchDJ and DJ Mixer, that let you play two songs at the same time and
mix them together like a mulitrack DJ set-up. These apps would be much
easier to use on the iPad's 9.7-inch screen. But they all share one
big shortcoming: they can't just play songs that you've already loaded
onto your device. Instead, you have to re-load songs into the DJ apps,
either from a sync application running on your computer or over a Web
server. This isn't the fault of the app designers--it's a limitation
that Apple places on the iPhone and iPod Touch. I hope Apple figures
out a way around it soon.
Queuing. I like to play DJ. As
one song plays, it sparks associations with other songs. It would be
nice to be able to load these other songs into a "now playing" queue.
The Zune's had this feature since its inception, but I can't do it on
the iPod Touch or the iPhone--instead, I have to wait for the current
song to end, then start up a new song. (And no, I don't want to do this
with playlists on the computer and then sync those playlists to the
device. That misses the entire point of spontaneity.)
Decent
speakers (and amp). Naturally, the first thing I did with the iPad was
check out its music playback. I could barely hear it, even with the
volume maxed out. It's true that the room was crowded with gadget fans
scrambling for their first look at the device, but even so, the
speakers sounded no louder than the iPhone's. But this isn't a phone.
It's also not a Mac, where music isn't the primary focus for most
users. It's a consumer electronics device. It would be great if I could
set it up in my living room or bedroom without having to attach it to
another device. Peripheral makers might complain--iHome does great work
creating audio accessories for the iPhone--but if this is truly going
to be a new product category, Apple should treat it like one. Alas, I'm
going to have to wait for v.2 for this feature.
No comments:
Post a Comment