Buyers remorse and the iPad

[Mounds]

It's finally time to admit it: the iPad was a bad buy.

It's been slightly over a year that I've had it. At first, it was the greatest thing since sliced bread. I was reading books, typing up thoughts, playing games, watching videos, and surfing the web. I wasn't exactly sure how it would fit into my life, but I was pretty confident it would happen.

Thirteen months later, it still doesn't fit into my life.

Here's a list of the problems:

- it's not an iPod. I'm not going to carry it around and listen to music.
- it's not really made for playing movies. Constantly having my head down watching a screen is just bad news.
- the flagship writing app, Pages, has a terrible filing system, no word count, and several other missing features.
- $35 a month for 5 GB of data. Fat chance.
- the games (with the exception of Plants vs Zombies), kinda suck. I have an XBox and it hammers the crap out of anything in the App Store.
- the only thing I really loved about it was reading (nice big screen). Only problem is that now I take most of my books from the library.

The final blow came this morning. I wanted to breathe new life into my unit so I started searching for the best apps. One app would let me stream videos from my computer, on my iPad. Another (FlipBoard) would aggregate my RSS feeds into an app that made it look like a magazine.

My apathy quickly soared to new heights, and I closed the window.

When this tablet dies, I will never buy another. This is a prime example of buying based on an idealized version of yourself. Apparently, the me I had in mind was a relentless consumer of popular media. Square peg, meet round hole.

-Tim

[supertom]

I think cado said it best "apple's only product is its brand" Thanks for this feedback I won't get a iPad, I was thinking about it.

[Mounds]

Originally Posted by supertom

I think cado said it best "apple's only product is its brand" Thanks for this feedback I won't get a iPad, I was thinking about it.

That's an excellent way of putting it!

Here's a similar perspective on the iPad that drives the points home:

Why I'm Returning My Apple iPad ($AAPL) - SocialTimes.com

Justifying the purchase is exactly what I've tried to do for the past year.

-Tim

[Aminka Ozmun]

This is why I'm so awestruck by the power of marketing, and why I'm working on a handful of sites right now to see if, despite being very niche-y, I could market them to some semblance of mass appeal!

Much easier to do with an actual product, especially technological goodies, of course, but still....

Wish me luck selling snowballs to Eskimos!

[Tarzansjane]

Oh I so totally disagree with this. The iPad is amazing. I've had mine for almost a year and I am not tired of it in the least.

My complaint is the keyboard. I would use it more if the keyword were easier to type on.

But I consider it one of the best purchases I've ever made, hands down. And I bought based on IT, not on marketing.

That's all I'm gonna say.

[Angela]

Thanks for the feedback. I think I may be getting one anyway, for doing presentations and trainings.

[Acting Like Godot]

Originally Posted by Mounds

I have an XBox and it hammers the crap out of anything in the App Store.

You can't bring your Xbox on an aeroplane or a train.

[pyrogen]

I quite love my iPad 2, but it's good for what I specifically use it for.

If I had to do extensive amounts of writing on something portable, I'd find my old Asus eee netbook (I was an early adopter - I got this in '08, when it was the first netbook on the market in my area) far more convenient.

My iPad is not a game machine or a computer or a portable mp3 player; it works perfectly for the niche it fills, and that niche is when I need to either take brief/short notes in school, update my planner, keep short notes, write and read email, surf the web, and watch movies... and I can do this curled up in a recliner chair, with a blanket and a mug of cocoa. I can also do (much) of this on transit to and from school.

I do not bother with the data plan because I spend most of my time within reach of a free wifi connection and it's not worth the money.

[pyrogen]

Oh, one last. Watching movies while curled up in bed with my cat. FTW!

If you have to watch with your head down, then you just need to get a stand, and it's an easy enough thing to jerry rig.

Check out the one made from legos!

Seven DIY iPad Stands for Six Bucks or Less

[Acting Like Godot]

Originally Posted by pyrogen

My iPad is not a game machine or a computer or a portable mp3 player; it works perfectly for the niche it fills, and that niche is when I need to either take brief/short notes in school, update my planner, keep short notes, write and read email, surf the web, and watch movies... and I can do this curled up in a recliner chair, with a blanket and a mug of cocoa. I can also do (much) of this on transit to and from school.

I do not bother with the data plan because I spend most of my time within reach of a free wifi connection and it's not worth the money.

Same here. I download whatever I need when I am at home .... Then the rest of the time I use it without an Internet connection.

Actually, right now, I am at home sitting on a toilet bowl, and typing on my iPad at the same time.

[Lil Chris]

Originally Posted by acting like godot

same here. I download whatever i need when i am at home .... Then the rest of the time i use it without an internet connection.

Actually, right now, i am at home sitting on a toilet bowl, and typing on my ipad at the same time.

lol!

[Lil Chris]

I love my iPad2 also. The portability of it is great. I mostly use at home, so no need for data plan. Ironically, not a fan of apple and the way the company does things, especially with iTunes.

[moonrambler]

Originally Posted by Acting Like Godot

Actually, right now, I am at home sitting on a toilet bowl, and typing on my iPad at the same time.

TMI alert!

[Mounds]

Originally Posted by moonrambler

TMI alert!

Let's be glad it's not an iPad 2. You think it's TMI now? Imagine if there were photos.

-Tim

[James Fletcher]

Originally Posted by Mounds

- $35 a month for 5 GB of data. Fat chance.

Be grateful you have alternatives. Here in down under that would still be considered a pretty good deal. Our internet lags behind that of many developing nations.

[MariconesUnited]

Today we've learned that different products appeal to different people. Yay!

[Mounds]

You guys bring up some good points.

I'm now reminded of the 12 hour drive to my in-laws. The iPad is very nice to have on those trips. Also, I love to journal on here (typing on it right now ). Some of the learning apps are pretty cool (wish they had more for adults).


The sad part is that I really do want to heart my iPad. It's got so many options that I thought I'd use, such as the To-Do app, the calendar, the contact book, ect.

It's like Dimitiri said. I tried organizing my life around it, but it doesn't do anything better than what I'm doing already.

For example, I have a To-Do app on here. I'm always creating to-do lists, so I thought it would be a perfect match. In reality, it's clunky. Pen and paper is 10x faster.

Just one example of course... Many more where that came from.

I guess the iPad and I are just not a match.