The iPad is a great tool for business and life. Though I have spoken very highly of the iPad in my first three posts in this “iPad Challenge“, there are several missing features of the iPad.

A Camera
We knew from the day of the initial iPad announcement that it wouldn’t have a camera, but all I can say is “WHY? APPLE WHY?“. It just doesn’t make sense that Mr. Jobs would leave a camera out of this great device. I’m not the only one thinking this – writers throughout the blogosphere and in traditional, print media have brought up this issue as well.

InformationWeek found an Apple Authorized Repair Shop that said an Apple MacBook Pro camera fits right in the frame of the iPad.

“The camera slips in the frame, the lens fits in the hole, the LED (light) that indicates that the camera is on, fits, and the ambient light sensor hole is also correct,” the company said Monday. “It appears that the plans to have camera in the iPad is a reality.”

While I’m sure they had their reasons, whether it be hardware problems, software problems, or just the cost, it’s almost inexcusable. Our world is ever becoming virtual, I cannot tell you how many times as a photographer, I have only met my client face-to-face via Skype or iChat. A feature that would truly make the iPad a game changer is something as simple as a camera.

Imagine this:
- You’re walking around your office
- a client calls you for a video chat on iChat
- of course, you’re walking around with your iPad
- you pick up the call as your running to your next meeting
- you can see your client, your client can see you

Our world isn’t so impersonal anymore. It’s “Back to the Future”, but now!

Ideally, it would have both a front facing camera and a back facing camera. I spoke on Day 2 about a casting I was at for a client. It would have been absolutely amazing to be able to take a couple quick snapshots of the models that I liked right on my iPad. One device, all my information in one place.

No Multi-Tasking
While the interface is easy, slick and beautiful, if you’re attempting to type a report and have to go back and forth between your notes and whatever application you may be writing in, you waste so much time waiting for each application to load. I also like to listen to music while I work – I purposely don’t keep all my music on devices like the iPhone or iPad, I have way too much music – so I listen to music using Pandora, but of course without multitasking you can’t listen to Pandora and work on your budget spreadsheet.

In all fairness, Steve Jobs revealed iPhone OS 4.0 which will allow for multi-tasking. The fix is coming in Summer 2010 for the iPhone and iPod Touch, but for the iPad not until Fall 2010. Those of us with iPhones have been asking for multi-tasking for three years now, as much as I hate to say this, I believe Apple should have pushed the iPad launch back until they had the iPhone OS ready to go with Multi-Tasking. I know why they did it – the first major OS upgrade for the iPad is free, the next you have to pay for. Apple’s releasing the iPad and within 6 months will have a new OS upgrade – that means they get to upgrade income quicker. I’m sure development time was needed as well, Apple’s a big company, they could have done it.

No Flash?
Ok, plain and simple – I can’t even view my own website on the iPad. What would make this device totally revolutionary is the ability to navigate anywhere on the web in Safari and be able to see the site as the developer intended. As much as I love Apple, I’m upset that they refuse to support Flash on their mobile devices. So many sites out there have even the tiniest of elements that are in Flash, it’s upsetting that Apple just refuses to support it because of “performance issues”.

I agree, Flash is buggy and very heavy weight, but CulfofMac.com says it’s a much more sinister plot by Apple:

Adobe says it’s not because it’s buggy, as an Apple source claimed this afternoon to CultofMac.com.

It’s because Apple is protecting revenue streams derived from content like movies and games. If users could watch free TV shows on Hulu, they wouldn’t buy them through iTunes.

“It’s pretty clear if you connect the dots: the issue is about revenue,” says Adrian Ludwig, an Adobe group product manager for Flash, during a telephone interview on Friday afternoon.

Well, if that’s truly the situation, all I can say is “UGH”! Give us flash support please. I’d like to visit my own website on my iPad.

Fingerprints!
I read somewhere that the iPad was design to be rugged (I can’t find my source) – the quote from an Apple rep went something like this — when you’re on the run you just throw it in your bag and go, no need to protect it.

And it seems to be. This past week, we’ve been doing construction in our studio, it’s dusty and my hands are constantly dirty. I have used my iPad for hours on end as I work through my day. It’s held up to a decent amount of abuse, but the fingerprints are just horrible. I realize Apple cannot control bodily oils or the residue from the fried chicken you ate for lunch, but they SHOULD have included an anti-static cloth in the box with the iPad.

You Need a Computer and iTunes to set it up
When you open the box and power on the iPad, it immediately displays a “connect to iTunes” screen. Ok, it’s only a temporary inconvenience, but why is this necessary? One of the greatest things about getting a new toy is opening it up and playing with it. Instead, you have to download the newest version of iTunes, run the setup and sync it, before you can play with your new toy. Again, temporary inconvenience, but still an inconvenience.

No Printing!
There are several third-party apps in the App Store that will allow for printing from the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad, but they’re buggy and do not work from every application. This should really be a native feature of the OS. It’s just way too annoying to have to email myself a document that I created in Pages just to print it on another computer.

App Pricing.
Steve Jobs reported on April 8th that over 4,000,000,000 (That’s 4 Billion) Apps have been downloaded from the App Store since its launch on July 10, 2008. There are over 185,000 Apps in the store.

One of the biggest reasons for the success of the App Store is the price of the apps has always been low. Yea, sure, there were a few specialty applications that were crazy prices such as iVip Black, which costs $999.99, but for the most part the majority of applications in the store are under $10.00. If you’ve looked through the new grouping of iPad applications, they’re significantly more expensive.

The Associated Press concurs in a review of the iPad:

Yet after spending a few days buying and using applications on the iPad, I’m skeptical that many people will be willing to shell out for more than a few $5 to $10 apps. There’s just too much content that the iPad can access for free on the Web, and plenty of great apps in Apple’s own App Store that are cheap or free.

Where Are The Apps?
Apple says on their site that there are over 1000 apps made specifically for the iPad, and generally, most iPhone and iPod Touch apps will work as well (although they are usually very low resolution). Until there is the huge variety of apps for the iPad that are made for the iPad, the iPad will not be as successful as it can be.

The On Screen Keyboard
The on-screen keyboard takes some time to get used to, because it’s not tactile, it’s tough to keep on the “home row” when not looking at the screen. The size of the keys also changes as you change the orientation of the iPad. This takes even more time to get used to. I’ve discussed this previously in this series on the iPad Challenge, but I think for serious typing an external keyboard such as the iPad Keyboard Dock or a Apple Wireless Keyboard are necessities. For general web browsing and most apps, the on screen keyboard is just fine — once you get used to it.

Overall, this device… computer… life line… is just awesome!

About the author

Kevin Michael Reed
Kevin Michael Reed (Google+, Facebook) is a fashion & beauty photographer and producer/director based in New York City and Los Angeles, CA. He is the President/CEO of RedFOG Visual Media, a production company in New York City, and a partner in Passion of Photography, Inc, a company dedicated to teaching photographers and sharing our passion through charitable causes. Kevin has lectured and hosted workshops throughout the United States and the world teaching photographers the business and creative sides of photography. (Kevin's Fashion & Beauty Photography Portfolio can be seen here).