Ok, so this might technically not be Second Life related. But I can make it Second Life related later on. It is, essentially, my rant about the iPad (or the oversized iPod Touch).

Let me start by saying I love Apple. I have an iPhone 3GS and I love it more than I love my dog. Ok, not quite that much, but I do love it an awful lot. I would also like to add that I have a good Hewlett Packard laptop. I feel, with these two, that I am fully equipped to get by online both portably and from home.

Steve Jobs called it ‘revolutionary,’ and ‘magical’. I call it a big iPhone. And while the iPhone is awesome, it is awesome because it does everything you can imagine and makes phones and has text messaging and fits in your pocket. Have you ever dreamed of owning a phone doesn’t make phone calls and would never fit in your pocket even if you wore giant gangsta baggy jeans with pockets the size of small houses? No. Me neither.

Apparently it’s magical because you can:-

- Surf the web (like you can with your iPhone or laptop)

- Play games (like you can with your iPhone or laptop)

- Watch movies (like you can with your iPhone or laptop)

- Read digital editions of publications (like you can with your iPhone or laptop).

Anyone else seeing a pattern emerging here? If you wanted something portable and pocket sized, a smartphone would do the job. If you wanted something to sit on your desk, a laptop would work. So what’s the point in the maxipad iPad? Apparently it ‘bridges the gap between an smart phone and a laptop.’

THAT’S NOT A GAP THAT NEEDS BRIDGING! It’s like trying to bridge the gap between fries and potato wedges. They are both good…. both similar but different enough that you can appreciate their differences. There is nothing in the middle! There is no need for anything in the middle. And there is certainly no need for anything in the middle that will cost upwards of $500 ($640 if you’d like your wedges with 3G internet capabilities)!

Now, watch how I loosely relate this “the iPad is shit,” post to Second Life!

Will the iPad run Second Life? Technically, yes, it should. I already have Touch Life and Sparkle IM, both of which offer limited functionality (more funciontality in the case of the cheaper Touch Life, actually). But they let you check IMs, respond to IMs etc which is the core thing I would need while on the move. So the question of whether or or the iPad would run Second Life “properly,” that is to say with all the trimmings and pretty graphics, was a big one for me.

Hamlet Au wrote up a good article about this on New World Notes. Check that out here.

While I agree that the added power of the iPad (when compared to the iPhone) should mean a graphically rich Second Life experience is possible… there’s one tiny little problem. Second Life will not truly be portable with this device. Firstly, unless you get the 3G version (more expensive) you will only have internet access when in range of a wireless connection. And even if you do get the 3G version, 3G is not yet fast enough to run a graphically rich Second Life. Hell, it’s not fast enough to download a music track particularly efficiently. So yes, the iPad might run Second Life…. but only when you’re in range of a wireless connection. Just like a laptop does.

So that reopens the question – what’s the point in the iPad?

Rant over…. from me at least. But it seems a certain Nazi Dictator has something to say about it too…

Tags: ipad, ipad second life, iphone
Categories: Random Thoughts and Musings

This entry was posted on Sunday, January 31st, 2010 at 3:59 pm and is filed under Random Thoughts and Musings. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.