iPhone game developer Ethan Nicholas just did something shocking: wrote some nice things about the embattled Apple iPad in a TechCrunch guest post.
Mr. Nicholas calls the iPad “a computer for people who don’t like computers.” In fact, he feels so strongly about the iPad’s supposedly-easy usability that he plans on buying one for his mother.
I usually stay out of other people’s family affairs, but for the sake of Ms. Nicholas, I feel compelled to speak up.
The argument that the iPad is “a computer for people who don’t like computers” does not hold water. People who don’t like computers are the last folks who should be playing with a first-generation tablet PC that’s missing features even computer-haters are accustomed to using, like a memory-card reader and a USB port.
Mr. Nicholas also said the iPad “won’t allow her to install umpteen news and weather gadgets that start up on boot and slow her computer to a crawl. It won’t suddenly forget how to talk to a network, or get so confused by all of the software installs and uninstalls that you finally have to break down and reinstall the system from scratch.”
I agree. The iPad won’t allow itself to be bogged down with useless programs and won’t require the constant attention that say, a Windows-Vista PC requires. But home wi-fi networks aren’t perfect. They do get screwed up and require occasional resets. And need I remind anyone that AT&T is supplying the iPad’s 3G data access? The last time I checked, that network wasn’t exactly running like a Swiss watch.
Mr. Nicholas’ complaints about computers don’t apply to all PC’s – they appear to be very much Windows-centric. I know, because up until a month ago I was stuck in the dark world of impossible-to-cancel print jobs, driver disappearances, system passwords that only work some of the time, and performance-sucking security software. All of my issues were solved by picking up a lightly used early-2008 Macbook.
I recommend the same fix for Ms. Nicholas, who sounds like she’s the victim of the wrong computer – rather than computers as an entire product class.
It’s true – once you go Mac, you never go back. I’ve never met anyone that said “I shouldn’t have bought a Mac.”
Have you?
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