Stop Telling Me What I Want Is Stupid

[neadods]

It doesn't even exist yet, and I'm already pissed off at the number of guys who are blowing off the notion of a 7" iPad as stupid. And they're all guys so far, because it takes someone who doesn't carry a purse to bitch that something that's roughly 7 x 5 inches "is too big because it can't fit in a pocket." (As opposed to the current iPad, which at 9.7 x 7.5 is too big to fit into pockets and most purses. Bigger is not automatically better, gentlemen, no matter what they told you in the locker room.)

I've got a friend with an iPad, and it looks like a very nifty gadget, and I have to confess, I'd rather like one. But it's way too damned big and heavy to stick in my car to play music and podcasts while I drive or drop in a purse and schlep around while I travel. If I'm taking something that size, I'm taking my netbook.

On the other hand, I've got an iPod Touch, and while it's portable and convenient as hell, the screen's terribly small and the keyboard is ridiculously tiny. I could read my email and LJ and ebooks while I traveled, but it is a complete and utter bugger to type URLs, shopping lists, and blog entries. (C'mon, Apple, I had a fold-out full-sized keyboard for my palm pilot 10 years ago. I'm just sayin'.)

A 7 x 5 inch machine would be the perfect compromise of portability, adaptability, readability, and type-ability for a daily general-use and travel companion. It was what I started dreaming of the third time I corrected a typo because only 3-year-olds have fingers that will fit that Touch screen. And now I keep being blown off because what I want -- what I think is specifically tailored to my technical specs -- is "dumb."

But what do I know? I'm just a well-heeled customer willing to pay out hundreds for the right technotoy girl, after all. Naturally, only misogynistic morons think I won't buy anything that beeps unless it's pink and explained to me in Very Small Words, because it's not like Apple's all about the ease of use or I work in a technical field or anything.

Seriously... a paperback book is "too big" to be portable? Because dudes, that's the size you're bitching about!

Comments

[nonelvis]

I have an iPad and love it, so even if they never come out with the smaller version, I'd still recommend it. It's lighter than you'd think and makes an excellent computer substitute -- in fact, my first day with it was at a conference, using it instead of bringing along my MacBook Pro. I can even touch-type on it!

I haven't seen any of the backlash against the rumored new version, but I'll bet it's the same people who trashed the iPad when it was first announced -- people who bitched that it didn't do enough, that they couldn't customize it the way they wanted, that they wanted a real computer. What they failed to understand was that the iPad wasn't for them: it was designed to be the simplest, best e-reader and web browsing tool out there, and it succeeds very well at that. Ignore the haters.

[fabricdragon.livejournal.com]

that sounds like a good size to me....
shrug
some people just have to "compensate" ya know?

[belovedwarrior.livejournal.com]

I just bought an iPad for my husband for his birthday and we both love it! I must have a big purse because it fits in mine just fine, but I do see what you mean about a smaller size would be a bit more convenient. Why not offer choices?

[starcat-jewel.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that would be purse-sized. But I've stopped carrying a purse at all; I rely on my belt-pack, and I don't think I'd be able to add even the smaller size of iPad to what's already there (namely, the wallet/checkbook pocket, the cellphone, and my little camera case). I'd have the choice of a back-of-the-case loop for the belt (which I suspect would make driving or sitting an Issue), or hanging it loose with a carabiner clip (letting it swing, and leaving it vulnerable to banging into things). Doesn't mean I can't see how other people would have a use for it, but I think my eventual choice is pretty much going to have to be some kind of smartphone... once they stop wanting to charge me an extra $40/month for online access.

[shawan-7.livejournal.com]

Not buying an iPad until they've got an USB connection.

[raqs.livejournal.com]

I'd buy that form factor too.

(have not yet finished my nerd barbie icon)

[swallowedbysky.livejournal.com]

As someone with a reputation for being a Mac/Apple fangirl, I've shocked more people than I can count by saying that I don't have, nor do I want, an iPad.

Sure, if things were different, I might want one. If I didn't have a MacBook Air, I'd want an iPad. If I didn't have an iPhone, I'd want an iPad. If staring at a backlit screen while reading for extended periods didn't hurt my eyes, I'd want an iPad. If it was the same weight as a Kindle or a Nook, I'd want an iPad. If it ran OSX, I'd want an iPad. If OmniGroup would get off their butts and release OmniOutliner for iPad, I'd want an iPad. Etc., etc., etc.

It never once occurred to me to think that if it had a 7" screen, I might want one, but as I think about it? If the iPad stayed exactly the same as it is now but had a 7" screen, I'd want a freaking iPad. (Though, with my current needs, a Kindle's still a more practical choice for me.)

[shawan-7.livejournal.com]

By the way, I do agree with you. I would love a 7" iPad.

When I bought my MacBook Pro I specifically go the smaller one because I have small hands. People snickered. That's their problems -- it's my computer.

[brewsternorth.livejournal.com]

*facepalm* I have no idea.

My Eee PC was touted for its portability when it first came out, and it has almost exactly the same heft (weight as well as dimensions) as a 6x9 hardback book of medium size, and I like it like that.

5x7 sounds like a good intermediate tradeoff between the iPhone and current tablet technology (thinking of the Kindle and its sequelae as well as the iPad). Were ansibles to exist, I imagine they'd be that size or thereabouts.