2.0: Apple iPad

As much as I was looking forward to the Apple iPad and pulling for it's success, there are a few reasons I have decided to wait for the 2.0 version. 

Issue #1

There is no video camera. 

There is no good reason for the exclusion of a video camera on the iPad. Apple learned from the 1st generation of iPhone owners, the screaming importance of a video camera. They included video in the 3GS and everyone is happy. 

The iPad is larger (by a ratio of nearly six) and more powerful (64 GB) than it's phone counterpart, yet the single biggest complaint from it's last product launch is not included? Even the iPod Nano has video.

The only logical explanation must be, that video would make the entry level Mac notebooks unnecessary and twice as expensive as the iPad.

Issue #2

Mapping/GPS will not work on the iPad at all times, unless you have the 3G model (available in April).

This may seem a trivial matter, but having a big beautiful, high-resolution device like the iPad and not being able to use it in the car for directions seems crazy. Also, the higher resolution would have been one of the best platforms for on-the-go usage of Google's Street View feature.

Bad decision.

Issue #3

Will the next generation come with a phone pre-installed? 

Whether Apple, or it's business partner, AT&T, like it, the iPad will have 3rd party developers offering phones within months of it's release. It is inevitable. A phone will be on the device.

As much as I think Steve Jobs is a visionary, his age tends to empower his (already proven defunct) belief system of him being in control of the timing on such things.

The information/digital age we live in now does not allow any business to choose the timing on anything other than a product introduction. Once the product is on the market, everyone is going to copy it, hack it, modify it, improve it and make the product better.

The iPhone had no video camera, but 3rd party developers made one and offered the feature on hacked phones. The iPod had/has no phone, thanks to the same group of developers, you can now make calls on your iPod. 

Monsignor Jobs is a creator of beasts. But now that he has done the creating, the beast is unleashed.

These are concerns enough for me to back away from the device, as it is initially being offered. Of course, all of that could change the minute I walk into the Apple Store and get my hands on one. 

We'll see.