Many people are bemoaning the iPad’s lack of a camera. Actually, they’re questioning why Apple would be so thoughtless as to exclude one. These are the same people who demanded copy-and-paste of the original iPhone and Wi-Fi of the iPod. “Apple has squandered a huge opportunity” they say.
That’s perfectly wrong. They’ve seized an even bigger opportunity.
The designers at Apple know full well that users want a camera in the iPad. They know that customers will bitch and moan without it. They know they’ll lose a certain percentage of sales. They also know that taking the time to find the single best way to implement it is worth the complaining.
Apple isn’t always the 1st to market. They didn’t create the first digital music player. They certainly didn’t create the first mobile phone and they didn’t create the first tablet computer. The important thing is they took the time to devise the absolute best way to implement each of those devices.
The iPod is hands-down the best digital music player. We take the iPod touch for granted at this point, but it’s a phenomenal device. When I consider it from the perspective of a former Rio owner, I’m in awe of the touch. The same is true when I consider the T-Mobile phone I owned 8 years ago. The iPhone is light years beyond that device.
Apple could have released a “compromise” phone 7 years ago, but they didn’t. The could have crammed every feature on their list into the original iPhone, dispersing the developers’ attention from the core functions that made the original model such a hit. Likewise, future iPad models will include features that users are demanding today. They’ll be added when — and only when — Apple is damned good and ready.
And that’s how it should be.
