Apple iPad: It's not about the features

This is my latest on the Computerworld Tool Talk blog. It's the write-up and podcast of this past Sunday's Copper Robot program:

While technology blogs nitpick the iPad over missing features and inadequate specs, they're missing the point of the device, which is to create a tool that people love to use.

"From a techie point of view, one could say, oh, my gosh, it didn't have this feature, it didn't have that feature. And I think a lot of the blogosphere has gone along with that line of thinking. But I think [Apple] is after a different market entirely," said ArminasX Saiman, an Apple enthusiast and IT manager for a large multinational company.

Me (left), Armi, and Joe

The iPad is designed to appeal to people who don't know much about computers at all -- the crowd that has "12:00" blinking perpetually on their VCRs. "Those people don't have a hope of running a desktop machine. There are a lot of those people, and I think that's the group this is really targeted at," Saiman said.

Read the rest and listen to the podcast here: Apple iPad: It's not about the features