Tomorrow Apple will announce the iPad 2. Everyone is busy predicting how it will improve upon the first generation model and how Apple will try to match the army of Android tablets that all feature cutting edge hardware. We also did our bit and compiled a rumor list sometime back.
But I’ve been thinking that for two categories of potential buyers it’s more important to know what the iPad 2 won’t do. The first category comprises of the people who are eyeing an Android (or WebOS) tablet but waiting for the iPad 2 announcement. The second comprises of the people who are not so sure about getting a tablet but may consider buying the iPad 2 because, they saw the iPad and it was so cool. So here is a list of things that you should not expect iPad 2 to have.
- It won’t run Flash
Say whatever Adobe may, Flash is still not ready for mobile devices. Heck, it’s probably the only plugin that causes Chrome to crash on my Macbook. Apple won’t give in. Especially because they don’t need to. While other tablets boast their browsers running Flash websites, almost none of them have any websites that are optimized for them, unlike they are for iPad. - It won’t accept SD Cards
There is no need for Apple to provide support for SD Cards. They will rather work on making the data transfer between your computer and your iPad seamless. And that’s going to happen in Mac OS X Lion anyway. - It won’t have iPhone like screen resolution
While there is a possibility that in future iPad will have a Retina display but the resolution per inch will be lesser that of the iPhone. It’s just ridiculous to have that kind of resolution on a tablet. At least for the next couple of years. - It won’t have a widescreen form factor like Motorola XOOM
iPad’s current form-factor is as ergonomic as it gets for tablets. Apple won’t screw it up by making it widescreen. While some buyers may prefer the widescreen for videos, most of them will want the ability to hold it vertically and work. - It won’t have new ports like USB or HDMI
In my opinion, none of the use cases of an ideal tablet require it to have a USB port. As I said before, Apple would rather work on making the iPad to Desktop experience seamless using software. As for HDMI, we already have AirPlay.
