The iPad’s value? It’ll depend on its apps - The Boston Globe - end

A timely Hiawatha Bray iPad reality check 

Lots of the new apps are good at what they do, but what they do isn’t exactly vital. You could perform the same functions just as well, though not as elegantly, on a cheap netbook computer. And while the netbook is capable of running several programs at once, the iPad, like the iPhone, runs just one app at a time. That means no listening to NPR music streams while reading your e-book, although that could change as soon as today. Apple is holding a press event to announce new iPhone software, and rumor has it that multitasking is on the table.

But it’ll take more than multitasking and magazine apps to sell the next 300,000 iPads. What’s needed is the next VisiCalc. We’re waiting.

The iPad’s value? It’ll depend on its apps - The Boston Globe - end