New iPad Ad Reveals Flaws?

As millions of people watched the Academy Awards this past Sunday, Apple unveiled a surprised teaser ad for their upcoming iPad gadget. I’m sure jaws dropped across the tech world as actors manipulated the shiny new device, demonstrating a few of it’s features and applications. Some of the nifty features demonstrated:

• Web browser (no Flash, obviously)
• eBook reader and book shelf
• Photo galleries
• Video rentals
• Google Maps
• Email

You can see the ad on Apple’s website and also embedded below in all it’s glory.

The ad is very nice, has catchy background music, and probably got a lot of viewers interested in owning such a device. However, one such viewer was not going to simply fall for the glitz and glamour that usually accompanies the release of an Apple product. Neil Curtis wanted to get down to the nitty gritty and see what this iPad thing is all about. What he did was slow the video down to 15% of it’s original speed.

With things moving that slow, there are a few concerns that become immediately apparent. There are some glitches in the interface and plain inconsistencies in the ad itself. Given that Apple and it’s fans pride themselves on the quality or the products and content, I’m not sure why Apple let this one out of the door as is. As you watch the video, there are notes pointing out the “flaws.” One could argue that these little bugs are actually features or just computer animation issues, but it’s surprising to me that Apple would leave things open to question like this.

For instance, when flipping through pages in the eBook reader, it seems there is a pretty huge delay between touching the screen and the page actually flipping. Is this a problem or just a little eye candy animation to make things more realistic? There is also a scene where the actor is moving an item across the screen, but the item continues to move after the finger is lifted off the iPad. Is this some type of acceleration feature (which would be neat) in the UI or just a bug? Another one to watch for is where the actor rotates the iPad while viewing a photo. Not really all that exciting except that they were able to do so while keeping the photo perfectly centered. That must have taken a lot of practice.

Is this just more Apple bashing for the sake of bashing Apple, or does this slow motion commercial reveal some serious concerns?

About the Author
Rahsheen has been a certified geek since before it was the thing to do. He started programming and tinkering in the 4th grade. Now, Rahsheen mostly writes on various sites about technology trends in social media and mobile. . He is also a musician, singer, rapper, writer, and producer. @rahsheen - +Rahsheen Porter - coachrah.com
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