iPad 2 Debate: Specs Vs. Experience?iPad 2 Debate: Specs Vs. Experience?

On the surface, the iPad 2 is a spec bump from the original iPad. All the basics of the device have been improved in some small way (except for the display), and Apple is pricing the iPad 2 aggressively compared to the competition. Since the Apple keynote concluded, I've seen a half-dozen charts and tables thrown together that compare the specs of all the major tablets. Is that the right way to consider which tablet to get?

Some say no.

Let's take a look at what Steve Jobs actually said at the conclusion of his iPad 2 keynote talk:

"I've said this before and I thought it was worth repeating. It is in Apple's DNA that technology alone is not enough. It is technology married with the liberal arts, it is technology married with the humanities that yields the results that makes our heart sing. Nowhere is that more true than in these in the post-PC devices."

Jobs refers to devices such as the iPad, iPhone, iPod, and so on "post-PC" devices.

"A lot of these folks in the tablet market are rushing in and treating tablets like the next PCs. The hardware and software is made by different companies, and they're speaking about speeds and feeds just like they did with PCs," Jobs said. "Our experience with every bone in our bodies says that this is not the right approach. That these devices need to be even easier to use than PCs. That they need to be even more intuitive than a PC. And the hardware and software and applications need to intertwine in an even more seamless way than they do on a PC. We think we're on the right track with this."

In other words, it's not the individual components of a computing product that makes it successful, it's the experience it provides to end users. This is exactly why the iPhone has been so successful. Consider the original iPhone. Based on specs alone, it was way behind the competition when it launched. For example, it didn't have 3G. Did that stop it from selling like crazy? No. It wasn't the specs people were purchasing when they bought an iPhone -- it was the experience.

This has translated to the success of the iPad, of which Apple has sold more than 15 million. It was targeted at the netbook category (simple, portable computing and Web browsing) and has pretty much obliterated it. Gartner believes the iPad 2 will be so successful; it has ratcheted down its expectations for the broader PC market (laptops and desktops).

One of the chief complaints emerging about the iPad 2 is the poor quality of the camera. I have to wonder if any of these people complaining have ever used a tablet to take a picture. It's the most awkward activity ever. Tablets are way too huge and gawky to use as a camera. Apple put the cameras on the iPad not so people could capture award-winning video, but so its FaceTime application could help bring people together. (Guess what, FaceTime works better than any other video chat software out there, despite its Wi-Fi-only limitations.)

Ask the traveling businessperson what matters more: Using a tablet to take high-quality photos of his/her coworkers at dinner, or using it to see his/her kids and say good night at bed time? Do the specs of the iPad 2's camera matter in this scenario at all, as long as they work and connect people in the way they want to be connected?

It's true that many of the competing tablets on the market (or about to hit the market) have equal or better specifications than the iPad 2 does. I've used most of them at this point. Though iOS has its limitations, none of the other devices has been able to match the "experience" that Apple is talking about. This doesn't mean that some of the competing devices won't be successful. They will.

Perhaps the best outcome we can hope for here is that the competition "gets" what Apple is pitching, and starts to think that way, too. That would lead to better products for all of us.

Apple is asking everyone – again -- to really "think different."

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