[nikkie]

As some people have mentioned, there are some things the iPad does not do, and some things it doesn't do very well, or perhaps well as other hardware. This is my attempt to compile a list of these things for potential buyers. This isn't an attempt to gather a feature list. Features can go in other threads, or on the wiki.

ALERT EVERYONE! PSHRYNK JUST CAME UP WITH THE MOST IMPORTANT THING THE IPAD CAN'T DO!

Originally Posted by pshrynk

One thing that you can't do, or at least I haven't figured out how to do, is change avatars on MR. For those who know me, that's a major downer for me. I guess I won't be getting rid of the laptop any time soon...

Internet:

• The DHCP client on the iPad functions poorly in some homes and campuses, causing the internet to appear to randomly drop out. I have found that (re-)opening Safari will usually resolve the problem.

Safari:
Safari does not support most plugins. If you are used to firefox and adding features to your browser, you will find Safari to be lacking in this area.
In particular:

• No flash
• No shockwave
• No Java applets

What this means for you, the purchaser, is that if you often watch movies on the internet, or play rich games, many of these will not play. In particular, youtube will work fine, while hulu will not.

iBooks:

• iBooks reads ePubs. It does not read externally purchased ebooks which are protected by DRM, such as those bought from B&N, Amazon, etc. If you want to read those books you should download the B&N app or the Amazon app from the app store. To import your unprotected books to iBooks, you can use iTunes. There is no other method for importing to iBooks. There are, however, several other apps available with different methods of importing books for reading in those apps.
• iBooks does not support embedded fonts. As of the time of this post, no other iPad apps do either.
• iBooks does not have a night view.
• You cannot (currently) read books purchased from iBooks on any other devices, including the iPhone.

Mail, Pages, Keynote, etc.:

• These apps (or any other apple apps) will not print directly from the apps themselves. If you want to print, you can email your document to your home computer and print from there. Alternatively, there are some apps which provide some support for printing. Many of these apps will use your home computer as a go-between.

Viewing:

• The iPad works well in moderate to darkly lit environments. Some users report it doesn't suit them out doors in bright sunlight.

Device input and Hardware:

• The iPad does not ship with a stylus, though you can purchase capacitive styli that work fairly well. The device does not do text-recognition out of the box (the apple apps don't support it), though there are some external apps that do.
• The iPad does not have a USB input for external drives, keyboards, or other input devices. Instead, it has a standard apple port. It also has bluetooth with which you can use with bluetooth keyboards or headsets. Apple provides a Camera Kit for $30 which will allow you to add photos from cameras with usb output to your library.
• The iPad does not provide access to SD or microSD or other memory slots. The amount of memory is fixed at purchase. Apple provides a Camera Kit for $30 which will allow you to add photos on SD cards to your photo library.
• The iPad does not multi-task at this point. It is scheduled to receive an update late this fall which will add some multi-tasking features, such as the ability to background sound. Currently, application developers are recommended to save the state of applications, so when a user re-opens them, they will return to the previous activity.
• There is no built-in camera or video camera. You cannot video conference with the iPad.

For those unfamiliar with Apple mobile devices:

• Only applications which are approved by Apple show up in the app store. If you wish to download apps that aren't sanctioned by Apple, you will need to jailbreak first.
• The size of these devices prohibits the inclusion of optical drives (cd or dvd).
• The file system of this device is not intended to be used in a manner similar to your computer. Applications themselves are encrypted, and media files are stored in an Apple database format which requires special drivers or iTunes to add files or copy them off the device. There is a shared folder on the iPad which you can add files and folders to, but not all applications read from it yet as this is new to the iPad.
• This device (and other Apple mobile devices) will not actually make your bed for you, clean your house, or bake you a cake.

If you've already bought one and miss one of these features strongly; I'm sorry. If the device doesn't work out well for you, craigslist is a great place right now to pawn it off!

That's it for now. Perhaps folks have other features which they expect it to do or think it ought to do, which it doesn't?

If people find this useful, perhaps a mod can sticky it, so new users know what to expect when purchasing an iPad.