The iPad from Apple – which sold 1 million devices in the first month of its US launch – has finally gone on sale here in the UK and as always, people queued through the night to be amongst the first to get their hands on one.

Culturally iconic, technologically average

The question I’m asking is why?

Having had the opportunity to mess around with one a couple of weeks ago, I can safely say that my initial view that it was a slightly improved and much bigger iPod Touch proved to be true…almost.

Let’s deal with its plus points first.

The screen resolution and performance is amazing. It’s truly wonderful. Never before has any app looked so crisp or any video NOT from a DVD looked so sharp.

The improved size makes using the keyboard a joy, especially if you prefer a touch screen to actual keys as I do.

It is brilliantly future proof too – but that is also one of its downfalls. The iPad IS just a big iPod Touch…for now. At least it is unless you’re prepared to spend the time getting to know it. And I would be if it wasn’t for its other major problem, but I’ll get to that in a little while.

There are some good uses for the iPad in all fairness. As a travel companion I can’t think of a better option now. Ignore the relative difficulty of getting things on and off the iPad (no DVD drive etc) and with a little preparation and the help of iTunes and you have a superb little music and film player that is the ideal size for travel.

It won’t quite replace the laptop for really practical uses just yet, but there’s no reason you can’t manage a database or do a bit of office work on it. Apple provide the software to do so. The laptop remains King for now though because of its sheer versatility, something the iPad cannot be accused of being.

There are two downsides that I can see and both of them or either of them stop me from investing. Firstly, there is that issue with Apple’s tight control over what you can and can’t have on the iPad. No USB port, no way of doing anything except through your Mac and iTunes. Limiting for those of us without a Mac at best.

The second downside is the big one for me. Given its current limitations the price of the iPad is ridiculous. The cheapest version on offer is £429. That has a pitiful 16Gb memory and is WiFi only, no 3G. Want the top of the range iPad? That’s a cool £699 for 64Gb and the 3G.

Want to add a dock, keyboard, case, camera connection kit? Another £110 or thereabouts

I’m sorry but the price does not justify the product, it really doesn’t. The iPad is a piece of cultural and cosmetic genius but it is not a step forward in technology or even, really, the use of it.

What the iPad will do is open the market for everyone else – and with competition comes development, progression, innovation and competitiveness. Just as the iPod kickstarted the boom in MP3s and the iPhone spawned Android, the iPad will create new interest in the ‘tablet’ and will be the catalyst, I think, for ever more useful and user friendly versions.

For that reason alone I welcome it. I just won’t own it.

In a bid to keep my writing, SEO and general online marketing skills up to scratch, this is what I’m working on at the moment.

It’s a personal project and I’m not looking to make money out of it – but if it happens, great!

Take a look, and feel free to leave me your opinions and suggestions on here if you wish.

Sort yourselves out, Facebook!

I’ve set up and managed Facebook Pages for two companies now and there is one thing about them that really bugs me. You cannot switch ownership to another Facebook user. This is surely a glaring oversight from the Facebook team and I cannot believe they haven’t addressed it.

There are plenty of people with the same problem on Facebook’s forum pages and many, many requests have been sent via their suggestion facility.

Not only is it annoying but it is potentially damaging for companies. When the employee who set up the page in the first place moves on, your only recourse is to delete the page – or trust that he or she will do it. This could mean thousands of man hours wasted, all your content gone and you have to begin again.

Worst case scenario, your former employee and Facebook Page manager leaves under a cloud and exacts revenge through the page. They, after all, own it and you cannot switch it.

In my case, I deleted the page set up for the first company. There was no other option. I could have been far more malicious – as far as I was concerned I was treated badly when I left that company and it would have been a simple task to ruin the reputation of that particular online company. Instead, a lot of work just ended up going down the toilet and they had to begin again.

As it happens, I would have happily just handed ownership to whoever they wanted me to – but I couldn’t.

In the case of the second company there are two Facebook Pages to consider. But again, all I can do is delete them. There hasn’t been as much work put into these and the company in question is unlikely to want to take ownership anyway, so no harm done overall.

That doesn’t make it right though, does it? What makes it worse is Facebook offers the option of being a business user, which might seem like the solution – but only if you don’t already have a personal account! And who doesn’t have a Facebook account these days? Not many.

So come on Facebook – you’re leaving a lot of companies with no option other than NOT have a Facebook presence and that’s damaging to your business, surely?

Lately I’ve been changing Guild’s quite a lot. I think I’ve had four in two months. I ended up in a nice 25 man raiding Guild with a few WoW friends and we did well. It was led by a strong core of raiders and I tagged along in my usual capacity of non-idiot, fast learning DPS. It worked.

However, there was a falling out over something and that hardcore group went off to form their own Guild. I went with them for a short while, I thought I’d see how it went. Raiding-wise there was no change. A strong leader and a group of real class players and you get things done. Socially, however, it was different. Not friendly, just business-like. But as my online time has been drastically cut, I didn’t really mind.

Then the most bizarre thing. The Guild Master got hacked, allegedly. Ok, you ticket, you wait, you get restored. Or, in this case, half the hardcore raiders get pissed about it and QUIT WOW! Yep, not the Guild, WoW. This, of course, triggers Guild implosioon and I went floating for a day or two before I decided, sod it, get back with your pals where it doesn’t matter if you’re ever online or not, when you are they’ll be there for a laugh.

So I’m in Plan B (how ironic!) with a few of my old mates and no doubt a few more will drift over as time passes. We tend to end up in the same place because we’re all like minded. And WoW is meant to be a social game, isn’t it. Ok, we might not clear Icecrown Citadel with 25, but so what? What’s the point if it’s no fun?

Stick with your mates – that’s why they’re your mates.

Laters.

Google Wave-d bye bye?

Seriously, anyone know? I downloaded it, installed it, used it, realised no-one else was using it rendering it pointless, and haven’t looked at it since.

Do you use it? Or know anyone that does? For God’s sake, let me know, because Google invested a LOT of time and effort (as did the likes of Mashable! and other commentators) into it and I want to know what it’s FOR!

Help me out…leave a comment or two if you know anyone getting some use out of Google Wave.