ModBook Maker: ‘iPad Is Not a Tablet’

A former Apple executive, now at the helm of ModBook company Axiotron, claims Apple’s iPad is not really a tablet computer. Andreas Haas, Axiotron CEO, oversaw the demise of the Apple Newton and now creates Mac-tablets out of original MacBooks and MacBook Pros. Haas seems confident that Apple’s iPad will not affect his ModBook business.

"The iPad is not a tablet, it's another addendum to the iPhone, the iPod touch," Haas said. "It's the Newton reborn. [...] I always wanted to see the pen come back," he added, according to PC Advisor. "But the market niche is too small [for Apple]. At 2.5 percent of all portable systems, when you run the numbers of Mac laptops you get a ridiculously low number. Apple is just not going to do a tablet."

"It's not a tablet, it's an extension of the iPod touch," Haas emphasized. "It has some new kinks, but generally speaking it's using the iPhone OS. It's more like a smartphone than a personal computer [...] The iPad was exactly what I thought it would be for the last five years," Haas shared. "It's a media pad, a media consumption device. It's not a tablet, it's not a media creation device. And it's a little too large."

We would have to agree with Haas on the size of the iPad, if, indeed, there is no point for it as a device suitable for real work (design, document editing, etc.). We’ll just have to wait and see how it all plays out after the March release.

"I expected that Apple's pad would be in the 7-in. size," Haas continued. "I'm also disappointed that I won't be able to replace my iPhone. I have an iPhone and a MacBook Pro and a Modbook, but the iPad is not designed to replace either the Modbook or the MacBook Pro."

Naturally, Apple wouldn’t replace one of its own still-selling products with the introduction of another.

"I think [the iPad] needs to be not only a media platform, but a communications platform," Haas also explained. "Of course, there could be a few things that Apple adds to the iPad before its [March ship date], something that would put the 'wow' into it." Axiotron’s CEO does admit that, despite all these flaws, the iPad is a great move on behalf of the company headquartered at One Infinite Loop, Cupertino, California. "It's a first step into this arena, to get people started thinking about how to consume media," he concluded.

Axiotron recently announced kicking off 2010 with a Modbook discount promotion. Customers can convert their existing MacBook computers into ModBooks for just $699 through March 1, 2010. Brand-new ModBooks based on the new 2.13GHz MacBook are also available for $1,649.