Apple ipad for photography?

Hello everyone!

The official launch of the new Apple ipad for Australia was on the 28th of May and it wasn't till a couple of days later that I actually got a chance to try these new gadgets. Before handling it, my thoughts of the ipad was that it was just a big iphone and a mini mac laptop and there wasn't really anything that would persuade me to buy something like this. After handling it yesterday, I still think its not worth the money and that it would be a luxury to have this. I'm not saying its crap because its obviously an innovative product and a success if people crowd outside and wait in line in the early morning just to get one, I'm thinking that at the moment its not for me. I already have an iphone and in the near future I'll be getting a laptop (eyes on a VAIO or macbook pro). From a photographer's point of view though, it may have some advantages.

• The display - I always loved the display of apple computers, whether it be from my iphone or a macbook pro. So because of the larger screen its good for photographers to view photos.
• Digital Portfolio - this is the main reason I can think of why photographers would buy this product. It can store your portfolio and can be shown to prospective clients in a neat and professional manner.
• Applications - there are so many apps that would be useful for the ipad such as quick editing tools and displays.

Thats about all I can think of at the moment but in time I'm sure the ipad will have more features to  cater for photographers. Maybe with the new version of the ipad but we'll see. On the downside however, the ipad lacks a lot of features that a laptop would better offer.

• No flash support - viewing sites that require flash has been one of my main concerns with the iphone and with the ipad its not different.
• No USB - without a card slot for a compact flash, it would be a hassle to transfer your photos from your camera to the ipad.
• Software - imaging programs such as photoshop, lightroom and aperture will not work on the ipad (this probably would have been the deal breaker for me).

There are a lot more ups and downs to a photographer buying an ipad but for me it doesn't seem worth it at the moment.

Thanks for reading!