Again, I know what you’re thinking.  It’s not supposed to replace the iPhone, it’s an entirely separate product.  True, but the two share so many of the same features that if you use your iPhone in the same way I do, i.e. data and A/V services over the actual phone, then the thought of retiring your 3G or 3GS for the iPad should have crossed your mind.

So, despite it being potentially cheaper to operate, having a bigger screen and being more versatile that the iPhone, why am I not putting my name down for one right now?  Just like there were several reasons why one should, there are several why one shouldn’t.

The lack of multi-tasking is a huge problem.  My iPhone doesn’t do it, but I can live with that as its small size never really entices me to do too much else with it, so if one thing has to close for another to open – so be it.  But, on something as good-looking as the iPad, with so much potential as a netbook/eReader replacement, being unable to have my email open alongside my browser, video player, an iWork application or all three would be really annoying.  It’s also something my netbook does really quite well.

The lack of multi-tasking was evident by its absence during the presentation, as was Flash.  Of course, this is also a problem on the iPhone, but again, its small size and on-the-go style means I accept its limitations when I visit a Flash-based website.  But I can’t see this being the case when I’m seated in my comfy chair – just like Steve – and decide to check out some cinema times and book a ticket at my local multiplex – on a site that is solely created in Flash.  Firefox seems to be fine on my netbook though.

Inside the App Store is an app for Skype, a program I use everyday on my laptop and thanks to iSight, I can video call too.  Why isn’t there an iSight camera mounted in the iPad’s bezel?  Is it to do with the any-way-is-up design?  Is it network providers complaining about the strain on their 3G service?  Whatever the reason, it’s odd, as there is one on my netbook as well as my MacBook.

Those issues above perhaps apply more to me than others, but they are not the main reason I would currently consider an iPad over my iPhone and netbook.  The main reason is the fact the iPad runs essentially the same OS as my iPhone – OS 3.2 actually – and therefore really doesn’t offer me anything new aside from iBooks, which I probably won’t want to read on an LCD display.

This was the biggest disappointment of not just the iPad, but the Apple event too.  Yes, the hardware is gorgeous, the video playback looks great and the photo software looks very impressive, but I just don’t think the iPhone OS – in its current state – suits a larger device, in much the same way that Google Android doesn’t, plus how great it would have been running OSX.

At the moment, the iPad appears to be like either the iPhone 2G, a work in progress likely to mature, or the MackBook Air, a technical marvel but ultimately, a rather niche product.  Perhaps with the inevitable release of OS 4.0, the iPad will move into ‘must-have’ territory?  There’s just one final problem with that.  Just how good is the next generation of iPhone going to be with it?