iPad Ditched: iPhone 4 offers better experience and functionality

Interesting post in Gizmodo this morning. Author Brian Lam says that since he got his hands on the iPhone 4 he has found less and less use for the iPad: "Three months ago I couldn't imagine a life without my iPad's big beautiful screen. Today, I am living that life, having ditched my iPad for the iPhone 4, almost completely."

He goes on to say that the big plus of the iPhone 4 is the screen. The phone also feels better in the hands for casual use than the iPad "with its deceptively dense form factor that is hard to hold with one hand, as you would a magazine or other object of that size."

He also blames the lack of real innovation in iPad apps and, of course, the delayed advent of iOS 4.0 on the iPad. 

Even before I got my hands on the iPhone 4, the addition of iOS4 on my old 3GS model was encouraging me to make it the device of choice. I was even quite happy reading Kindle books on the 3GS, a claim I've mentioned many times. Now, with the higher resolution of the iPhone 4, the case for the iPad gets weaker and weaker. It's frustrating to have to go back to iOS 3.x after using 4.0 on the phone, but it's even more worrying to have to cope with the weight and bulk of the iPad. 

For data input, for casual news browsing, and for book reading, the iPhone 4 is great. What's more, it's the device you have in your pocket all the time. The iPad, on the other hand, is just too big. I seldom watch videos and I am not a games fan, so my desire for the bigger screen is decidedly lukewarm. The iPad is a great book reader, but, again, I think it is too big.

No doubt the addition of iOS 4 in the autumn will put new life into the current iPad. But I doubt it will do much to encourage me to carry it around more often. Instead, I wait for the new 7-in Pad due in January and, in the meantime, I have ordered a generation-three Kindle to enable me to read my library on a bigger screen when I feel the need.