Apple iPad & Photographers: Why Apple Missed A Trick iPad’s Lack of Integrated Card Reader & USB A Glaring Oversight

I would hardly term myself as anything other than an amateur
photographer but it must be said that Apple appear to have overlooked
another market segment that the iPad may (otherwise) have appealed to
only if the iPad were to come with an onboard memory card reader.
Let s be honest here, memory card readers really aren t all that special
(a great many notebooks have been sporting them for years) but one thing
they most certainly are is extremely useful " and this is especially
the case for (but not limited to) photographers.
Admittedly Apple are set to offer an add-on in the guise of an external
card reader that ll plug into your iPad (taking the form of a dongle)
but, lets be honest here, why couldn t Apple have built one in, after
all the iPad could have been a great tool for photographers allowing
them to upload their images directly from memory cards and show clients
(say, as a fashion or wedding shoot) somewhat more enticing (or not)
previews of their images in a manner far more accessible than merely
asking clients to stare at a DSLR s relatively tiny LCD.
Did it not occur to Apple that the iPad would, aside from making a great
eBook reader, also make a great backup and preview device for
photographers " if not whilst in the field then as a device with which
to showcase their work elsewhere?
To have added an onboard car reader would hardly have been a major
technical challenge and yet if you want to access material stored on
memory cards you ll need to carry around additional clutter (and this
will undoubtedly put many people off from using the device in this
fashion). A crying shame really as, what with WiFi and (more so) 3G
connectivity, photographers could have not only used the iPad to
showcase and backup images but could also have used the device to upload
images to online galleries, email imagery directly to clients whilst on
location, etc, etc.
There is, perhaps, one light at the end of the tunnel as thanks to the
iPad sporting wireless connectivity Eye-Fi WiFi memory cards could (just
could) ease the strain in allowing imagery to be sent to the iPad
wirelessly. Quite whether the iPad will prove compatible with Eye-Fi
WiFi touting memory cards is, however, open to question. That said, if
your DSLR uses SD or SDHC cards this may be a possibility but the fact
is most prosumer DSLRs don t really cannot be glossed over. Add to that
the fact that the iPad comes sans integrated USB port and, well…
It really doesn t matter which way you look at it, Apple have missed an
opportunity to give their iPad far wider appeal which is, all said and
done, either a glaring oversight or, if you excuse me being somewhat
direct, just plain daft.