No Camera Not a Deal Breaker

Posted by Editor on Jan 13, 2010 in Apple, Tablets

Apple’s tablet has been rumored to not sport a built-in webcam (or is it still an iSight). This at least according to John Gruber at Daring Fireball, who seems to have an inside source. But this is hardly a deal breaker and here’s why:

If the tablet is indeed an iPhone on steroids then the possibility of making video calls over 3G networks is going to be impossible. AT&T and other iPhones carriers can barely handle the strain the current model iPhone puts on their network. And there’s no video call/conferencing capability built-in. A tablet with broadband-level video capability would break what’s already brittle.

The other primary purpose of the iPhone’s camera and 3GS’s videocamera is to shoot pictures and ostensibly, video. But would you really want to hold up a flat 10.1 inch-plus device just to snap photos? When you can easily get a photo of equal or better quality with any pocketable digital camera? Of course not.

So once again, Apple makes a wise design decision and doesn’t duplicate already existing functionality with their tablet. That’s why no camera on the tablet is hardly a deal breaker.