My Wife Said No

The only thing surprising about this case is how soon it came out. I fully expected all of the “case designers” to come out of the woodwork when the iPad was announced with their crazy ideas on what consumers want to protect their iPad but figured it would take some time for all of the “normal” case ideas to be exhausted first.

CalmCase has issued a press release announcing their new iPad case that essentially turns your tablet into a netbook by adding a built-in bluetooth keyboard. Their concept video includes Iron Man 2 footage accompanied by an ACDC soundtrack and showcases the various configurations you can contort the case into. The press release details the features such as:

BLUETOOTH® KEYBOARD
The chiclet style Bluetooth® keyboard offers a tactical feedback allowing you to compose and type quickly.

360 DEGREE CASE
The 360-degree torque hinges enable greater flexibility and fixed angles for featured modes of operation as the simple and sleek design of the ClamCase™ protects your iPad® from dents and dings.

POSITIONING STAND
Designed to enhance the iPad® experience by providing a you-decide stand with an endless combination of positions to accommodate your desired tasks.

What gets me about this case is it turns your useful and portable iPad into a bulky and cumbersome netbook. Is their really a huge demand for a physical keyboard to “get some serious work” done on the iPad? It seems to be popular because it’s NOT for serious work. Leisure computing is supposed to be easy. Assuming the price is anywhere north of the $50 mark, which it must be if it includes a bluetooth keyboard, you’re looking at a total of at least $600 when coupled with the cheapest iPad. For that amount, you can buy a pretty nice ASUS netbook or Dell Mini10.