Apple is playing a dangerous game with its new iPad release.

Like the iPhone before it, the iPad seems positioned to sell itself as a digital multi-tool: all the apps of an iPhone, same G3 wireless connectivity, additional functionality as an e-reader, multi-touch recognition (allowing true on screen keyboards) and the size and processing speed of a laptop.

However the iPad also has one of the same shortcomings of the iPhone, no Flash.

In a handheld device where all internet access is still something of a novelty visitors who can’t load a page will simply (and correctly) assume that it does not have a mobile version.

But when your new laptop equivalent can’t access 70% of online games and 75% on online videos, you may be heading for rough waters.

Apple’s attitude seems to be that anyone who wants to stay competitive will redesign their websites to meet the iPad’s specs.  This conceit may even be justified.  The HTML 5.0 standards, which are already being implemented in a piecemeal manner, do allow for video to be embedded directly into a webpage without the need for a flash player - and the popularity of the iPhone may convince slower multimedia sites to make the conversion to HTML 5.0 standards.

However, there is also a possibility that by picking a fight with the quiet but ubiquitous Adobe, Apple may have finally bit off more than it can chew.  And to be perfectly frank, it would not be the first time that the computer maker ran into trouble by eschewing current development standards in favor of future standards that have not yet taken hold.

Another Hole in the iPad Inventory

As an e-reader, the iPad will be going up against the Kindle and Nook.  On the plus side, the iPad will be using ePub, open standards which will allow publishers of all sizes to handle their own formatting.   On the minus side, the iPad will still be backlit, which makes it a harder device to read from.

However, perhaps more importantly, Apple did not secure the rights to include Random House or McGraw-Hill books in its collection.  These are the US’s largest publisher and educational publisher respectively, and by omitting both Apple is lopping off access to more than 20% of the publishing market.

Those are two very big holes for an all-in-one device to overcome.  However, if anyone (other than Google) is in a position to simultaneously re-shape web design standards and the electronic book industry, it would be Apple.