Ok, so… I’ve got this friend — the same Internet paranoid friend as the “Why do I blog?” article.  He is a fantastic friend.  The kind of guy you rely on, but he — like me — is prone to holding on to jokes that he thinks are funny for far too long, but one of them (at least I think it’s a joke) is starting to get to me.

I bought my iPad on release day.  I’ve never had a moment’s regret for it, as I use the iPad almost more than I do my desktop system.  I blog from it, I code on it, I do pretty much all things computer on it.

I’ve never.  Not one single time, ever had use for, nor missed having a USB port built into the iPad.  I even bought the dongle and have used it exactly once.  Mostly just to make sure it works (and it did) to transfer off some images from the memory card.

This friend — I call him “Bert” though it’s not his name — and I often talk about the iPad when he invariably comes around to his fall-back response “I won’t buy one because it doesn’t have a USB port“.

After all this time, and having the same old argument, I can’t tell if he’s serious, or whether he’s doing it just because he knows it yanks my proverbial chain, but in all the people whining and bitching about the lack of a USB port (not really Bert), I just don’t get it.

Not one single person has given me a real, legitimate, non-BS reason for needing a USB port on an iPad which can’t be handled with the dongle.  I agree.  It *seems* like Apple could have capitulated and put one on it just to make people happy, but I’m more interested in knowing WHY BOTHER?

USB 2.0 is on it’s way out.  USB 3.x uses a different port design which would require a dongle/adapter for most things since 3.x support right now is very scarce for most devices.  The power draw on a USB 2.x device would more than likely kill — or seriously strain — the battery on the iPad.  At a minimum, trying to power a USB 2.x device would shorten the useful battery life by half, which doesn’t really help anyone, so once again, I ask…

Why does anyone REALLY need one, or is it just another reason to hate Apple by those who don’t “get it”???  Someone PLEASE give me a real reason why the lack of a native USB port on an iPad is a legitimate problem…!  Either that, or quitcherbitchen…