Want iPad USB or SD? That’ll be $29

Apple took some heat for not including USB or SD card slots on the iPad, but now it’s offering a solution: $29 gets you external connectors for both.

The iPad Camera Connection Kit will be available in late-April. It includes two dongles that attach to the iPad’s 30-pin connector. One accommodates SD cards, and the other accepts USB cables from digital cameras.

Once the camera or memory card is inserted, the iPad’s Photos app opens, letting you choose which photos to import. Those photos then sync to a Windows or Mac computer when connected to an iPad. The connection kit supports “standard photo formats, including JPEG and RAW,” according to Apple.

I’m hoping that the ZoomIt will provide an alternative. Launching in April, it’s also an external SD card reader, but for the iPod Touch and iPhone.  Zoom Media wrote on Twitter that Apple hasn’t made the iPad “open” yet, but maybe that’ll change after launch. If so, the product will be more capable, letting you share video, photos and music for all of Apple’s portables, but for a higher price of $60.

There is, of course, a philosophical argument to be had over whether the iPad should’ve included USB and SD ports in the first place. I’m disappointed that it doesn’t, but I understand Apple’s desire to keep the device’s design smooth by eliminating most external jacks. That said, $29 seems like a lot to ask for one function that any digital camera owner will regard as commonplace. A tablet is a great way to view pictures on a larger screen — it could even function as a digital picture frame — but it’s a hassle to import pictures to a computer, then to the iPad via USB.