Apple’s iPad Doesn’t Support 4:3 Or 16:9 Aspect Ratio

Another flaw I just noticed with the iPad is that the aspect ratio of the screen does not support 4:3 or 16:9 video. (Updated: It appears the iPad is 4:3, but still the viewing experience will suffer. See this article with images of what movies will look like on the iPad and how much black there will be) Does that mean Apple has to re-encode all of their iTunes library just for the iPad? For folks who are really serious about their video, what kind of impact is that going to have on them? While I don’t think this alone will keep anyone from buying one, it’s just another example of how Apple is hyping this device for video, yet then not thinking about video in the design process.