First up, I’d like to thank a guy called Joe at the Apple Store in Belfast. My MacBook Pro needed a repair, and there was a monumental screw-up with the order for the part and my appointment. Joe sorted it out, and did the repair himself. I walked away a happy customer, but, as I said to Joe, it could easily have gone pear-shaped. Thanks, Joe.
So, the iPad. It’s light initially, but soon I wanted to rest it on the table to use it – especially when I wanted to type with both hands (which is most of the time). The iPad responds quickly to input and gestures. The demo model I was using had the iWork apps installed, so I took the opportunity. I use iWork a lot on my MacBook Pro (MBP), and I have to say that while the apps look good, they work differently from the full version (obviously!). The iPad version would be fantastic for opening documents I had already created, but a real pain in the ass to try to create new docs from scratch because of the on-screen keyboard. It’s great as far as on-screen keyboards go, but it’s not a real keyboard. If I had an iPad, I would immediately pair it with my Apple bluetooth keyboard in order to use it for ‘serious’ work. The other limitation is the reduced functionality of the iPad versions. I would (possibly until I became better acquainted) be creating reduced functionality documents natively on the iPad.
What the iPad would be great for, even eventually essential for, is organisation and information. The Calendar, Notebook and Contacts apps are great (although, again, different from the MacOS versions in function), and so long as they will sync with my central information stores then the iPad would be a great tool to carry around. I could see myself eventually replacing my paper diary (which, because it is based on the essential technology of paper (increasingly under-rated!!) is incredibly available and easy to use) with an iPad. Web browsing was great, straight up excellent. I don’t care about the Flash thing. Email was good too, and the screen keyboard is good enough for short emails.
The photo app is great, as is the iPod app. In fact, all the apps are great, as long as they do what you need them to do – I can’t really do justice to them here because of the subjectivity. I will say that they all look and feel great. The books looked great, but I (must be a luddite) definitely prefer a tactile, paper publication. Less eye strain.
I also really liked a couple of the games that were installed. The marble game was great! Tilting the iPad to roll the marble, together with the sounds and the physics made for a very realistic experience, and a very entertaining game. I didn’t like the driving game that everyone seems to rave about, but then I don’t like driving games!
The over-riding thing about the iPad is that the apps DO require some learning. It is NOT completely intuitive. Having said that, it would’t take long to learn since there is nothing complicated about it. The great aspect is the completely hands-on interactivity. The touch interface is amazing, there is no other term for it. So easy to use. So ‘right there’. So immersive. Actually, that’s a point – this really is a personal device. I wouldn’t want to share mine with someone else for productivity. I mean, my MBP (through key-chain entries and other personalisations) is very much ‘my’ computer, and even my girlfriend finds that she has to log out of my various web-based service accounts when she want to use it for her own work. Having said that, installing the DropBox app it would be very handy for accessing my work.
That leads me to the reported reliance on syncing the iPad to a MBP or iMac via iTunes. I didn’t have any way to look at this, so I can;t really comment. The lack of input sources (USB, SD, etc) would seem to indicate a reliance on the connected computer.
Conclusion: this is a quick appraisal. Do I want one? Not yet! I like the immediacy, robustness and portability of paper for my diary and books. Also, the price is steep, and it’s lacking in connectivity features. Hypocritically, if someone just gave me one I would immediately find a number of uses for it, and that is the issue for me – I like the technology I have (the Pulse recording pen among others) and it would take me some time to migrate to another way of doing things. Part of this is because I use my MBP for everything, and it runs everything the iPad does, plus all the MacOS apps I require. Another part is that the iPad would be another piece of technology that needs ‘looking after’ in a way that the more traditional resources I use do not. Mostly I am happy that my OCD outlook on technology didn’t kick in, but that’s a different story.
I’m sure I’ll end up with an iPad eventually, but, as I have said a couple of time to date, I will wait.
Simon Monaghan's Blog 