So what did I think?
Based on an admittedly too brief play, I have to say that it is very much a big iPhone (without the phone bit). Anyone with an iPhone will be instantly at home and functional.
So everything you love about the iPhone interface is there – gorgeous screen, slick touch controls, ability to use iTunes while working on other apps.
And everything you may hate about the iPhone is there too – stupidly hard to use iTunes that mashes all your tracks together, inability to use it like an ordinary memory stick for file storage or transfer (not even a USB port!), lack of multitasking (until the operating system upgrade in a couple of months gives us more functional multitasking anyway).
So if you don’t already have an iPhone, you’ll have plenty to like. But if you do have one, you’ll be lacking somewhat in the wow factor – mainly because of the things that should have been included, given Apple’s had the iPhone out there for enough years to know better. So what is mssing?
Interestingly, the first thing my son said was “does it have a camera?” So my nine year old who had never heard of an iPad has a better idea of what is a critical feature than Apple does?? Skype video calls would be great if it did have a forward-facing camera. I picture an after-market case having a pop-out stand so you can prop it up on a table and sit around having video calls to grandparents and the like. But likewise a rear-facing camera would be equally well used given there'd be no need to transfer pictures from a camera to the device before uploading.
And as a coffee table device, why wouldn’t you include VOIP telephony at the least?
Battery life would be a big question mark too (it sure is with an iPhone!) – the website says 9 hours, but i have my doubts. What are the docking options? I can see digital-photo-frame-like docks being big. But they’d need decent speakers too given the iPad only has one. Yep – one more than the iPhone. Seriously? And with the screen real estate available, why wouldn’t you have surface-mounted speakers facing out, instead of under the edge like on the phone, where they get muffled if you have it propped up? Many notebooks have outstanding tiny speakers now from the likes of Harmon Kardon and Altec Lansing.
The iPad is kind of heavy-ish (just like the iPhone is), making it heavy to hold with one hand while using, like you would with a TV program or book. You might find you tend to put it on your lap more as a result, making e-book reading a neck strain, and blocking your music through that speaker…
The soft keyboard is quite large in landscape mode – too big for two-thumbed typing, requiring a change around to portrait mode. Of course normal typing would be feasible for those who can use more than their thumbs, but stability would be an issue. And how do you touch-type on something where it all feels the same whether you are typing on the keys or missing them? I see the new operating system will have Bluetooth functionality for external keyboards.
The whole thing is good and rigid, but a shock-resistant case and screen protector would be a must-have. How many of your friends are living with shattered iPhone screens?
On-screen, iPhone apps without a proper port are just stretched bigger and look quite pixellated. You can set a photo as a wallpaper behind menu icons, but weirdly it stays still when you swipe across pages of icons. It would make more sense to have a different backdrop for each page, which then swipes with the page change. Menus are all the same, just with less steps because you can fit more on a screen. Had the same unfathomable problems connecting first time to the home wireless network. An external switch to lock the screen rotation mode is a smart idea as opposed to diving into software settings and would be as welcome on the iPhone.
Apps are limited to buying via the US AppStore using US coupons and a US address. Or a proxy server I guess.
So the big question: am I placing an order?
Nope. Without cameras built in, it fails as the quintessential coffee table computer. For that feature alone I wouldn’t shell out until version 2. But then – you bet. Unless something else comes along that does it all plus also has a USB port and lets me access the storage and files.
Alan,
ReplyDeleteI so wish I was on air this week, because I would have jumped straight on the phone and said, please come and share all of this on the radio. A wonderful summary of brief introduction to I-Pad. Thanks so much for sharing.