So, the iPad finally makes its debut. Same deal as always: a lot of Apple fanatics queueing in front of Apple Stores all around the U.S. like they were waiting for the Holy Grail. If you ask me, I’d probably prefer to pre-order one and have it mailed to my home – it’s a lot more comfortable that way. Anyway, lunacy of some aside, I think there’ll be a lot of fuel for discussions in the following days. Is the iPad great or not?
First, if you read what I wrote on 01/27, I have some strong opinions about the product. And giving what I’ve seen in the media and talking to people who actually got one (I haven’t… I’ll wait a bit to buy one), those opinions haven’t changed. It’s good to see that after the initial disappointment with Jobs’ keynote, people finally got what’s the iPad is all about (well, at least most people).
I’ll be repetitive and say again that the iPad is a device that fills perfectly the gap between laptops and smartphones. You can’t use it to do everything you do with your laptop and you can’t expect it to have the mobility qualities of your smartphone. But when you compute the things you can do on both devices, you realize that the iPad is the thing that executes them better than a laptop or a smartphone. And that’s the key to understand the iPad: it doesn’t do everything, but it does very well everything it’s supposed to do.
You may say that a third might be superfluous, and indeed it is for a lot of people. It isn’t a perfect product designed to hit all the segments of the market. If you don’t need it, don’t buy it – simple. But a lot of people who rely on technology for their productivity or leisure always wanted that third device, and they will buy an iPad. Besides that, there’s the other point I commented on my 01/27 post: people who started using a computer through the iPhone (and by computer, I mean the iPhone itself) will buy an iPad as well. And there’s a large public who can’t stand laptops or desktops but happily use their iPhones.
I don’t know if it’s gonna be a success – time will tell us that – but I strongly believe it will. And I will buy one. (update: I bought one and updated the photo to reflect that)
Now, let’s end the boring analysis and get to the fun part. Let me talk as a user. There are some things I do on the iPhone that could really be done better in an iPad, and this might work as an insight for you. Let’s go through the list:
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Reading articles on Instapaper: I’ve already covered this a few weeks ago, so I won’t talk about it again. In short, the iPhone screen is too small for this and very uncomfortable to use, let’s say, while lying in bed.
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Reading news feeds on NetNewsWire: I’ve just read that the NetNewsWire app for iPad was released. That’s great! It’s my favorite RSS reader and it’ll take immediate advantage of the iPad screen.
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Organizing my tasks on OmniFocus: I honestly hate the OmniFocus app for iPhone, but that’s the only way of managing my ToDo list on the road. But since I don’t carry a laptop 99% of the time, that’s fine. Now, when I’m in bed or in my couch working on it, it sucks. That’s something I’d enjoy doing on the iPad.
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Bedtime reading on Kindle: the Kindle app for iPhone was a good idea, but now with the iPad it becomes a lot better. Reading for short periods of time on bed before sleeping is way more comfortable in a larger screen. Plus, you can do it with the lights off, unlike in the Kindle device.
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Reading The New York Times in the morning: I hate reading it on a monitor, but I’d love to read it lying on my chair with my legs on the desk, lazy style. 🙂
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Watching YouTube videos: that’s pure procrastination. And procrastination shouldn’t require a laptop or a desktop. Of course, I can do it on the iPhone, but the tiny screen sucks for that.
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Show photos to friends at home: I only shoot digital now and I rarely print my photos (unless I want to hang it on my wall). So, when I come back from trips and friends come by to see the photos, I always need to setup my laptop on my big HDTV or carry it around to show the damn pics. The iPad is way more convenient for that.
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Creating/editing documents: since Apple announced iWork for the iPad, I became very excited about the possibility of actually creating content in a mobile device. I could easily carry it to a meeting and use it to make notes, instead of carrying a 2kg laptop. Hell, even if there wasn’t an iWork for iPad, I could use Evernote in a much more agile way than I current do with my iPhone.
So, that’s what I could come up with from the top of my head. I’m sure there’s more, but since I’m concentrated now on a terminal screen running some work on the other monitor, I won’t remember. So, for now, that’s it! 🙂
I hope this helps you decide if the iPad is for you or not!