Flutterby™! : iPad first impressions 2010-04-06 22:25:13.874081+00

iPad first impressions

2010-04-06 22:25:13.874081+00 by Dan Lyke 4 comments

Okay, I played with an iPad for a few minutes. Apple is a media facilitation company, and viewed in that light the iPad delivers brilliantly.

It is not a replacement for the Kindle. It's a sucky e-reader, too slipper to read with one hand (while petting the cat, you perverts) and too heavy to read lying down. But if you're talking about coffee table books, then The Elements is amazing and achieves things the paper version couldn't.

As predicted, it's not a laptop or a replacement for a netbook. Typing on the screen doesn't really work. As a web device, it's a more sharable browser and viewer, I can look up something and then pass it across the table, rather than emailing a URL to the person across from me.

And, yes, it's totally proprietary and locked in. I can buy an Always Innovating Touch Book and it'd be a kit. It has more possibilities than the iPad. Hell, it probably runs Flash, so it probably already has a better web browsing experience. But the iPad has already sold more copies, and has already sold more to the sort of people who are likely to buy software I develop. Furthermore, I don't need a business infrastructure to set that up; Apple's already willing to take money, distribute the app, and cut the check.

The iPad is as much a game changer as the iPhone was. My next phone probably won't be an iPhone. My second tablet probably won't be an iPad. My first one probably will be, and I'll probably buy it within a month or so.

I've been finding reading in bed (even one handed. meow) to be easier than holding a book - I rest the ipad on my my gut and only have to balance it fore and aft. A small swipe gesture with one thumb to navigate between pages.

My eyes do get crunchier faster with the lit screen than paper, and I get a serious case of gorilla arm when playing Plants vs Zombies lying down.

The direct manipulation is really cool. A friend makes the "light table 2" app, where you can directly move and resize images. I was giggling like a little girl when I was moving around 8 photos at once. (couldn't quite fit the other two fingers on to the screen)

The "Will it Blend" video is compelling because you can see the iPad is still running even after being smashed on a table.

The "2.5 y/o" video demonstrates just how well the gesture-based UI works. I sure hope Apple is reasonable on licensing their gestures because I don't want to have to use different gestures for the same actions on different devices.

But it's also a reminder that the iPad's got a glass screen, just like the iPhone/iTouch, only much much bigger. Which is, admittedly, part of the gorgeous, but it's also a reminder that Apple really really really needs to figure out how to texture their cases so that some sort of additional case isn't an automatic must.

I spent an hour playing with an iPad at the Apple store this weekend. Now I'm trying to build a presentation in PowerPoint with a mouse feel like I've had a limb cut off. There are some things that the touch/gesture interface is so much better at, it will be game changing.