There has been a lot of discussion in the tech community about whether the iPad is a significant new computing device or simply another digital toy that will run it’s course and end up sitting in a closet collecting dust. Although I can’t really comment on the device’s long-term viability, I can comment on some significant realizations I’ve come to in the week since the iPad launched.
Believe it or not I’d say that I’ve used my iPad as much or more that my laptop or desktop for daily computing. Since it’s small and light enough to literally take everywhere, I find it’s just easier to browse the web, check my email and even do things like IM with the iPad. The display is awesome for all applications so I always have a great viewing experience, and much to my surprise typing with the virtual keyboard is a breeze (I’m using it to write this post in the iPad WordPress app). In fact, when the device is in landscape mode I can basically touch-type, and even if I do make a mistake it gets corrected automatically 9 times out of 10.
Watching movies, reading books and listening to music on the ipad are all great experiences. In fact I’d have to say that the iPad is the ultimate content consumption device on the market. One of the biggest surprises I had while first using it was the quality of the built-in speakers. They’re totally listenable and I never felt the need to plug in headphones while listening to music, playing games or watching video.
Another happy surprise was the battery life. When Steve Jobs said you could get 10 hours out of this thing most people expected that would be a best-case scenario and actually expected more like 8. That’s not the case though, the iPad lasts a very long time and if you’re only using it lightly it could easily last multiple days.
All that being said the iPad isn’t perfect. First off I think the pricing for apps has been inflated a little too much. I came from the iPhone app store where I was used to paying 5 dollars at most for applications, but on the iPad 10 or 15 dollars is the norm. I think the higher prices are somewhat a result of apple themselves pricing the iWork apps at $10 each, and I’d even say the iWork apps are worth that, but there are several apps that were mostly ported from the iPhone priced just as high. I’m hoping that the marketplace will somewhat self-regulate over time, but as of right now the pricing is unrealistic.
I also wish the app store in general had an official trial system. As I mentioned on twitter, spending 0.99 cents on a bad iPhone app is one thing, spending $15 for a bad iPad app is another. If I could preview apps, even if just for a matter of hours, my experience with buying apps would be much more pleasant.
Additionally, The iBook store doesn’t have nearly as many titles as I wish it did. I’ve already searched for 3 different titles that weren’t available yet. I’m sure this will be remedied in the future, and there are alternatives like the Amazon Kindle app, but it’s still slightly annoying.
In the end I think the iPad does signal a change, or as Steve Wozniak put it a reboot of computing devices. Using this thing is fun, easy and it just makes sense for 90% of my daily computing tasks. It’s the perfect device for any casual user and would probably serve well as their primary computer, and it’s an excellent netbook or even laptop replacement for power users. I am a total geek and I use it for several hours a day everyday, and aside from being able to do development work it meets all of my needs. Plus, as developers get a better handle on creating iPad applications in the future it’ll only get better and become even more useful.
