Thoughts on the iPad
It’s so much more intimate than a laptop and so much more capable than a smart phone
So Apple just showed off their new tablet device, the iPad, last Wednesday. I was following along via the live blogging from Engadget and when they posted the image of Jobs holding up the device I was a little surprised. The thick black border, the spaced out icons…. It really did look like they just stretched out an iPhone and that didn’t put much thought about what they were doing.
That was my first reaction.
Then came the demos (iWork and so on). They looked very nice, but I still wasn’t overly impressed.
I think the main reason I was initially disappointed was because of the hype. It seems like everybody had ideas and opinions about the device eading up to the announcement. I read articles about “a new” way to interact with a device. I saw some great ideas about having it be instered into an even bigger screen when you’re at home. Perhaps that’s why I was a little disappointed while I kept refreshing my browser and reading all about the iPad.
Now, after a couple days to think about it, I’m delighted about what he iPad has to offer. Why? Because it makes sense now. Why would Apple reinvent something that is so perfect like the iPhone? It’s intutive, attractive and works perfectly, in my opinion. Now, using the same technology and adding a bigger screen, it will be even better.
I use my iPhone a lot more than I use my Mac these days. The one thing that I do not use the iPhone for is heavy reading. There is no way I’d read an entire book on the small screen, but now (also with the ease of iBooks) I think purchasing books in digital format will be my new obsession.
There are plenty of people still complaining about the iPhone, but I don’t remember seeing a negative remark from someone that’s actually used it. It’s like saying how bad a restaurant is just because from what you’ve seen on the outside, but have never actually tried the food. I’m not saying this device is for everyone, everyone has the right to their opinion, but I’d wait to actually try before bashing it too much.
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