iPad: After One Week

April 11, 2010

I thought I’d throw out some random thoughts and opinions on the iPad after I’ve used it for one week. So, here goes. To quickly summarize, the iPad is just pure fun to use. Yes there are some quite frustrating limitations such as the lack of a web cam, no ability to save a photo from a web site, flash/wmv compatibilty, some apps are slightly buggy, no multi-tasking etc but it does do most things very well. While initially skeptical about the need for a space between a smartphone and a computer, I can see how this could easily be a valid segment and predict that the tablet method of media consumption will be hugely successful for manufacturers that understand it is a content consumption platform and it does not and should not be everything a full blown computer is.

Hardware: It’s a beautiful device. The screen is bright with crisp colors and can be easily viewed from extreme angles. Touch and gestures are accurate and so intuitive. The screen is rather reflective and a magnet for fingerprints. I keep a microfiber cloth handy and it’s amazingly easy to wipe the screen clean.

Safari: Web browsing on the iPad is a little bit underwhelming. Having said that, web browsing on sites that have been optimized for the iPad is a phenomenal experience. Under those circumstances there is something to be said for the touch based browsing experience. The multi-gesture screen is very responsive and accurate. It’s easy to blow up text for easier reading but with killer apps like Instapaper Pro there is no need to ever read a large article on a screen full of distracting tables or ads. Tabbed browsing and a small bookmarks tool bar are two features I would implement if I had the keys to the kingdom.

Newspapers and Magazines as apps: Killer. This is the reason I wanted an iPad and I have not yet been disappointed. Time has put forth a strong first effort, USA Today is good, as is Wall Street Journal, Reuters, New York Times and others. I like that photo’s expand to small galleries and that publishers are using video. AP has been criticized for their offering and while I dislike the layout and the wasted screen space I do like the configurability options. All in all I’m liking the early efforts publishers have made and I feel this is the iPads greatest strength. Note to publishers: Keep the prices down. For magazines, I’m good at the $2.99 - $3.99 range and a newspaper subscription, maybe $10.00 a month. Beyond that is a turn-off for me. Oh, Yahoo actually has a pretty cool entertainment app. I love the comics page!! Thanks Yahoo!

Television/Video: This type of media is done well on the iPad. It’s the perfect portable personal player. Watching Netflix shows or movies or streaming in ABC’s content from their app (Which is very well done, BTW) is a really cool experience. I prop the iPad up on the treadmill while I’m running and watch video on it. While ABC’s app is really cool, they have very little programming I’m interested in. Soap Opera junkies will be thrilled that the ABC soaps are available to watch anytime. I haven’t checked out the CBS site and other networks are sure to follow. ESPN has a nifty app with scores and video highlights.

Movie Rentals: Just a quick note on video rentals from iTunes. I rented a movie and downloaded it to my iPad. It was upwards of 4 gig. I have 30 days to watch it and once I start watching it I have 24 hours to finish it. After 24 hours DRM disables it. However, there is no way to manually remove the video from your iPad, that I can see anyhow. The manual states the video will automatically uninstall upon expiration. Non-Rental movies and videos can be deleted simply by tapping and holding for three seconds until the red X appears. This is not the case with rentals. It seems as if you have to wait the full 30 days for the movie to “expire” even though you are unable to access the content 24 hours after starting it. As a 4 gig file is 25% of my total disk space this is unacceptable and must be fixed!I resorted to restoring my iPad to get rid of the wasted space. I won’t be renting any more movies until this is addressed.

Games: Games are pretty awesome. I’m not much of a gamer so I’m not the best guy to critique a platform. RealRacing HD is a premium game and quite impressive. The graphics are great and it is a dream to play. I’ve heard criticism about how the lack of buttons/d-pad functionality will prevent this from being a serious gaming platform but I say to developers, it’s time to push gaming forward to a more personal and immersive experience. Think outside the box, be creative in your development. Stop giving us the same old same old.

e-mail: Apple has a great e-mail app. I’d like a universal mail box and it seems like I’ll get one with 4.0.

I’ll post more as time goes on. Overall I’m thrilled with the device, despite it’s shortcomings and flaws and feel that Apple has made a bold step in defining a new space. I can’t wait to see what the developers will do for the magazine and news segments.