An iPad in My Hands: First Impressions
I got my iPad today, shipped from the US. Rather than wait a month, I wanted to be able to check out this new device, and to be able to write about it as soon as possible. I’m looking forward to writing several articles about using the iPad for Macworld.
But first, I wanted to post some first impressions. Sure, there have been tons of iPad reviews, posted all over the web, and I don’t intend to write a full review, but rather just jot down some ideas that have crossed my mind after using the iPad for a few hours.
The device itself is very attractive, easy to hold, but it’s heavy. I can’t see using this while standing in the subway, or even using it for a long time without being able to rest it on something: your lap, a tilted case, or a table. Compared to the Kindle, the iPad is a heavyweight. The screen is glossy, which isn’t great, but it’s easy to find a good viewing angle. It doesn’t get very dirty during use, which surprises.
The display is amazing: bright, crisp, and fonts are very readable even at low sizes. (It’s 132 ppi, or about twice the resolution as a computer screen.) I can definitely see reading on this device for a long time.
Applications launch very quickly, for the most part, and are quite responsive. However, it’s clear that some apps I tried were rushed out and lack optimization; some apps have lag which surprises compared to the overall speed.
The built-in speaker, which is in the center of the device behind the aluminum back, sounds surprisingly good. I could see listening to music while using the device, just with the speaker, if I’m not too concerned about sound quality (ie, stereo sound). It is a great device for listening to audiobooks, and the sound of games and other interface feedback is excellent.
The iBooks app is very nice, but it’s pretty similar to the Kindle app. The selection of books available is much more limited than those from Amazon, and, while I’m a big reader, I couldn’t find any books that I really wanted to buy. There are too many publishers missing for now, but that will change soon. You can, however, get free books sourced from Project Gutenberg, and they are, for the most part, fine. (Though a complete Shakespeare is pretty much unusable because the table of contents is borked.)
What is most striking about this device is the impression I get of newness: not that the object itself is new, but that the way I’m using it is new. It’s very different from an iPhone or iPod touch, and it’s nothing like a computer. It really is a new category of device, or, as a friend said, the first “information appliance.”
I’ll post more after I’ve used the iPad for a few days. For now, I’m very, very impressed.
I’m still kind of curious what I could do with iPad? It’s kind of intriguing, but feels a bit pointless. I mean – I have few years worth of books to read, so I don’t need an e-book reader. Some of the fancy new apps feel like stuff they did on CD-ROM back in 1990s, which I’ve never seen as useful.
I suppose it might beat a laptop for general late evening web surfing (especially as my current laptop doesn’t have a working battery), but then again, I do lots of typing, for which iPad doesn’t seem very good…
So – what can you actually do with the iPad that’s more than just passing sense of wonder and newness?
I understand your feelings. I only just got it today, so I can’t answer now; I’ll be posting more about it in the future. But I think that, like the iPhone, it’s the third-party apps that are going to make it work. I think it’ll be very successful, because there are a lot of people out there with good ideas, as we’ve seen on the iPhone.
@Mikko
One thing I can do is consume contents on the web at the comfort of my couch which my desktop can’t do.
ok, my laptop can do more than the iPad but do I need that when I have an iPad for consumption of contents.
My content consuming tends to involve a fair bit of forum posting, email and blogging – all of which involve typing. However, if iPad is capable of that, it’s tempting to replace my dying PowerBook with an iPad instead of a MacBook Pro – it would certainly be cheaper and for serious business, I do have that iMac on my desktop.
So, Kirk – could you imagine doing a bit of blogging and forum posting with iPad?
The big problem I have with the on-screen keyboard is that I use a Dvorak layout on my computers, and the iPad doesn’t support it. However, it does support Dvorak for hardware keyboards (ie, Bluetooth keyboards linked to the iPad), and I’m going to buy one and see how that works. In that case, typing will be the same as on a laptop.
J’aime le keyboard français!
The spell checking and and applying of accent marks is spooky. The iPhone had it too. Some really smart people worked on this stuff.