For the past few weeks, MIH SWAT has had the chance to test Apple’s new iPad. Highly anticipated by IT professionals and geeks all over the world, it was aimed to fill the gap between a mobile phone and a notebook.
I have an iPhone and a MacBook, and combined they serve my every need: iPhone with its mobility, GPS, 3G and huge collection of apps; and MacBook Pro with regular desktop performance and relatively small weight. So I wasn’t convinced about the existence of this gap. Even Steve Jobs, in his daring keynote, classified the small and portable laptop as “useless”. Ouch.
A week later, however, I began to see the gap.
I use my Macbook for email, feeds, Twitter, watching videos, reading piano sheets and sometimes following a recipe while cooking. And while a 13” MacBook Pro is small and lightweight compared to most notebooks, it’s still bulky compared to a netbook. On the other hand, a netbook’s screen is too small for me. Plus both have ergonomics problems and you can’t carry them around while using them.
But, after two weeks of using the iPad, I can safely say: this is the answer.
The image practically says for itself. No longer do I have to deal with piles of printed sheets, put them into folders, and into shelves or drawers. Now I just download them from sites like IMSLP / Petrucci Music Library or scan them into PDF, and upload them to the iPad. Yes, I could do the same with my MacBook, but where would I put it? And yes, I could do the same with a netbook, but would I be able to read the score? Plus, the iPad app (forScore) has a built-in metronome, with a visual-only option with no sound.
Similarly, I have lots of PDFs with cheatsheets, documentations, digital books, essays, reference guides, reports, receipts, contracts and so on. With the iPad, I can read them anywhere, providing I have either: a Wi-Fi or 3G connection; or uploaded the files via iTunes. With an Internet connection, I can access every file inside my Dropbox (if you don’t know it, you definitely should) using its iPad app, and open them in an external application – for PDFs I use GoodReader, a fast, organized and intuitive reader.
The iPad is portable, quick and functional. You don’t have to turn your computer on to check emails. You don’t have to wait for it wake up. You don’t have to waste table space at a coffee shop or in the airplane. You can carry it everywhere, and use it anywhere you would use a regular note or netbook. And with the huge app catalog from App Store, you’ll be able to write documents, build presentations, doodle, sketch ideas, study, check the weather, watch TV, control your computer at home, read comics and magazines, use IM, listen to radio, and even compose music. Again, iPhones, PCs, netbooks and notebooks are able to do everything. But none of them are close to what iPad offers regarding User Experience. The responsive multitouch screen opens doors to millions of possibilities. Discarding mouse and stylus, you have an intuitive interface much closer to the user’s mind: touching, tapping, dragging and dropping that works.
But even such an intuitive interface cannot replace a keyboard. The iPad virtual keyboard is definitely better than the iPhone one. But is not as easy Steve Jobs showed in the keynote: you have to struggle a little to find the perfect position, and it’s still not like typing in a real full keyboard. If you are planning on writing a lot, get a Bluetooth keyboard, Apple’s one works perfectly with the iPad.
Still speaking of innovative interface, nothing explores it more than gaming apps. Using the iPhone and the iPod touch, Apple entered aggressively in the mobile gaming market, competing directly with PSP and DS, offering thousands of games – from a casual Doodle Jump to the compelling GTA: Chinatown Wars. While not as portable as its iPhone OS brothers, the iPad delivers an incredible gaming experience, maybe opening a whole new niche between mobile and console gaming. Spend 10 minutes playing Plants vs. Zombies HD, Harbor Master or Real Racing HD and you will see why. There are genres for everyone: racing, strategy, puzzles, sudokus, crosswords, and even board games like Scrabble, Game of Life and Monopoly.
Everything listed here would be useless if it didn’t have a decent battery life. Turns out that it has a great one, getting close to the 10 hour life listed in Apple’s website. It takes much longer to charge than an iPhone or iPod touch, but lasts several hours of intense gaming, web browsing and video.
Problems
Every product has its flaws, and iPad is no exception. Like many other users have complained, the Wi-Fi is still unstable, and it randomly disconnects and asks for a password minutes after you have authenticated. Hopefully this will be fixed in a future update or in the iPhone OS 4.
The iBook Store, Apple’s online book store, still has a poor collection compared to Amazon’s Kindle Store. And I would really like to see more arts, design, architecture and culinary books – with a decent layout (a direct port of print to digital, like in the Marvel Comics app). As a designer that spent years studying print design, I miss proper layout, font choices, lettering and information architecture on electronic books. I do like the ePub format for novels and text-intense books though.
While the iPad screen is beautiful, I did feel uncomfortable after reading for about two hours. My head started to hurt and my eyes got tired of staring at the screen. I don’t know if its a matter of getting used to it, but at home, if I had the paperback version of Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy available, I’d rather be reading it. Adjusting the brightness, changing and increasing the font size helps somewhat.
While on the topic of fonts, I’m disappointed with iPad’s font support. Apple was one of the responsible companies during the digital typography revolution in 1984, and it’s a reference within the design industry. So why does it give only five font options in the iBook app (Baskerville, Cochin, Palatino, Times New Roman, Verdana)? Why not, for instance, Georgia – one of the most readable serif fonts available? And why does Mobile Safari not support CSS @font-face?
Everything else is just about improvements. A lighter weight. Integrated front (and maybe rear) camera. I’m sure the next iPad generations will give us lots of new features, and make us wanting for more.
The future and possibilities
Many people refers to the iPad as a “giant iPhone”. Big mistake. The iPad is just a small glimpse of what the future will be. It’s a new interface, defining new interactions, defining millions of new possibilities.
Developers already have this mindset and are developing amazing and out-of-the-box applications, making use of its powerful processor and big, multitouch screen. Take a look at Scrabble app, for example. It uses the iPads as a gaming board, and bluetooth connected iPhones to show players letter pieces. Or look at those music apps. DJs are already using iPads as part of their equipment, as MIDI control pads or even as a Korg synth. Restaurants are using it as a menu, allowing costumers to order and even pay directly through it. Hair stylists are using it as a catalog. You can even use it as a portable TV, streaming content from an AirVideo server to the AirVideo app.
Imagine now an iPad with a camera. Videoconference, augmented reality, motion detection, video streaming. And what if Apple managed to put a camera behind the screen (they already have a patent for that)? Document scanning and recognition, deeper augmented reality, more gaming possibilities. A fully portable and personal Microsoft Surface.
After using it for two weeks, I see why the iPad is a revolutionary device. It’s not perfect, but it has redefined the standard for future mobile devices and interfaces, and opened doors in users and developers’ minds for new unthought possibilities. And above all, it is a pretty decent photo frame for your desk. =]
Unboxing (from the SWAT team in Brazil)
The iPad box is like all other Mac products: minimalistic, focused on the product.
Inside, the first thing you see is the iPad. Again, focus on the product, no ugly visible wrappings and cardboard.
Inside the package are: manuals, warranty and Apple stickers, a wall charger and an USB cable. Nothing more than the necessary.
Look and feel
Steve Job’s, as always, described the iPad as “beautiful”, “awesome”, “amazing”. Reality distortion fields aside, it does deliver. The big, 1024 x 768 screen is bright, crisp and clear. The metallic backplate and the glossy Apple logo finish the beautiful design.
It’s a bit heavier than I thought, and holding it using one hand gets tiring after a while. If you want to read, you’ll definitely hold it using both hands – you can’t go for a “pocket-size paperback style”.
Although heavy, it’s really thin. That makes it portable enough to put it on a small lap bag or even a handbag, but also makes it fragile, as this test shows.
The touch response is incredible, making an iPhone 3GS feel slow and unresponsive. The A4 processor makes the difference: flicking through web pages, scrolling long lists and playing games give you a much richer and better experience.
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