COTELCO: The Collaboration Laboratory

A Brief Review of the New Apple iPad

By Derrick L. Cogburn

Yesterday was an important day in the history of mobile computing. As most of you probably know, Apple Inc. introduced its long awaited portable tablet computer called the "iPad." For me, the long wait focused on finally getting the kind of eBook reader I've always thought was possible. For many years, I've wanted a Kindle, but just couldn't see spending that much for a single use device. Now, eBook reading is only the entry point into this revolutionary new product, that as we used to say about the information society, will change how we - or at least some of us - will live, work and play.

To begin, I will first address the naysayers. Both the anticipation and delivery of the iPad has caused a truly inexplicably fierce reaction against the device. My summary of trying to understand this negative strand is that since the device in its current form doesn't meet every single expectation of every single person that has an expectation, then it is a failure. Of course, on his front I disagree. After spending the day with the device, there are certainly a number of things I wish it did, or did differently. However, that does not mean I wish Apple hadn't produced the iPad, or that I think any other company in the world would have produced one that could meet all the diverse set of expectations awaiting any device this innovative. For example, while some people crave background processing and flash applications, I want stability and battery life. While some want hackability, I want usability and accessibility. Many of these, and other, desires are sometimes mutually exclusive. I just happen to agree with many of the design trade-offs made by Apple and its visionary leader Steve Jobs.

Now, what is the iPad? Originally, the device was being referred to in the rumor mills as the Apple slate. While that is an apt description for the device, it is certainly not in keeping with the ubiquitous Apple branding approach (all jokes aside, an iPod, iPhone, iPad line makes much more sense than introducing an iTablet or iSlate). It is a very solid piece of hardware, that feels very substantial and slick in the hands. Keeping with Apple (or rather Steve Jobs') preferences, there are very few buttons on the device; four to be specific. It has an on/off button, a screen rotation lock button (very, very helpful, see below), a volume /down rocker button, and the home button. The screen is just shy of 10 inches, and is made up of oil and scratch resistant glass. Simply put, the iPad is beautiful. It is an elegant super-slim, ultra portable computing device. Notice I didn't call it a computer (even though, of course in a strict sense it is). For many people, this will not be a laptop replacement, while for others it will be, either immediately (for some) or in the longer term for others. The primary reason for this limitation is the closed system of the iPad. You may only load applications from the app store and it has limited ports and peripherals. However, I believe this limitation will be short lived. Developers will certainly take advantage of the revolutionary interface changes in iPad and develop tons of useful apps (and. I'm sure some junk too).

Why do I like the iPad? First, the portability. I will be looking to see how frequently I can leave my MacBook Pro at home. I am a road warrior and need to be in almost constant communication with my work from anywhere, anytime. In the past, that has meant I almost always have a laptop computer with me. My body will tell you, that gets old after a while. I've tried to replace it with the iPhone as much as I can; and those who know me, know how much I love and use my iPhone. Of course, I will continue to use my iPhone, but there are numerous situations when it is just not quite enough for what I need to do. Apple has positioned the iPad as a new category of device, somewhere between the iPhone and the MacBook line. I buy that. Because of the power and functionality I require from my primary computing environment, including running a few Windows programs for my research, I will continue to use and cherish my MacBook Pro. However, I can already envision numerous situations where I will now be able to leave the laptop at home and still be as productive as I want to be (especially with an external Bluetooth keyboard).

Beyond portability, there are, of course, the apps. As I mentioned above, I ventured into this space looking for an ebook reader. I nearly bought a Kindle several times. I always hesitated at spending that much money for a single purpose device with such limited functionality. And of course, being the Apple fanboy that I am, I suspected if Apple ever did wade into this space, it would do it right.

Success. Reading ebooks on the iPad is a real joy. The native Apple ebook app,called iBook, is a very slick, easy to read/use application. From the page adjustment options to the incredible built in dictionary (which you access by touching and holding on a word), it is a real joy to read books on the device. I was up until 4:00 this morning reading the ebook Game Change, even though I've had the hardback next to my bed for weeks and haven't made it past the intro. The text is so clear, and the light was perfectly adjustable so that I could read clearly with no strain, and the light didn't bother the sleeping beauties in the room. Here, the screen rotation lock is key (the iPhone needs something like this desperately). I simply turned the iPad on its side with the screen locked in portrait mode and read to my heart's content (great book by the way). It was easier and a far more engaging experience than reading a "real" book. The real book is heavier, more unwieldy, would have required the addition of some kind of book light (we've experimented with several and never found quite the right one). And the page turning was silent and the dictionary helpful. Further, the dictionary function to me illustrates the interactive potential of ebooks on the iPad. The Kindle for iPad works as well, and all my Kindle books work. Both apps can be animated with page turning etc., and you may highlight passages.

UPDATE: This morning, I discovered a great feature of the Kindle app.  Since it also has a desktop version, it is possible to read your Kindle books on the laptop.  However, even better, as soon as I opened the desktop app, it synched with the iPad and asked me if I wanted to continue reading where I had left off on the iPad.  Awesome. What this means is that you can seamlessly read Kindle eBooks between three devices now; (1) iPhone; (2) laptop; (3) iPad.  I love that tight integration, this is a fantastic feature that I hope gets included in iBook soon.

Beyond the killer app of ebook reading, the functionality of the iPad will no doubt continue to be evolved with other interesting apps. All of the native iPhone apps work (although some scale to the x2 iPad size better then others). Some that I like already, include, for productivity the the iWork apps (Keynote, pages, and numbers; this post was written in Pages), Google Maps, and iCal; for social networking, Twitteriffic; and for fun the Netflix, Scrabble and Texas Hold 'Em apps.

Update - 2: Another update.  This afternoon, I had the opportunity to try the external dongle used to connect to a data projector.  It worked really well, but has limitations.  When I first plugged it in, it appeared that nothing happened.  However, then I opened Keynote and launched a presentation, and immediately the projector displayed the Keynote image.  On the iPad, I had the option to use my finger as a laser pointer, which felt really cool, and swiped to advance.   It worked the same for unprotected video content (podcasts, etc.), but would not project protected content (another DMCA/DRM limitation). I suspect there are other applications that will drive the external video, but those are two that I have tested that work.

Touching the data and your work product, rather than interacting with it through a mouse is another revolutionary innovation. As when the first iPhone emerged, the touch screen interface is going to encourage people to interact with the device in entirely new ways. I'm not yet completely comfortable touch typing on the iPad, but the large keyboard and corrective/predictive text make it bearable, and much easier and faster when I resort to pecking?

There is so much more to say, like the fantastic email interface (I have five email accounts I'm managing seamlessly on the iPad), the safari iPad web browsing experience, the numerous key sites like the NY Times that have already converted to the new html5 standard, iTunes music, and movies, the photo browsing, editing, slideshows, picture frame, but I want to go play with it instead of writing about it. I will either update this post or start new ones to talk about my ongoing experiences.

And did I mention, battery life is awesome! I've been using it almost nonstop unplugged since yesterday afternoon about 3:00 pm when I left Borders (video, music, email, twittering, Facebook, web surfing, writing, exploring), and I still have 21% battery power left.

Oh, by the way, this blog post was written and uploaded completely from my iPad, without using an external/Bluetooth keyboard!