Thoughts on the iPad
Posted April 13, 2010 by Stephen Kozik
I have never been what you would call an early adopter. For one thing, I've never had the luxury of considerable disposable income, nor the type that has to be first in line to see what the hubbub is about. I'm much more likely to let everyone else pay the premium on new hardware, consoles and the like in favor of waiting until the PS2 drops bellow $130 and it's games are $5 a pop in a bargin bin at gamestop. This time was a bit different.
My decisions to make the purchase (or should I say bargin with Jennifer for the green light to make the purchase) were based on a well thought out series of truths.
- It is unlikely that Apple will drop their introductory price. Historically, apple RAISES it's prices slightly. The only benefit on future revisions are increased specs, not lower prices. An iPod Touch next year will still cost at least $199.
- Apple's revision cycle for gadgets of this nature are, at their shortest, 9 months. In the case of a brand new class of device, these are typically 1 year. If one was to "wait out" apple till they work out the bugs or increase the storage space, they would be waiting quite some time.
- In the case of the 3G version versus the WiFi model (waiting 1 month of the 3G), I really couldn't make a case in my head on what I would DO with that 3G. The only time I expect to be out and about with my iPad out of wireless range is on the train. 10 Minutes of that ride is in the tunnel (no signal), so we're talking about 30 minutes of internet-lessness. Considering I'll mostly be watching/listening/reading pre-synched content, that isn't a big deal. The only thing I would like would be the ability to watch a baseball game on the train. However, I realized there is no way in hell AT&T would ever allow you to do that over their craptastic network. So if I'm just checking scores/listening to the game, I could just do that with my phone.
- Is somebody REALLY going to do something better? You don't really buy Apple products for the hardware (although it's often very nice). You buy it for the OS/Software and "Apple Experience". I've seen everyone else's attempts to do similar things in the mobile space, and it's a joke. Furthermore, everything is just talk at this stage. There is nothing else on the market like it at the moment. I have no doubt that Redmond and Mountain View will fire up it's photocopiers in a few months, and it will be a goddamn mess.
So I dove in an purchased one on the release day. Why wait if I had the finances, opportunity, and desire? After using it for about 2 weeks now, I feel like I can relay my initial thoughts on it.
First and foremost: I do NOT see this device as something that replaces anything I have or have had. It is not a notebook. It is not a desktop. It is not a BIG iPhone. It's a new class of device that fits in-between my extreme mobile experiences (iPhone/iPod) and my wired/working experiences (desktop/notebook). It's not the sort of thing you carry around with you at all times in big ass pockets. It's something you use to consume content with, not something you create content on. It's much more nimble and streamlined than a netbook (a popular, but extremely flawed device it's compared to). Netbooks still run desktop software. This runs an operating system tailored to it's unique niche and form factor.
I invision it's usage it the context of a Star Trek universe. In Star Trek, you have 4 classifications of devices that are used:
- Work console: Bridge computer (Desktop). When the real work needs to be done, this class of device is what you do it on. It's large and non-portable, but is so to the benefit of ease of interactive for complex tasks. You could write a novel here, but if you have to step out to the Promenade to get a bite, you might want to take a pad with you.
- Miniaturized console for specialized purposes: Personal Quarters console (Laptop). A more barebones version of a work console used to for entreatment, information retrieval and communications. Large enough to make entering data easier and accommodate a larger screen, but not as portable as a Pad device.
- Away mission device: Tricorder/Communicator (Mobile Phone). These devices must be very small so portability is possible, but be made to simply collect information, display information, and keep the user linked to the "network" while away from a centralized base.
- Portable information device: Starfleet Pad (iPad). A device that is light and touch screen oriented used to read/consume information and enter small amounts of data. You can walk around engineering entering data while looking at warp core schematics. You can kick back in a chair in the mess hall catching up on first contact protocol while drinking a cup of Raktajino. You can get in a quick game of computerized Dom-jot while waiting for the turbo lift. It's the device that keeps you constantly informed and entertained while keeping you untethered to a workstation.
So clearly, I felt a need for this Pad device. I have a device for being out and about (an iPhone), a device for doing work away from home (a Macbook), a device for doing work on (a Mac Pro), but I didn't have a device for reading news, watching shows, watching baseball games, listening to music and reading comics/magazines when I didn't want to be tethered to a large machine. Something to sit on the couch downstairs and use on a whim, something to prop up and keep in the corner of my eye while I cook do the dishes. Something for those "in-between" times. I've been using it on the train a bit, but I don't think that's what it excels at. It's really a great device for those relaxing moments--out in the back yard on a summer day, drinking a cup of coffee at the kitchen island, cleaning up softball gear in the garage and leaning back on the couch.
Now that I've really taken it all in, I can say it really feels like a device from the future. The bits and pieces that make it up are nothing new. The iPhone OS (which it runs on) is the same. The hardware IS a big iPhone. What make it amazing are the applications being written for it. So far (and this is only the first 2 weeks of it being on the market) it has some applications that have such amazing UI's that I keep finding myself saying "I've never seen anything that works like that before...but now that I see it, it's hard to believe nobody had thought of that before now". It just works how you expect it to work. It doesn't need weird metaphors, crappy buttons, instructional text. You just reach out, and interact with information AS information, not as information wrapped in some awkward series of UI widgets and flashy graphics. It's difficult to explain to somebody who hasn't using one of these applications, but suffice it to say MLB at bat, USA Today, The NPR App, The Netflix App and Pukk HD are all great examples of what makes the iPad something new, something refreshing.
Apple doesn't need to give you what you THINK you need. It's giving you what you ACTUALLY need. And that isn't a hardware keyboard, flash, multi-tasking, open source, serial ports or a removable battery. You don't need any of that shit if you have an iPad.
-Sir Cloister Maximus III, Esq.
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