Because of the iPad, 2010 will likely be remembered as a landmark year in computing. It will rank right up there with 1984 when the graphical user interface debuted to the masses in the first Macintosh, and 1995 when the launch of Windows 95 made PCs much easier to use at a time when a lot more people were about to buy computers to connect to the Internet.
However, as groundbreaking as the iPad is, its capabilities sometimes get exaggerated — not the least of which by Apple itself, which repeatedly refers to it as “magical” and “revolutionary.”
I’ve been using the iPad since launch day on April 3, trying lots of different apps and experimenting with lots of different scenarios. I have honestly had mixed feelings about the device throughout the experiment, switching back and forth between the amazement of holding a full screen of computing power in a single hand and yet frustrated over its awkwardness or inability to accomplish some of my most basic and important computing tasks such as writing an article (inserting links and images are painful at times) and navigating interactive websites that use Flash or some of the advanced Javascript and AJAX actions that make sites act more desktop apps.
Flash doesn’t work at all on the iPad and AJAX is supported but mouse interactions such as hover events don’t work since there’s no mouse pointer on the iPad and elements such as the drag-and-drop functionality for moving items in your Netflix queue, for example, often don’t work properly since they were not designed with a multi-touch UI in mind.
When people want to chat with me about technology, the iPad is naturally one of the hottest topics right now, but I’ve typically been evasive about it. I’ll mention a few of the things it does well or a couple of my favorite apps, but avoid giving a definitive opinion on it. That’s because I haven’t been completely sure what I think of the thing.
To my close friends and colleagues, I’ve been more candid. I’ve often said, “The iPad is only good for two things: Reading and Scrabble.”
Well, I’ve now come to some longer-term conclusions about the iPad and I have to say that my initial quip about the two things wasn’t too far off, although I’ve adjusted No. 2.
Hear me out on this one. Below is a further explanation of my two things.
1. Reading and viewing
The iPad often gets called a “consumption” device. But since it’s not really that useful as a music or video player, so I would narrow that definition even further and say the iPad is primarily a reading device.
The iPad isn’t great for long videos such as movies because it’s heavy and awkward to hold for long periods of time. If you have some kind of stand of it, then it’s great, but at that point you might as well have a laptop. It’s a similar story for using the iPad as a music player. It just feels big and bulky compared to using an iPod or a smartphone for music, podcasts, and audiobooks.
But, as a reader, the iPad is admittedly amazing because of its brilliant full color screen, touch-based interface, and long battery life. And when I say “reader” I mean reader in the broadest sense of the term. As you’d expect, it’s great for reading news, books, static web pages, emails, long PDFs, and business documents. (For just reading books, the Amazon Kindle is still superior, but for omnivorous readers the iPad is the new king.)