Thoughts on the iPad

Let me be honest here: I do enjoy myself some Apple products. I was on the bandwagon with the iPod Touch when it first arrived on the scene back in 2007 and ordered one off the Apple website with the custom inscription on the back that reads “Mr. Gnome’s Magical Music Device.”

Back in 2007, it truly was magic. I had a touchscreen multimedia device that I could use to mostly serve the web, watch video, listen to music and play games. When apps really started to flourish, I downloaded both free and purchased apps. Some amazing things have come out over the past couple of years to make the experience even better.

What I’ve learned about Apple’s first generation of products is that their initial usefulness is never truly fulfilled. The second generation is always capable of more than the first, and the addition of new hardware features are worth the wait of an extra year.

When I first heard about the Apple’s tablet, called the iPad (Tablet would have been a much better name in my opinion, which I believe I had something to say about yesterday) I was impressed with the idea. Apple is known for good user experience and innovative technology. They failed to deliver, in my opinion, on using innovation to improve consumer experience in this product category.

And this is where the wheels for Apples “third category” begin to fall off the cart for me. There’s is indeed a third category, filled with netbooks and MIDs and Tablets using Microsoft; smartbooks could very well fall in that category between smartphones and full-on computing. The iPad doesn’t fit into this category. Instead, it basically remains a large iPod Touch (if you don’t include the 3G internet connection which places a $130 premium over the regular price of the device.) It doesn’t multitask as far as anyone can tell, it’s lacking a camera for video chats and conferences.

Some positives of the device are the larger screen, the bigger virtual keyboard because of the large screen and that one can read books and do so well. But I’m not looking for something to use as a couch-surfing device. I have that already in my iPod Touch or one of the two laptops I use. My expectations, and I believe some others as well, were higher than that. I wanted handwriting recognition, true photo and video editing and an operating system that doesn’t feel like a toy.

The iPhone OS can do a lot of cool things. The apps people have built for it are for the most part amazing. And as a colleague pointed out yesterday, the iPad is the perfect device for someone who wants to surf the web but isn’t exactly computer literate. And some of the accessories like the keyboard dock could indeed bring about some interesting uses. But for what amounts to a giant iPod Touch, I expected more.

I harped yesterday about a lack of handwriting recognition software. For the past several years, I’ve dreamed of a device that can be used like a journal, sketchbook or legal pad and would take what I wrote and convert it to type for me. When I write, I typically only use a keyboard or a legal pad, and I find myself more and more writing out first drafts on the legal pad than on the computer. Typing is all fine and dandy, but it can cause wrist problems over time; handwriting on the other hand can be done anywhere, in any condition. I can write out a few sentences without even looking in the middle of the night in a dark room on a legal pad. I can’t do that typing.

Microsoft’s Contour project was interesting foray into what could truly be done in this space. I’m hoping beyond hope one day Microsoft will make this product, if simply to best Apple at their own game.

The lack of a video camera on the front of the device for video calls too was a shocker for me. This could have truly brought Skype or an Apple replacement into maturity. Instead, Apple kept it off.

If the only thing the iPad is good for is media content use, then fine. I can live with that, and I applaud their efforts of making the reading experience a better one by adding much more functionality than what an eBook reader or a MID could normally pull off. But a lack of a more robust OS, lack of handwriting recognition and video camera, lack of multitasking apps and lack of a clear purpose means the device will definitely be a second generation product.

A colleague of mine pointed out to me yesterday that the idea behind the iPad isn’t for “power users” such as myself. Instead, it falls into a category more suitable for my parents or grandparents – people who use the internet in a limited scope and function. For those users, the iPad could be one of the best devices ever created, possibly better than surfing the web on a smartphone or sitting in front of the computer.

In summary, Apple could have built a better product. They could have given it a better name too. Only time will tell if it will catch on and cause a revolution in computing. For now, I’m going to sit on the sidelines and wait. Who knows, maybe Microsoft will finally make tablet computing work?

Have something to say about the iPad? Leave a comment.