It has been a lot of fun to play with the iPad since it came out. I tried it out at work a bit, assumed the lean back position on the couch (its forte), and used it on the trip to JSConf. I think it is a fantastic device, and love the touch-y feel-y. I have gotten past the phase of “using it because I have it” and now actually make fun of myself when I use it in certain situations.
For example:
- Watching a movie in bed at the hotel room. Finding myself propping up pillows
- Holding the iPad on the flight. For hours. Holding
I think I have found the ideal iPad stand. A Macbook Pro keyboard. There isn’t anything new here. Other tablets have allowed you to do this, but I think for me the iPad will make sense when it is just part of my laptop. Let me boot to the open Mac OSX or the closed device OS. When I pull it off of the keyboard, it is an instant iPad.
This will come in due time, and that will be exciting. Right now, I have the feeling that I could easily go weeks without really using the iPad. We need a phone. We need a laptop. The iPad is a fun gadget toy, but will evolve to be part of our computing life.
That being said, I got one for my mother and it has been been perfect. She is mostly consuming media with the odd emails and the like, and now she has a device that she isn’t scared of. Fantastic. And, as Faruk Ateş points out… there are a lot of folks like my mum. Vast majority? And then there are the kids… on their iPod Touches… learning The Way.
As an experiment, I put the iPad on the couch and watched my son come in (had never told him about it, or that we had it). The newly four year walked up to it, unlocked it, found a game, and started to play. No manual required. The iPhone has trained him.
April 21st, 2010 at 11:07 am
Hey Dion,
I agree with you that ultimately there will be an iPad with a (likely detachable keyboard). I hope that we can have a better iPad stand sometime before then. The Apple iPad case isn’t bad (nor is it great).
I disagree with this part:
“I have the feeling that I could easily go weeks without really using the iPad”
At home, I use the iPad all the time. It’s great for checking the weather (which I know is something you don’t need to do in Santa Clara Valley ;). It’s great for quickly looking things up online, or even whipping up a quick blog post (or even quicker tweet). I find it just a lot more pleasant than the iPhone.
This past weekend, I actually could have gone to JSConf without my laptop. The iPad with wireless keyboard worked great for taking notes and writing email, and there were enough things scheduled during JSConf that I didn’t really use the laptop for anything…
I will say that the iPad is nowhere near a laptop replacement for most people yet. Given time, though…
Kevin
April 21st, 2010 at 11:58 am
FWIW, a lot of the third-party cases at the Apple Store (at least, the one I visited) had better stands than Apple’s case.
April 22nd, 2010 at 10:22 am
I agree, although I see it going in a slightly different direction. Compare an iMac to an iPad. I’d love to just slap the iPad onto an adjustable tilt stand, or pop it off when I want to go mobile.