There’s been a lot of chatter on the internets the iPad, the new, long-rumored tablet Apple announced yesterday. The most interesting part about the iPad for me was the user interface. The iPhone was revolutionary, in large part due to the multitouch interface. At the time, there was just nothing else like it. The iPad makes the same move, only in its large form factor.
I really liked the thought that went into the UI of the applications that were demoed. Previous tablet PCs have been clunky ports of a desktop OS. Even the new generation of tablets running Android look this way (more on that later). Apple approached this differently–if you haven’t seen it already, it’s worth watching Apple’s intro movie for the iPad. If you could use your computer on a touch-screen OS like this, you wouldn’t even miss a mouse.
From the movie, you can see the iPad isn’t simply a port of OSX with touch screen capability. Nor is it a port of the iPhone OS in terms of the UI. The apps themselves have been redesigned to be a touch interface for the larger form-factor and what you get is an elegant, well-designed OS. And from all early accounts from people that have actually spent time with the iPad, it works beautifully.
Caleb’s Computer?
I immediately started to think, is this going to be the way we interact with our computers? (By then will they even be called “computers?”) The mouse was a great invention in bridging the gap between the user and the screen, but using your finger makes so much more sense.
Sure, the external keyboard and mouse won’t be replaced anytime soon, especially for people like me who work on a computer all day, but I believe there will come a day when touch-screen interfaces will have matured to the point where it is comparable and eventually replaces these old input devices.
Hit or Miss?
As to whether or not people will actually buy the iPad, who knows? This is new territory not only for Apple, but for the industry. If haven’t noticed, it seems like every major manufacturer has announced their own tablet recently, most running Andriod. The HP Slate, Viewsonic VTablet 101, Lenovo IdeaPad, and Dell’s unnamed tablet to cite a few.
The most successful device that I can think of that is in the same form factor is Amazon’s Kindle. I like Kevin Rose’s post which compares the iPad to the Kindle DX:
Kindle DX 9.7” – $489.00
—
1024×768 color display upgrade – $1.00
Internet browsing upgrade – $1.00
iPod w/16GB upgrade – $1.00
Run iPhone apps upgrade – $1.00
1Gz A4 processor upgrade – $1.00
H.264 720P HD video upgrade – $1.00
Bluetooth upgrade – $1.00
10hr battery upgrade – $1.00
Multi-touch display upgrade – $1.00
Digital compass/accelerometer – $1.00
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Your cost: iPad $499.00
So true…Amazon is going to have to do something about that Kindle DX price point. When you put the Kindle side-by-side with the iPad, it looks like technology from 10 years ago:
The Kindle DX and iPad, both at the $500 price point
There were plenty of mp3 players on the market before the iPod debuted and shook up–and popularized–the industry. The cell phone market was mature and flooded with handsets before the iPhone came in and shook up the (smartphone) industry. It will be interesting to see in the coming years if the iPad can do the same.
Using Mozilla Firefox 3.5.7 on Windows XP
But can you make phone calls on it?
Using Safari 531.21.10 on Mac OS X
My thoughts:
Stupid name, but not surprising given that iPod was a stupid name. :)
I want one. I don’t need one. What is attractive to me is the form factor, not the functionality (it’s limited in many ways). It actually matches very well to what I use my iPod Touch for, but would be so much nicer because of the bigger screen.
If you’ve considered a Kindle or other eBook reader, you should definitely consider the iPad as long as you don’t care too much about readability out in bright sunlight. If I were a student I would definitely get an iPad if for no other reason than to take notes in class (especially since you can use a real keyboard with it), and as an eBook reader.
I think the uses for the iPad will expand a lot in the coming years as developer figure out cool things to do with it. Version 2 and 3 will add many of the features that everyone is complaining about, and will be a better value. But of course that will be in 1-2 years from now.
The 3G cellular data plans for the iPad are the best deal out there, hands down (on any platform). Since I don’t have an iPhone, this is attractive to me.
It’s an Apple product through and through (many would say this is the product Steve Jobs has wanted to create from the start). This means that it’s quite limited, but what it does do it kicks butt at.
There is actually a good chance that you’ll be able to do VOIP on the iPad because they just removed that restriction over 3G for the iPhone OS, which this runs. Of course, this isn’t designed as a phone. And I’m bummed it doesn’t have a camera for videoconferencing, though I’m sure the next version will.
You can already do google voice on iPhone (so I would assume iPad too) via Google’s new web app in Safari (just came out).
There is an accessory to plug in a USB connection to a camera, and also an SD card reader. Very cool. I wish they’d put a SD card slot in the device, but I don’t see that happening.
I’ve heard that other bluetooth keyboards may work (now that the OS is capable of handling a keyboard). I hope this is true. There’s even a chance that would come to the iPhone since they share the same OS, though I could see Apple blocking that artificially to differentiate iPhone & iPad.
I will probably get one eventually, but that is mostly because: 1) I’m a geek 2) the iPad matches my media consuming and web browsing habits already and 3) I don’t already have an iPhone, and don’t really want to spend $60/month for an iPhone plan when all I need is a bit of 3G data when not connected to WiFi. I don’t really care as much about the upfront cost – it’s the monthly cost that I care about. When I look at it that way an iPad is cheaper and better for my needs than an iPhone since for a cell phone I use a crappy plan that is cheap and doesn’t have many minutes.