I just put my hands on the iPad this week for the first time. After spending a bunch of time with the device I have determined what the iPad is, and what it is not.
The iPad is not a laptop computer, duh. The iPad is a great window to the Internet. Let me explain.
Any "tablet" type device should be good at putting you on the Internet and the iPad is great at that function. Reading news, and surfing websites is an awesome experience on the iPad. There is something very new and very different about reading the web while holding it in your hands. It is something you need to try to experience, but I find the experience very pleasant.
The iPad is heavy and is not well suited for holding. If you recline in a chair and put the iPad on your lap, like every commercial shows, then it is comfortable to use. Holding it, is not practical.
Netflix app is awesome. Watching movies is a pleasant experience, streaming is solid and the onboard speaker is good enough to listen to. Using headphones of course is better, but not necessary.
Google Docs does not work with the iPad. Like the iPhone you are unable to create or modify documents. You can read them just fine. There is also no way to save or import documents into Google Docs. This talks to the point I made at the top that the iPad is not a laptop computer.
There are no disk functions and that is something I hope Apple addresses in the next release. We need external storage Apple, and as long as you are going to charge for MobileMe, I won't be using it.
Google Mail does not work properly on the iPad. It is necessary for you to use the "basic HTML" link at the bottom of the page if you want to use mail well. Google did create a new look for all of their mobile apps for the iPad, but Mail did not translate well. Using "basic HTML" helps mail a bunch.
While I'm on mobile apps on the web, Google has updated youtube.com and has requested that we all stop using the app. Go to m.youtube.com for an awesome mobile interface to youtube.
Apps. Most apps appear to work, and it seems like there are almost daily updates to apps to get them ready for iPad or iPhone 4. I'm please with the 2x function in most apps. Until these apps are written for the iPad the 2x option in the corner of the app allows the app to scale to the iPad screen size. Awesome.
The basic apps have been rewritten and are beautiful. Mail, Calendar, Address Book. All new for iPad and awesome.
Clock is missing. Apple, what the hell? Do you think nobody wants to use an alarm clock, timer, check international times? Don't get it. This was a big mistake. Nothing should have been removed from the iPhone to the iPad. Clock isn't the only missing app.
Missing apps: Clock, Stocks, Weather, Voice Memos, Calculator, Compass. Obviously Camera and Phone are missing, and that makes sense. No camera, no phone antenna.
iBooks and the Amazon Kindle app are both great. Books are competitively priced in both market places. I have been using the Kindle app from Amazon because I can read the books everywhere including a computer. Location in a book is synced with the Kindle store. iBooks is only usable on the iPad and iPhone and they keep your location info stored in the iTunes store. Big question for both of these platforms is text books. They have added necessary tools, highlighting and notes, but will they have "all" the textbooks my kids will need for school.
Facebook app works just like it does on the iPhone. My personal preference is to just go to facebook.com and login through the web browser. Looks and feels better to me.
In summary:
Cons: Heavy, Apps need updating for iPad, need a way to import and export files to a location on the device or the Internet.
Pros: Book reading is awesome, Web browsing is great, iPad apps are fantastic.
Is it worth the money? I think so. The iPad is very well built. It would be nice if they included a cloth to wipe the screen, since it is constantly getting fingerprints. Apple stickers are nice, but a cloth would be practical. Will there be competition from the Android platform coming very soon? Yes. There are tablets in the works that will feature Android. Android is Google's Mobile OS. How the tablet platform develops will determine its success. I think this is a good first product from Apple, but I know they can bring more to the table. I will look forward to iOS4 and the next version of the iPad.
Search Amazon.com for ipad
There is no information about what will be discussed. At least not yet.
I had a major meltdown with Mac Life. I wanted to read the digital version of the magazine that I subscribe to. What follows is my email and their response. What I am finding hard to believe is that a magazine like Mac Life is not making their magazines available on iBooks or Kindle. You can subscribe in any number of places, but as I learned, it may not qualify you for the online version of the magazine. In a world that will soon be full of large-screen phones, iPads and Android Tablets why wouldn't a tech magazine like Mac Life make their magazine available for iPad/Tablets in their native reader. By the way - the reader they provide works, but is not awesome, and I don't want to go to another location, and use another product to do something that should be easily done inside native apps on a product I own.
