iPass.
Written Jan. 27, 2010 by Tom Webster in Technology with 7 Comments
People who know me, know that I'm one of the biggest Apple fan boys ever, so it might surprise them to learn that I'm going to take a pass on Apple's new iPad. Your mileage may vary, but I have two particular use cases for such a device: First, I'm a road warrior--an inveterate frequent-flier--and I'm on the road for at least half the year. So, I'm looking for something lightweight, powerful and travel-friendly that I can work on. The second use-case I have is for something I can work on in coffee shops/restaurants or anywhere else I can snag Wi-Fi, since I don't work in a traditional office setting. For those scenarios, again what I need is something I can type on that has significant battery life, in case I need to be away from a power strip for a prolonged period of time.
Yes, the iPad is thin and light, and yes, it does purport to have up to 10 hours of battery life (which, using the MacBook Air Battery Distortion Calculator I'll take to mean 6 hours.) But--and this is a very big but--did you watch Steve Jobs try to type on that keyboard during his live demonstration? Did that look comfortable to you? I haven't seen a device so tailor-made to produce an ergonomic injury since Steve Martin invented the "OptiGrab" in The Jerk. You already know how the touchscreen keyboard is going to feel if you have an iPhone, and just because your typing surface is larger doesn't mean it's going to feel natural or comfortable. Without the haptic feedback of a physical key, the "give" that prevents fatigue from settling in as I type, there is just no way I am going to want to write on that thing for more than 10 minutes (go try it on your window for 5 minutes and tell me how it felt.) The promo video for the iPad trumpets its ability to adapt to how you want to work, but that is only a meaningful distinction if your greatest usability concern is whether to work in portrait or landscape.
If you are a knowledge worker, you already know you can't work on this thing for long. If you are a traveling knowledge worker like me, that means that you'd have to pack the iPad AND a laptop (and an iPhone). In other words, a third device. Jobs claims that the iPad is in fact a third category between the iPhone and the MacBook, but as a consumer I didn't ask for a third device to carry. Apple's marketing team would tell me that it isn't meant to replace the laptop, but if it can't at least stand in for one, it's too big to cart around in addition. The iPad implementation of iWork is pretty, but "I Work" with a keyboard. Even a stylus and some Newton-era handwriting recognition would have been a welcome addition.
This leaves the iPad as media player, and surely it is a beautiful one. Blows my Kindle away for eBooks (though the screen glare might prove fatiguing), and presents a superior experience for movies. Again, however, for my personal needs I am looking for things that travel light, and the single greatest feature of the iPhone is that it gives me the iPad experience in my shirt pocket. Had Apple started with the iPad and then come out with the iPhone a few years later, I might view the iPad differently. Instead, they made the iPhone bigger, which--again--I didn't ask for.
For my criteria as a hard-working, well-traveled knowledge worker, this is not a transformative device like the iPhone was. And yet it was built up to be just that--Apple fostered the hype prior to the event, and then pitched it like it was Moses' third tablet, not a computer. The icing on the cake was Jobs's positioning of the iPad's price point as some kind of boon to humanity. Maybe if it dispensed clean water, or cured TB he'd be doing the world so great a favor. But in the end, it's a big iPhone. Too big for my front pocket, too poorly suited as a writing tool, it is relegated to a coffee table curiosity, something cool to have laying around when your Windows-using friends drop by for drinks. My coffee table books are rarely read.
Reader Comments
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I think a lot of people are looking at it this way "it'a big iPhone". But I think there is a different use for it that the press isn't exploring (but I think Apple has and is).
Consider that McGraw Hill's CEO went on Tv the night before it was announced. What does McGraw Hill print? By and large they print textbooks.
If Apple gets higher ed. on board - they could make a killing by selling iPads to universities. Students could "rent" books (subscribe actually) which could be updated on the fly to reflect new information. Paper is saved, and students don't have to carry around or worry about selling back those heavy textbooks. Folks I mention this rebut with "well they could have done it with laptops for the past few years." Yeah they could have - but you can't easily take a laptop anywhere you can take the iPad.
The color screen sucks batteries - but if you think about it - you're essentially combining a Kindle and an iPod into one device - and people love their media - all their media - and would rather carry one device then two - battery life be damned!
And personally....I think it'll be awesome for comic books....if they can get Marvel and DC on board. ;-)
--*Rob
As a kindle fan the ipad offered the promise of a better kindle...one which could see color (enter Barnes & Noble), interactivity, and most important to me... the ability to use a pen to make notations in my handwriting and intereact with the machine. Alas writing with ones finger does not cut it.
I'm in agreement that hand nav is not designed for deep workload, but for email, pics, movies on planes it's a big win. I'll leave the laptop at home (I do now) and carry my phone and pad.
As a media player the lack of flash limits streaming (save bandwidth for AT&T). But it might be a great option for some in stead of an iphone or desktop. This is the perfect kitchen unit... grab it, use it around the house, etc.
Knowing Apple they've researched this extensively and my assumption is they this will trump the minibook trend and the kindle. Both would be a big win.
I think this approach will be successful, Eric--though maybe it will take a few more iterations to make it so. As I recall, there were a lot of doubters about the original iPod as well, and they seem to have gotten that right. I will point out, though, that the similarly oh-wow MacBook Air became little more than a curiosity for the well-heeled. I don't doubt that the iPad will sell its fair share, but it won't make the cut in my road bag, that's for sure. It is clearly a third device, and until it is a true replacement even for the netbook it will necessarily be limited to those Americans who have the budget for that third device.
And I wouldn't count the Kindle out. I can't look at a laptop screen all day, but a Kindle is a low power, low eyestrain pleasure to use--the always on bookstore/connectivity and loooooong battery life make that a must-pack for my travel. What the iPad may do though is apply some price pressure on the Kindle, which would be good for all parties.
I see the iPad as my 'in between' device. Between the uses I have for the home and office iMacs and the MacBook. An iPad will sit on the coffee table in the family room or on the kitchen counter ready to help develop that idea or question that just popped into my mind. It's size will make it much more commuter friendly (cycling) than my MacBook. Since my writing demands are light the few times a year I am on the road, the iPad will serve as my handy and functional multi-media device. And I have to admit that I would feel less guilty about taking the iPad on vacation than a laptop. Afterall, I would only be using it to read the latest bestselling novel, right?
I intend to start with the basic model and wait for the expected Apple upgrades before I buy a fully loaded iPad in the future.
You mean they didn't build the perfect device for Tom Webster?
What the hell is Jobs thinking?
I know, right? Can you believe the nerve of that guy? I told him it would never work.
Steve Martin's "Opti-Grab" was more focused on a specific need, was lighter, didn't need additional carry-on space, and alas, fit easily in a shirt pocket. The iPad is a novelty. Give it some time and some needed improvements ... then it could develop into being a must-have. Just not yet.