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Early adopter – myiPad review
When we decided to spend the long Easter weekend in Illinois with my parents, I didn’t immediately remember that our visit would coincide with the launch of the Apple iPad. Chalk it up to stress or whatever, but I was entirely out of the loop until some time on Thursday. At work, Cullen mentioned that he wouldn’t mind if I picked him up an iPad, you know, if I had the opportunity. (iPads won’t be available in Canada for several more weeks.)
That is how I found myself at Best Buy in Geneva around 7 am on a rainy blustery April morning. I joined a few other intrepid souls – all guys – and hunkered down with coffee and a warm jacket to wait it out. Several hours later, I walked out with Cullen’s iPad. An hour later, Sandra and I walked out with one of our own.
See, I’ve been looking for an eBook reader. But more importantly, I’ve been playing around with iPhone and iPod touch development, and I think it’s a perfect time to jump right into the iPad as well. The playing field for iPad-specific apps is still under-populated, and the larger screen, processing power, and resolution are appealing for knitting pattern related applications. (There are also no iPad apps for knitting, as far as I can see!)
See Amy Justify.
Anyhow.
We went straight to the hospital after shopping, and although I unboxed the iPad there, I couldn’t start to play with it before activating it by synching to my MacBook. (Thank goodness I had brought the laptop on this trip! The waiting might have killed me otherwise!) I’ve read that if you buy an iPad in the Apple Store, it can be instantly activated. Ah well.
The setup process was just like getting a new iPod. You plug it in. Accept a 53 page terms and agreements document. Click a few buttons. Decide what you want to automatically sync versus manually copy over. And then you’re done.
I really like the tactile experience of holding the iPad. It’s quite light at just a pound and a half and very thin. The brushed aluminum case doesn’t heat up or vibrate when you’re playing, unlike my laptop. It also features a ‘hold’ button to lock the screen in one position; horizontal or vertical. (Being someone who doesn’t read the manual before jumping in, I couldn’t figure out why the screen wouldn’t rotate until I read some tips on Mashable this morning. Oops!)
I sometimes have a hard time with spatial relationships when just reading dimensions or measurements. Compared to my 13″ MacBook Pro, the iPad is tiny. Almost two iPads could sit side by side on top of the MBP. I’m pleased. It’s a good size to actually carry in my purse, and the features let me do my most common computer-related tasks; playing games, organizing photos, watching movies, working on the internet.
As a test, I downloaded the WordPress app to blog this entry from the iPad. Knowing that multitasking is not currently supported on any iPhone or iPad, I first loaded my photos into iPhoto on the mac, just like always, and then synced them over to the iPad.
I typed probably half of this entry in the WordPress app. The on-screen keyboard does take some getting used to. I’m a die-hard QWERTY user, and type quite fast. Instead of a full keyboard, Apple has split it up into several screens. Letters are on the main screen, and you have a second choice for numbers/symbols, with some additional options within each panel. Because you have to hit several keys to type a comma, for example, my pace of typing was quite a bit slower than normal.
It took me a while to remember that the auto-correct functionality on the iPhone/iPad is quite advanced, and I didn’t need to actually pick characters like the apostrophe, for example. Auto-correct fixed my typing correctly nine times out of ten.
I also noticed that I sped up quite a bit as I typed. Clearly, the iPad is never going to replace my macbook for heavy typing tasks, but it’s worlds above the typing experience on my iPod Touch. I could actually blog on the iPad. I could write long emails. I just probably wouldn’t choose to write code…or complex knitting patterns where auto-correct would be the bane of my existence.
What didn’t end up working so well was the photo integration. Something in the WordPress app crashed when I tried to select and position a photo from my iPhoto library. I lost a few paragraphs of work and quickly decided to switch back to the MacBook Pro in the interests of time. (We’re headed off to Easter mass shortly.)
Is the iPad a game changer? We’ll see. I really really really like the experience of using it. It’s more collaborative than the iPod Touch / iPhone. Sandra and I played a long game of Catan yesterday and into the evening. While we could have done that on the Touch as well, the larger screen allowed the tablet to lay flat on the couch between us, letting us both clearly see the gameplay.
Today I’m going to show Dad some photos on the iPad when we get to the hospital. I tried this before with the Touch, but the screen was too small to show him some of the details I’d like.
And the book functionality. I’m most excited about using it for cookbooks. Too often, I can’t remember where I’d seen one recipe or another. The ability to actually search within a book is priceless for things like this.
We’ll see where things go. Right now, the iPad app store has only dozens of iPad specific HD apps. (iPhone apps work fine, but are at a much lower resolution and need to be magnified.) iPad apps also tend to be pricier; with most ranging from $4.99 to $9.99 and up, and fewer non-corporate free apps. I expect both these points to change a bit over time. While I’d gladly pay more for a more rich application for the iPad, I want more choice in apps! It’s been out for a day now, and I know that’s coming once developers have had more time to work with the SDK.
From my perspective, I’d love to develop an app for my patterns. The experience of knitting from an iPad pattern would be outstanding; search, zoom, full big color photographs and illustrations, links to definitions and tutorials.
Anyhow, I’m pleased. Like many users, I’m not sure exactly what I’ll end up using it for most often, but I can see so many possibilities. And more than anything, it’s totally fun to use.
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April 4th, 2010 at 11:12 am
WANT. Good review, thanks. xo
April 4th, 2010 at 11:25 am
Thanks for the thorough review. I am planning on picking one up either online tomorrow, or if I’m lucky at the local apple store. I would definitely purchase a knitting app!
April 4th, 2010 at 11:53 am
You rock!!!
I recommend you try the app Magic Piano. Heard good things so far.
April 4th, 2010 at 12:09 pm
What a beauty, the iPad! Thanks for the review.
April 4th, 2010 at 3:55 pm
I like your thoughts on it. I’m struggling to understand how it will marry my macbook and iPhone – I love both so much I’m sure an iPad will be a welcome addition to my technical family & I will watch you closely for more tips.
Yes, a pattern reader (specifically one where a knitter could tick off on the charts & repeats) will be awesome. Go forth and develop, girl!
xoxo Joce.
April 4th, 2010 at 5:34 pm
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by iPhone Reviewer. iPhone Reviewer said: From Blogs: indigirl: stylish knits, modern life- Early adopter: Right now, the iPad app store has only doz… http://bit.ly/d3ikFI #iphone [...]
April 4th, 2010 at 5:39 pm
A great review that is useful to someone like me. My stepson is getting one soon, and I look forward to playing with it. You’re right, there is a lot of scope for a good knitting program on a device like this. I would integrate the program with Ravelry to make use of its awesome database and pdf library.
I hope you are having a wonderful visit with your parents.
April 4th, 2010 at 8:26 pm
Great review Amy! It sounds like a pretty interesting product but I am just not sure at this point if it’s something I would want/need. The only thing that sounded interesting to me was the larger picture viewing ability but most of the time I need that I just use my laptop. I wouldn’t want to have to carry around my laptop and iPad.
TBH .. I don’t have an iPod, or an iPhone or a MacBook either, although I am not sure why. I HATE Windows! Maybe I should plan on buying a MacBook first and go from there ..
April 7th, 2010 at 5:02 pm
Great review. I have one too, and have been thinking about a knitting app. I want one, and have been working out what I’d want it to do…
April 15th, 2010 at 8:01 am
Hi! Thanks for the review. I’m getting mine delivered on Saturday and can’t wait! Being a knitter, I was wondering if you might have a pattern in mind for knitting an iPad case? Something like the soft case Apple came out with for the iPod. I’m only a beginner when it comes to knitting so would love any kind of suggestions… like what stitching to use etc.
Thanks again,
Karen
May 2nd, 2010 at 9:23 am
I love my iPad, I couldn’t wait to google knitting and ipads. I am making a felted case for it now. Will probably make a bag for each day of the week, as I have not seen any “skins” that I am in love with or want to spend $30 for. The patterns I have viewed are beautiful and I can knit right from the page. I wish I had one folder I could download patterns to for future use.
Geekygranny
May 26th, 2010 at 9:17 pm
[...] April 4, after a day of light use, I wrote about my first impressions of the iPad. I liked it. I just didn’t quite know [...]
August 30th, 2010 at 2:12 pm
Really.
October 21st, 2010 at 6:58 pm
Hi, well I would LOVE an IPAD! My husband won’t buy one though. He doesn’t think its worth it. I have other things MAC, Iphone, Ipod, etc, but he isn’t digging the idea of the IPAD. Any ideas on convincing him? I am a knitter as well and thought the use of it to see patterns would be awesome!