Thoughts On The iPad
May/21/10 10:28
Any item that you carry with you almost everywhere you go is important. That’s the status of the iPad in my life. And I only have the Wi-Fi version!
If there’s a comment that sums up the iPad for me, it’s one I read the other day wherein the writer answers the question: Is the iPad a big deal? Paraphrasing – I wish I could remember where I read this so as to give proper attribution – the writer said: “It’s a computer, Internet device, email client, video viewer, music player, book reader, gaming console, you name it – and it’s smaller than a piece of paper and about as thick as a modest book. Yeah, it’s a big deal.”
The thing I use it for most that makes my iPad a nearly constant companion is taking notes; no more loose handwritten pieces of paper that are not searchable and worse yet, rarely filed. I almost never take my laptop with me to take notes unless I’m going to a business meeting. Besides size and weight being an issue, I have this old-fashioned notion that the relatively loud clacking of keys is impolite. But portability is a major benefit for me. For example, I take it with me to my mother’s various doctor appointments to take notes.
But form and function are only part of the story. As a user of Apple products since the Apple II, I have never personally purchased the first rev of new Cupertino technology, much less done so on the first day of availability. Ironically, from a functional standpoint, the iPad offers me nothing that I did not have before. But as with all things Apple, it’s the user experience that matters most. It’s UI is far more immediate and responsive than the MacBook Pro and far more immersive than the iPhone. The iPad has, overnight, become my favorite way to surf the Web and my preferred device to read, highlight, and annotate PDFs. No, it does not replace either phone or laptop, which does speak to the genius of Apple, but it has become my go-to device for much of what I do.
Yes, I bought an iPad on Day One not because I needed it, but because I felt it would be a game changer, an object that would transform the nature of work, play, and many things in between. My first few weeks with it has only served to strengthen this perspective. I do believe the iPad represents the future of computing for a significant minority, if not the majority of consumers the world over. It truly is, I believe, the dawn of a new era.
If there’s a comment that sums up the iPad for me, it’s one I read the other day wherein the writer answers the question: Is the iPad a big deal? Paraphrasing – I wish I could remember where I read this so as to give proper attribution – the writer said: “It’s a computer, Internet device, email client, video viewer, music player, book reader, gaming console, you name it – and it’s smaller than a piece of paper and about as thick as a modest book. Yeah, it’s a big deal.”
The thing I use it for most that makes my iPad a nearly constant companion is taking notes; no more loose handwritten pieces of paper that are not searchable and worse yet, rarely filed. I almost never take my laptop with me to take notes unless I’m going to a business meeting. Besides size and weight being an issue, I have this old-fashioned notion that the relatively loud clacking of keys is impolite. But portability is a major benefit for me. For example, I take it with me to my mother’s various doctor appointments to take notes.
But form and function are only part of the story. As a user of Apple products since the Apple II, I have never personally purchased the first rev of new Cupertino technology, much less done so on the first day of availability. Ironically, from a functional standpoint, the iPad offers me nothing that I did not have before. But as with all things Apple, it’s the user experience that matters most. It’s UI is far more immediate and responsive than the MacBook Pro and far more immersive than the iPhone. The iPad has, overnight, become my favorite way to surf the Web and my preferred device to read, highlight, and annotate PDFs. No, it does not replace either phone or laptop, which does speak to the genius of Apple, but it has become my go-to device for much of what I do.
Yes, I bought an iPad on Day One not because I needed it, but because I felt it would be a game changer, an object that would transform the nature of work, play, and many things in between. My first few weeks with it has only served to strengthen this perspective. I do believe the iPad represents the future of computing for a significant minority, if not the majority of consumers the world over. It truly is, I believe, the dawn of a new era.
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