I bought an iPad

I admit that I am surprised to be posting this… When Apple made the official announcement about what the iPad was, I thought “what’s the point? It’s just a big iPhone.” And to a certain extent that is true…but I jump ahead of myself. So, I put it out of my mind and went about my business. However as the actual release date neared, I kept reading various articles about the device, reviews, speculations, and raves (along with pans). My interest was piqued, and made the decision to head down to the Apple store on Saturday for the debut.

I fully expected to roll up to the store, check it out, and leave…make my decision later on. Didn’t quite happen like that. First, Kia was really excited about the whole thing – “Are you going to get one?” said with enthusiasm was a little bit of a shock and kind of put me in a different mode. Second, when I got to the Apple store (about 45 minutes after it had opened), I was truly shocked to see a long line still formed outside. I hesitantly parked and got in line…then the killer question came from an apple employee who was helping keep the line formed, people happy, etc – “Are you planning to purchase today? One or Two?” Dang, put me on the spot…

I told her possibly one…and she clicked me down on her counter, which put me at #66 – not including those who pre ordered online – which made me nervous. Will I be able to get one if I want it? By the time I had invested 15 minutes in line, and seeing that it would be at least another 30-45 minutes I was hooked. I went in, made the decision to purchase the 16 gb version (as opposed to the 32 or 64), chose not to get a case or any other accessory, went home and made myself do the taxes before I opened up the box

So I spent that evening setting it up and playing. It took about 30-45 minutes to get it rolling (I had to install the new iTunes before I could sync it), and then I was off. So after about 3-4 nights of playing with it, here are my thoughts.

1. First and foremost, this think is definitely an Apple product. So cool, sleek, and fun. If absolutely nothing else, it’s appearance looks and feels great.
2. The screen is amazing. Pictures, video, apps (that are designed for the iPad) are crystal clear and sharp as a tack. It’s great for watching movies, viewing images, or surfing the web.
3. The staying power is going to be in the apps available for the iPad. The difference between this and the iPhone is that the iPhone would have possibly worked without apps simply because it functioned as a phone. The iPad is nothing without the apps. So far the offering is good – not great. More importantly the apps that have been created for the iPhone work, but they show up in iPhone sizing and can be doubled in size, but not without pixelization. I have a couple of apps specifically for the iPad that I already love (Fluent News, Weather Bug, and Marvel Comics – though I am not a comic fan, the graphics on this is amazing!) There are a few photo apps, and I’ve downloaded one by Adobe, but haven’t really used it yet – which leads me to my next point.
4. The one major downside that I see is that at this point you are completely tied to apps. There isn’t a way to import other software or applications (though I’m sure there is or will soon be some hacks that will allow this, but also potentially making the platform a little unstable). For instance, the only way to import images (that you could do simple work on with the Adobe app) is through iPhoto. Not necessarily a problem, but I don’t typically use iPhoto to catalog my images, so I have to go through the process of figuring out which images to import into iPhoto.
5. Another downside is that you can only work on one function/app at a time. For instance if you are on Safari, but need to reference something in an email or another app (Pages, etc) you have to close the one to open the other. Not a problem, unless something isn’t saved when you close the one to reference the other. Help may be on the way?
6. For some people the keyboard will be an issue – when in horizontal mode, the keyboard is a little lengthy, so you really have to stretch your fingers to make it work. It’s also a ton slower to type since you are doing the one at a time style typing. You can purchase a keyboard accessory, but if that is the case, why not just use a laptop? I don’t mind the keyboard, because I don’t plan to do a lot of word processing with it, but if I were to create a blog or forum post, it might be a pain.

In summary, I love it. I look forward to how Apple improves it through the operating system, and I’m sure eventually in different hardware versions. For me it’s a at home/on the road laptop replacement. I have the wifi version (not the 3g version), so I need a wifi signal, which is pretty easy to find anymore. It’s kind of a toy, I guess you could say, but something that I foresee staying around and becoming more and more of a tool to do business and replacing certain types of computers.

HP did just this week leak (or purposefully let get out) their version of the slate or tablet pc. It will be about the same size and will offer a 32 and 64 gb version for $50 less (though the entry-level will be $50 more). It also will have usb and card inputs and a camera on the both sides – something that I think Apple should definitely include in later versions. So competition quickly came, which will only benefit Apple and it’s consumers.