threehv

I’ve had an iPad for almost two weeks now. Apple claims that it’s a revolutionary device. But is it?

The good:

The screen is amazing. You can sit and read, web-pages, PDFs, books, with none of the eye-strain that sometimes accompanies traditional computer monitors.
It feels really natural. There’s something about holding it like a book and manipulating it with your fingers that is much more natural than the detachment you get from using a mouse or sitting a few feet from the screen.
It’s fast. Turn the screen, everything rotates immediately. Switching apps happens immediately (more on this below). Everything responds at amazing speed.
The instant-on and battery life is great. Less than two hours battery on my Macbook Pro and taking 15 seconds to wake from sleep just isn’t good enough any more.
The bad:

The applications just aren’t there yet. I’m guessing this is because developers have mainly been using the simulator, not the real things. But the apps tend to be more expensive than iPhone apps and the quality is much lower. In particular, you would have thought that the tablet form-factor would make for a great drawing/sketching application, but I’ve yet to find one.
Getting files on and off the system is way too complicated. Really needs to be easier.
It feels like a version one product. By the time the second or third generation iPad comes along it is going to look really really dated.
Overall, I think it’s the future. My Macbook Pro feels slow and clunky, with an antiquated user interface. But it’s not quite ready; there’s too much you can’t do with an iPad yet. Given five years though and we’ll look back on laptops in the same way as we look at those massive beige box desktop machines today.