Things that have surprised me about the iPad
Category iPad Surprises
For the last couple of weeks I've had access to an iPad Wifi (not 3G), here are some of my initial impressions:
The iPad adapter is not your
regular USB adapter. It's expecting 10v to charge instead of the
5v that your typical PC, and USB adapter delivers. So whilst Steve
Jobs talks about standards, he likes to tweek them a little bit. Apparently
on the Mac this isn't an issue, as it' recognizes when an iPad is connected
and outputs 5v. Now I have discovered though, that if you do plug
an iPad into a PC USB port and turn the screen off it will charge, very
slowly. But if you turn the screen on it will say "Not charging",
so a bit like wondering if the light in the fridge goes off when you close
the door, you have to believe me when I say it is actually charging, just
very very slowly.
I think they should
have also put a connector socket on the side, this way you could put the
iPad in a stand whilst it is in portrait mode, versus all the stands that
have power which require the iPad to be in portrait mode, would make much
more sense when using it to watch movies.
The VPN client
works great with my witopia.net account, which means that I can VPN into
the Witopia UK servers and watch BBC shows on the iPad. Sadly ITV
and Channel4 use Flash, and we all know Steve Jobs hates the idea of Adobe
stopping them from making money on Apps, so blocks Flash. One of
the places I most miss Flash is on the Flickr website, Flickr Screenshow
uses Flash so it can't be used on the iPad.
The iPad is still
pre OS4 that is on the iPhone and iPod, it will be much better when it
supports the mutli-tasking. The thing I miss most though is the multiple
mail account inbox.
The device has
no way to lock applications, or to put password protection on applications.
So imagine you have the device in your house, people come over you
let them use it, they can go read your email, check your Facebook account
etc. The device really needs a way to lock applications, or support
multiple user accounts. Otherwise, don't let anybody get that hands on
it.
No built in USB
or camera SD card adapter. This would be the perfect companion device
for photographers, but you have to buy a separate adapter that can read
SD memory cards.
I blogged a while
back about how finger prints on screens really bug me, so I have to install
an anti-fingerprint screen guard, which also has the added benefit that
it's anti-glare, which is essential for using the Foreflight application
when flying.
It's hard to go
back to the iPhone's tiny screen after you use the iPad for a while.
No ability to install
additional video Codecs, for things like playing DiVXs. My solution
was to install TVersity on one of my PCs, which transcodes files on the
fly, it also has the added benefit I can use it remotely, and also use
it on the iPhone.
Something I couldn't
believe, but the iPad doesn't connect to the iPhone across bluetooth. What
I really expected, was if I saw a phone number in my iPads contact list,
or within an email I'd be able to click it and have my iPhone make the
call. I can't believe that apple, the company that so many say is
an innovator hasn't done something so simple. If you jailbreak your
iPhone and install something like MyWi that lets you use your iPhone as
a wireless access point for your iPad, they are perfect companions, so
I really wish they were setup to initiate phone calls, and in the same
way, if I'm on the iPad and my iPhone rings, let a pop-up appear and let
me choose to accept or send the call to voicemail.
The iPad Wi-Fi
model doesn't have a GPS chipset, it finds it location via the wifi network,
it works well, but obviously has no idea where you are if there is no wifi
network in the area. Only the 3G model has GPS, I imagine the GPS
chipset is shared with the 3G chip or something (It means I have to upgrade
this iPad to the 3G model as I really need that GPS)
Just after I got
the iPad, I also received the Netbook which was my prize from the Twilio.
The Netbook is a Dell Inspiron 10N and has Ubuntu on it. People
that compared Netbooks and iPads (I wonder if I ever did that) don't get
it. The two whilst having some things in common are totally different,
and their usage models are nothing alike. It's a bit like comparing
a bus to a car. The bus comes pretty much as it is, it goes where
it bus company wants it to go, and if it doesn't go to the place I want
to, tough luck. Don't get me wrong the bus goes to some great places,
and more places appear everyday, but the bus company pretty much decides
where that is. The car on the other hand, well I can take that where
I want, I can change the engine, repaint it, add more locks, remove locks,
change the rims etc. Some of the places it goes to might not be as pretty
as the places the bus goes to, but at least if someone wants to, they can
try and get there. Honestly, I think the Netbook would be more useful
to me if it had Windows, I know Windows, I can connect to the network server
without having to search Google, so would feel at home with it straight
away. If I was to give my mother a Netbook I'd be expecting support
calls, if they didn't come then I know the netbook was sitting on a shelf
somewhere not being used. The iPad, just screams touch me, it's pretty
intuitive for most things, and if I was to give one to my mother she'd
love using it, I expect she'd be reading books with a larger font setting,
checking facebook update, looking at pictures of the grand kids, watching
BBC iPlayer and losing hours playing Solitaire and Spider and other card
games. Apart from the initial setup with iTunes I doubt I'd get any
support calls either.
I'm not at the stage where I'd give up my laptop for an iPad, and to be honest, the iPad gets most usage in bed, where I use it to check email, catch up on google reader, and maybe watch a show before going to sleep. I haven't really used it for any kind of note taking and haven't taken it to any customer meetings yet, to be honest for that kind of thing I still prefer a pen and paper. But I can say it's a great device, it's well engineered, although has room for improvement, but it is a version one product so room for improvement is to always be expected. So I don't use the iPad as much as many of my colleagues, but I do use it and am very grateful some kind considerate folks gave it to me as a very generous gift.
So with all the above comments would I recommend one? Well it depends, what do you want to do with it? As I said, I think this is the perfect device for people that find the computer a pain with too many menus and well it's just too easy to break, so for my Mum this is a perfect device. If you want to run business productivity apps, and you don't want to run them by accessing a regular PC remotely then this probably isn't for you. Maybe if you're only go to customers and present and only show Camtasia type movies for your demos then this could well be a replacement with a suitable, but if you need to show live apps, tweak things in apps etc. then probably not.
For pilots, this could be the killer device, for the same cost as a few charts you can buy an application like ForeFlight HD which brings sectional, IFR charts, IFR plates, weather and flight planning to the iPad. A great application and hooks into the iPad GPS if it has it.
What are the apps, that I use most on it?
Netflix, BBC iPlayer*, TVersity Media Server*, Google Reader*, Facebook (actually still an iPhone app), ForeFlight, Civ Rev, FlightCtrl HD, LogMeIn, Scrabble, Enigmo Deluxe, SoundHound,
* These are all web browser apps, with iPad looking front ends.
For the last couple of weeks I've had access to an iPad Wifi (not 3G), here are some of my initial impressions:
I'm not at the stage where I'd give up my laptop for an iPad, and to be honest, the iPad gets most usage in bed, where I use it to check email, catch up on google reader, and maybe watch a show before going to sleep. I haven't really used it for any kind of note taking and haven't taken it to any customer meetings yet, to be honest for that kind of thing I still prefer a pen and paper. But I can say it's a great device, it's well engineered, although has room for improvement, but it is a version one product so room for improvement is to always be expected. So I don't use the iPad as much as many of my colleagues, but I do use it and am very grateful some kind considerate folks gave it to me as a very generous gift.
So with all the above comments would I recommend one? Well it depends, what do you want to do with it? As I said, I think this is the perfect device for people that find the computer a pain with too many menus and well it's just too easy to break, so for my Mum this is a perfect device. If you want to run business productivity apps, and you don't want to run them by accessing a regular PC remotely then this probably isn't for you. Maybe if you're only go to customers and present and only show Camtasia type movies for your demos then this could well be a replacement with a suitable, but if you need to show live apps, tweak things in apps etc. then probably not.
For pilots, this could be the killer device, for the same cost as a few charts you can buy an application like ForeFlight HD which brings sectional, IFR charts, IFR plates, weather and flight planning to the iPad. A great application and hooks into the iPad GPS if it has it.
What are the apps, that I use most on it?
Netflix, BBC iPlayer*, TVersity Media Server*, Google Reader*, Facebook (actually still an iPhone app), ForeFlight, Civ Rev, FlightCtrl HD, LogMeIn, Scrabble, Enigmo Deluxe, SoundHound,
* These are all web browser apps, with iPad looking front ends.
Comments
Posted by Alan Lepofsky At 10:10:24 PM On 08/08/2010 | - Website - |
Posted by Alan Lepofsky At 10:10:28 PM On 08/08/2010 | - Website - |
But I think for mobile workers such as sales people who just need to access their PIM apps and maybe the company intranet, it could pretty much replace their laptop when on the road and with customers. Great for quick access and lovely screen for showing product info.
Will I go and shell out my own hard-earned cash for one? I'll probably wait until they support iOS 4 - I didn't think multi-tasking and folders made that much difference until I had to go without.
Posted by Michelle O'Rorke At 11:00:18 PM On 08/08/2010 | - Website - |
The iPad has a pretty large 'fuel tank'. You need some current to fill it up. And you need tp fill it faster than drinkinge from it.
Posted by Volker Weber At 03:54:28 AM On 08/09/2010 | - Website - |
As for iPad - more screen realestate is very nice. I am definitely following your comments and experience with it for flight operations. I can't deal with paper charts in an open airplane
Alan is right that for reading in bed, the Kindle is the right weight and size. Now that the Kindle has a WiFi version for $139, it's easier to justify it as a "unitasker" - especially if you put multiple people on one account.
Thanks for the review and I do hope you get a chance to comment more on the flight SW and experience!
Posted by Glen At 07:04:47 AM On 08/09/2010 | - Website - |
My point still stands though, the USB standard doesn't call for more than 500 mA (I think USB 3 spec increases that a little), so apples requirements are not to the standard.
Posted by Carl Tyler At 09:38:49 AM On 08/09/2010 | - Website - |