My iPad – first thoughts

After months of waiting and two failed attempts to buy it in the US, my iPad finally arrived on May 27th by pre-order. I’ve had it about a week and so a fitting time to take a snapshot of my initial impressions.

picture of the iPad showing The Guardian

The first thing to note is I am using my iPhone less on the move. When it comes to simply browsing my calendar appointments, drafting email responses and watching video podcasts or movies, it’s now all about the iPad. My iPhone is still the primary device for instant send shorter emails and anything that needs an always on internet connection; but there is no doubt I am using it less.

The Goods

  • Apple’s customary ‘out of the box’ experience with easy set-up using iTunes.
  • Beautiful design and surprisingly light. Finally I have found the ultimate portable device that doesn’t feel light in the shop but the moment you put it in your bag, it feels a stone heavier.
  • Favourite native apps: iBooks, and hugely improved user experience for Mail, the AppStore and Calendar
  • The battery life is really rather impressive.
  • Keynote was made for this! Excellent for both working on presentations on the fly but also using as a presentational tool.
  • Buying apps from the AppStore is wonderfully easy and addictively so. Watch out!
  • Screen quality and sound quality exceed expectations frankly.
  • This is a wonderfully intuitive gesture based device – simply amazing!

The Bads

  • The glossy reflective screen – difficult to use anywhere with direct light sources present.
  • Screen smudge – you’ll become obsessive-compulsive about cleaning this thing.
  • The well documented one app at a time. Annoying, but not as much as I though; plus an end is in sight. Patience my friends.
  • Be thankful for the screen rotator lock because without this, the screen rotator is far too sensitive.
  • Some of the apps for the iPad are ridiculously and prohibitively expensive. My biggest bug bear currently is the price point of Omnigraffle. Frustrating when you have already bought it for desktop.
  • Safari is disappointing as a web browser from a developer/ designer point of view, so I would recommend checking out alternative browsers like Atomic Web.
  • There is still a frustrating number of rip-off and usefuless apps out there and not enough good ones right now.

Essentials

When you get one, essential actions are:

  • Before you do anything, buy and apply the screen protector. They are pricey, but it’s worth it!
  • Enable the security features.
  • Accessorise – buy a protective cover. You don’t want to scratch ‘the precious’ by having it lose in your bag.
  • Sign-up for an online storage account like MobileMe or DropBox.
  • If you have MobileMe, set up ‘Find My iPad‘ – this will only work if the device is online but is still highly useful.
  • Last but not least, check out the AppStore and App yourself up.

So that’s it from me, here are some other instant impressions of the iPad on Razorfish’s Scatter/ Gather blog.