So, I went into Best Buy and dropped £600 on a brand new iPad.
First Impressions : this is definitely Version One, and there are a few kinks to work out. There’s a general issue with apps not recalling their state when you quit or change context – the app store, for instance, loses its place in the app list when you touch an app icon to find out more about it, and the ipod app loses its search filter when you quit out. Browser compliance isn’t great – for instance, I failed to edit this post fully on the iPad (and have to do it on my macbook). Lack of a camera is real disappointment because skype would rule on this thing.
Typing : I thought the big keyboard would be a super win, and it is – sort of. It’s a win if you place the machine flat on a desk, so you can use both hands – excellent for taking notes during meetings, also much quieter than a keyboard because there’s no clicking. When you’re holding it up, though, as you are when you’re sitting with the machine on your lap, typing becomes very slow. A small iphone-sized overlay keyboard that could be navigated quickly with one hand (while the other holds the machine) would be faster in that situation.
Standout experiences : youtube is amazing, google maps is stunning; autodesk sketchpad pro is fantastic and very useful; and the korg iElectribe is mind-bendingly addictive if you don’t mind flashing back to your twentysomething fantasies of being Richie Hawtin (and I don’t). This is clearly the controller system for live performance software – if I was still into DJing I’d be rewriting hummingbird on it for sure, as there seem to be no good DJing apps for it yet.
In summary – everyone is going to own one of these sooner or later, whether iOS or Android. The next version will be the one to own if you’re agnostic or unmoved by this one – a camera and a retina display would turn this into the perfect piece of tech. From my point of view, I bought this version because I want to learn how to code on it.
Next step : hello world, I guess…
