Well I've finally run across a quiet enough day to talk about the IPad. Well, that's not entirely true. I'm currently sitting in Starbucks with the damn thing. Mentioning this hidey-hole yesterday made me want to make a visit, and it only seemed appropriate to abuse both the convenience of free wifi and the iPad to finish this post. Though I must warn you; this isn't a review in the practical sense. Most features aren't touched upon more than briefly, and quite a few not at all. It's written in a entry format because it was put together on the iPad itself periodically across the last week and a bit. It's fairly garbled but I've grown oddly enamored with the hectic note style, so I'm leaving it with only the most minor of edits. Anyways, here's my impressions as time went on:
Entry One
I have no real need for notes right now, which is leavings me in the slightly awkward position of trying to practice typing without really having anything to say. The goal later today is to type up a blog post with this thing, but frankly I don't know if I'm going to have enough to really say about it.
I suspect having a stylus would fix my primary issue - selection. I don't believe I have fat fingers, but the type on the screen is still quite small which can make navigating previous sentences for editing a chore.
Entry two
Extrapolation shows battery life to be about 10 hours when only using Internet searches, possibly even as high as 12 should no other functions be used during the time. Games lower it by about 30% from current estimates, possibly as high as 50%. Uncertain how much of a drain simple word processing will have on the batteries. It's possible they won't have much effect, though I suspect I'll see something like a 10-20% drop. Combining word processing with Internet usage could have a larger drain, though past experience with laptops dictates it shouldn't reach - let alone exceed - the gaming impact. Worse case scenario is 5 hours research, 7 hours pure note taking. Both are well within requirements for university use, though if the former should prove true chargers will need to brought along on a daily basis. Future tests will include ipod use as well.
Entry Three
Note taking improves with experience, so a stylus may not be needed after all. Will have to check prices to make the call. How much could a tiny stick of plastic be?
Entry Four
After the basics are learned navigation of the menu systems improves notably. The distinction between a full screen user interface and a standard laptop touch pad should not go without mention. It might not quite compare to a mouse in terms of selection accuracy, but no longer needing to carry a secondary device with me isn't without benefits of it's own.
Entry five
It appears some one decided to make choosing a word processor for this damnable thing nigh impossible. I have my current app that is largely serviceable for typing alone, but less good for working with formatting. On the plus side it has an easy to navigate folder system to organize your notes. Another app named "pages" is apparently better for handling typing errors and formatting, but it saves all your documents to one giant list. Updates for either are irregular, their only consistency being their rarity. I don't think I've ever used the word vexing without at least joking a little bit, but it's pretty damn accurate here.
Further work with the typing systems has led me to revise my opinion on the controls. The learning curve isn't so much substantial as invisible. I've discovered a number of new ways to select, copy, and edit my work recently that go a bit beyond what I would've considered strictly intuitive. This may be because I'm a new user of Mac product; never owned an iPhone before and such. They could be anticipating a better informed user base than I represent.
Entry Six
It appears I wont be buying a stylus after all. Little pieces of plastic can run as high as $20. I'll look into substitutes in the future, but the need is lessening every day. Once you've mastered the controls of the device you begin to realize the developers had ideas for all of my initial problems and implemented solutions accordingly. They just never included a manual for them. I suppose a manual wouldn't have fit nicely into the little case it came in, it wouldn't be stylish enough. Either way, dicking about with it yourself or checking into Internet guides leaves you with a truly extensive list of commands and tools at your disposal. For research, note taking and videos the iPad performs admirably. It seems to be the pinnacle of casual pc use. I could never recommend it for intensive programs or serious writing, but it fills its niche perfectly.
The only real fault I've run across thus far is the camera. It's essentially a cell phone camera. A very *good* cell phone camera, but not near the quality you'd want for lasting photographs. Its one of the first things they intend to improve in the ipad3. Honestly though I didn't buy this for the camera - it's a purely secondary device in my eyes. Besides using the thing as a giant flat camera makes you feel like a bit of an idiot.
Apps are precisely what you'd expect from a host of third party developers. As varied in design as they are in practical usefulness. Some are little brilliant jewels of creativity, most are rip offs or so niche based as to be worthless for most users. On the plus side they're all universally cheap or free and entirely optional. The better ones tend to provide free demos too, so you rarely need to make a leap of faith in your purchases.
Final Entry
After extensive use I've come to the happy conclusion that my money was well spent. The iPad does what it's designed for great, but runs into problems when you demand more from it. It suits my needs perfectly and I suspect I'll get a great deal of use out of it in the years to come. I'm frankly terrible at using ranking systems though, so I'll just give it a thumbs up for any inquiring minds.
My only caution is to do your research before you make a purchase. Go to a best buy and play around with the keyboard, fiddle with the interface. Make sure it can do what you want it to do, and never make assumptions. This is common sense people; it applies here just as much as anywhere else.
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