Ryan Collins

iPad initial impressions

// April 7th, 2010 // Hardware, Mobile Computing

There are enough other reviews on the web about the iPad, so I’m going to focus on my experiences and how I’ve begun to use the iPad in my home life and how it may be used in education.

The purchase:
I reserved my ipad the day they opened reservations on line so I would be guaranteed to pick one up on April 3rd. I didn’t trust Saturday delivery, so I headed to Columbus to the Easton Apple Store to stand in the “privileged line”, the one which had the others who had also reserved their iPad. When we arrived at 7:30am, there were approximately 40 people in the reserved line and about twice that many in the “unreserved” line, those that were hoping to still pick one up.

Anyway, I bought mine and while my brother and sister played with iPads in the store, I pulled out my Macbook and setup my iPad. Some reviews talk about the iPad ready for use right out of the box, but mine popped up the “connect to iTunes” symbol. The initial sync didn’t take long, but I really wasn’t syncing up too much.

Initial Impressions:
Fast! It is probably the fastest browsing experience that I’ve ever experienced. For the first time it was the speed of the network and not the hardware slowing me down. The onscreen keyboard isn’t that bad, I’m typing this article on it, but it does take some getting used to. The biggest problem is keeping your fingers up off the glass so it doesn’t register additional “key” presses. The other issue is that it is practically impossible to type without looking at the keyboard, so if you are typing in information that is on paper, it will be a lot slower. Im debating whether to buy the bluetooth keyboard. I paired it with my old Think Outside keyboard, which was a piece of cake, but that keyboard is getting old and the k and l keys do not work the best. I also bought the Apple case for it, which helps put the iPad at a good angle to use or type on.

Longer term impressions:
There are more situations where a tablet can be used than a laptop, and the additional screen space makes the iPad a lot more useful than the iPod Touch. For example, at a meeting I can have the iPad in my lap or on the table. Where the iPad shines is when I want to show others information or something on the screen. I can just hold up the iPad or hand it to them without the awkwardness one would experience with a laptop. Maybe it’s just the websites I visit, but lack of Flash has not really been an issue. A lot of the video sites already support HTML 5, which works flawlessly on the iPad.

I’ve been impressed with the number of iPad ready apps already in the app store. Some of my favorite apps, such as Evernote, WordPress, and iSSH are already available.

Educational implications:
That being said about Flash above, students would notice the inability to use some of there favorite sites. Sites such as Starfall, which would be amazing on the iPad, fail from lack of Flash. The availability of Pages and Keynote bring some productivity to the iPad, but the clumsy method of using iTunes to transfer files would hinder their use in the classroom.

Closing thoughts:
I’m going to be posting more as I work with the device longer. I’m excited to use it to teach a lesson in a kindergarten class to see how well it will work as a teacher device. Some accessories will probably end of purchasing include the camera connection kit and the Bluetooth keyboard. The big unanswered question is “who is the iPad for?”, and, unfortunately I can’t answer that yet.