The iPad: One Week In

Last Friday, the day of the UK launch, I purchased an iPad. It should be noted that this was done in a semi-coherent haze amid severe jet lag.

I wandered by the Regent Street Apple store first, but the atmosphere was pure madness. A line four abreast wrapped around the block; Stephen Fry was outside covering the launch with a camera crew; police were everywhere; and the screaming and cheering of store employees as each customer emerged with his prize was just plain weird. (Note to Apple: iPad buyers are spending hundreds of pounds on luxury gadgets we aren’t even sure we need–seeing your staff so damn happy about it just makes the guilt worse. It also makes us feel like part of a cult. Knock it off.) So I headed over to PC World on Tottenham Court Road. Sure enough, there was ample stock and no waiting. I walked out with an iPad in less than 10 minutes and no one creeped me out.

I chose the 64GB wi-fi only model. I hate running short of memory and am happy to pay up for it. On the other hand, I don’t need 3G–I already have an iPhone, I don’t need yet another monthly bill, and I have a subscription to BT Openzone that gives me nearly ubiquitous wi-fi coverage in much of the UK and especially in London, where I spend most of my time. Plus, if I feel the need for 3G in the future, I can always buy a Mi-Fi 3G router and walk around with a hotspot in my trousers (I know what you’re thinking. Get your mind out of the gutter).

So, how did the family react to this latest acquisition? The first thing I should say is that my beloved spouse was hacked off. Not that I spent the money–she knew extravagant tech purchases were part of the bargain when she married me; in return, she gets free tech support and a flat that’s wired to the nth degree–she was mad that I didn’t get her one, too. I monopolised the iPad most of its first day in our home, but when she got her hands on it, she was hooked. My nine year old son’s initial response: “Wiiickked!” So far, so good.

Since then, the iPad has quickly become an important part of our daily lives. For my wife and I, it has become a replacement for our desktop. The beauty of being able to hang out in bed or on the couch with an instant-on device is hard to describe, but apparent once you own one. Whether we want to check the weather, the news, read an e-book, surf the web, etc, we can now do it where and when we want. We could do this with our iPhones, but the joy factor for many tasks is constrained by the phones’ small screens–a limitation that doesn’t apply to the iPad. It makes a big difference, trust me. Video on the iPad is amazing. I can rent films and watch them on my too frequent long haul flights, or just catch up on the latest “Wallander” at home via BBC’s iPlayer.

Many of the early reviews of the iPad have focussed on its limits as a content creation device. I’ve had the opposite experience, though your mileage may vary. I find it easy to type on the keyboard in landscape mode. With a little practice, it has become every bit as natural as typing on a physical keyboard. I now write much more frequently than I would if I had to lug around my laptop. The only real limitation I have come up against is the poor quality of the WordPress app–Dear WordPress folks: do better, you’re embarrassing yourselves. That, or get rid of the “Code is Poetry” slogan. It’s not.

My son’s use of the iPad thus far is illuminating. He primarily appears to view it as an answer machine, using Google and Wikipedia the most. For example, he has thus far answered his own questions about Rosa Parks, Jim Crow laws, the Ku Klux Klan, North Korea, and Kim Jong-il by using the free Wikipanion app. (Those of you with young children will recognise such topics as part of the endless barrage of questions kids need answers to NOW. I used to just make up responses that entertained me. The iPad is better, aleit less amusing for me.) He sits there with the iPad, reading entire articles and following links that interest him. There is something about the interface that engages the kid in a way a standard computer does not. I think part of it is the immediacy (no waking a computer up from sleep mode, waiting for the browser to fire up, etc) with which he is able to get answers to whatever questions pop into his head, and part of it is the sense of control he gets from manipulating the interface with his fingers. But maybe it’s just the novelty…we shall see.

So, one week into iPad ownership and we’re already to the point where we couldn’t do without it, or at least I am. The only reason I haven’t picked up another one yet is because I’m waiting to hear what Steve Jobs has to say at his WWDC keynote, you know, just in case there’s “one more thing”.

Tagged as: Apple, Family, iPad, iPhone