First Impressions – The iPad Seriously Rocks

Leander Kahney ()

First Impressions – The iPad Seriously Rocks

Although the kids have already monopolized CoM’s brand new iPad, here are some initial impressions. My colleague Jose Gutierrez also chipped in.

* It’s seriously WOW. A huge grin broke on my face the first time I swiped the lock screen. It’s so much better than just a big iPod touch. The size of the screen makes it a very different experience. I can already tell, using a mouse and keyboard is going to get old fast.
* It’s got great heft and feel. It feels tough and substantial, but the 1.5 lbs weight is going to take some getting used to. In fact, it’s heavy. Definitely need an armrest. Next model will likely be plastic backed. The glass screen makes it top heavy, especially when typing it portrait mode.
* At first I thought the screen was scratched — but there are shooting time lapse images of stars on the Home screen wallpaper. Hard to believe Steve Jobs didn’t spot this.
* The screen is bright and very sharp. HD video looks astonishing.
* It picks up greasy fingerprints super fast — in spite of the oleophobic coating.
* Out of the box it won’t turn on until you set it up through iTunes.
* Set up is super simple. Connect to iTunes (you need version 9.1) and there’s two choices: start from scratch or back up from iPhone.
* The UI is very fast. Apps launch instantly.
* Being able to put six apps in the dock is awesome. Many features like this and the custom wallpaper need to make it to the iPhone. Bookmarks bar in Safari is very nice.
* Keyboard needs work. Very difficult to type in portrait mode. In landscape, the keyboard dominates the screen. Might be a deal breaker for some.
* iPhone apps look horrible, especially Facebook.
* Some apps have bugs, due to lack of hardware availability to developers. Simulators can only do so much. Expect firmware upgrade soon as well as many app updates.
* The iPad’s speaker is pretty loud and perfectly adequate for watching TV or movies, even with background noise.

Overall a good product but will become an awesome product when people’s favorite apps are optimized for the iPad. A firmware update is needed to work out some bugs. Perfect for relaxing at home or on a plane. Not ready for the working world. iWork just not quite good enough due to file management constraints.

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Please chip in your impressions in the comments. What do you guys think?

24 comments »

About the author

Leander Kahney

is the editor and publisher of Cult of Mac, and author of three books about technology culture: Inside Steve’s Brain, the New York Times bestseller about Steve Jobs; Cult of Mac; and Cult of iPod. Leander has written for Wired, MacWeek, Scientific American, and The Guardian in London. Follow Leander on Twitter @lkahney and Facebook.

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Posted in Apple, Apple Tablet, First impressions, iPad, News, Tablet, Top stories |

  • http://www.christopherhopper.com Christopher Hopper

    Thanks for letting us get an inside look! Good stuff. Alas, my wallet makes me wait a bit longer. ch:

  • http://www.subcorpus.net/blog/ subcorpus

    is that a smile i see reflected on the iPad … ??? :)

  • http://www.toxicspark.com Andrew Macdonald

    Im still waiting for a UK release date, so ill just have to sit here, look at your pictures and look forward to the day I can put your analysis to good use.

    :’( Damn you, Apple. Leaving us UK folks to wait an extra three-damn weeks. Aint our money as good as the Yanks money???

    :’( Very disappointed in Apple for this.

  • Jesse

    iPhone apps don’t look THAT bad yeah they are not great but this is day one of the ipad, it will get better for the more popular apps.
    On my kick ass iPad btw :D

  • NickBob

    That last line about not ready for the working world could stand a little amplification and detail. That market has enormous potential, what kind of tweaks will be needed to make it work?

  • http://www.metrokids.ca Conrad

    @Andrew

    Not just the UK – at least you fellas are overseas! Here in Canada we get the same release date as you. The US is about 20km from my house!

  • Joe

    Hey, those aren’t shooting stars. That’s how real stars look in a time lapse photo.

  • http://www.toxicspark.com Andrew Macdonald

    Id drive 20km quite happily to get the iPad three weeks earlier.

    Heck, id drive 50km. But no way im jumping on a plane to America to pick one up. Petty I don’t have any friends in the US. I could have got them to pick one up for me and overnight it to the UK.

    Note to self: Make some American friends before Apple’s next big product launch.

  • Pthune

    “Id drive 20km quite happily to get the iPad three weeks earlier.”

    yeah,

    only thing I believe the U.S warranties won’t be usable in Canada. You have to bring it back through the “anti Osama defense grid” to get it fixed if anything happens.

  • Chapps

    My biggest surprise – how quickly I got down to doing business on the iPad. It just … works. I’m looking stuff up on the web, reading and responding to email, watching a vid, etc. And, of course, reading a book. A book that I was partway through on my Kindle – synched beautifully to my Kindle iPad app. The Photos app is seriously reimagined for the iPad – what a treat.

    Gorgeous screen, but iPhone apps look pretty awful when blown up.

    And Safari rocks. Looking forward to Opera’s iPad app, too. Ahhh … happy.

    - Chapps

    Sent from my iPad

  • tad

    it’s incredibly lame they could not include a USB port and SD slot on the side.. Other than that, I like it. (Flash support will arrive at some point I keep telling myself)

  • nacra

    Nice summary, except I agree with another post about the potential “working world” comment. I think there is a tendency in tech writing to generalize what business use really is.

    For our firm the iPad already fills a huge role for us and as apps develop, this will be greatly expanded. Just being able to offload email, calendar, contacts, web browser, notes and our Bento database off of our main machines is a huge plus as we are very heavy users and push our machines to the limit everyday. If the sync works seamlessly, this is a home run already.

    While we will continue to create documents and do the bulk of our spreadsheets on the Mac in iWork, the iPad provides an elegant platform for editing, reviewing, etc. Just being able to sit on the couch and read/review work documents while making minor edits is a huge benefit. I won’t have to pack up my MBP when I leave the office for lunch just to review content and stay on top of email, I can just put the iPad under my arm and head to lunch.

    For us, this is the missing piece between the iPhone and the Mac. A perfect fit.

    I can’t imagine what the next few years will bring….

  • Ictus75

    “it’s incredibly lame they could not include a USB port and SD slot on the side.. Other than that, I like it. ”

    Don’t buy one then. Apple was really trying to reach a price point here (under $400 for the most basic model). Adding all the things people seem to be missing would make the staring price a few hundred dollars more. And remember, this is version 1 – I’m sure we will see more features in future generations, besides, once cloud computing becomes the format, who needs USB?

  • Josh Yates

    I gotta say that I LOVE my iPad. Its just amazing. The iPhone apps aren’t that great, but they’re not that bad, either. It’s just an amazing thing to use. Getting used to typing on it as well. Very impressed here.

  • Mezzrow

    Personally, I’ve hardly been able to set mine down since I got it synced. It is an amazing ebook reader. The copy of Winnie the Pooh that came with iBooks convinced me that ebooks really can replace physical books. Crisp text, beautiful illustrations; visually exactly the same as the actual book. And comics! Good god, with this I’ll wonder why people would ever bother with paper comics ever again! I could go on…games with that big touchscreen are phenomenal, streaming video absolutely rocks…I’m completely smitten.

  • shawn

    no flash will not come…apple will wait for the world to get ride of poorly written and resource heavy flash for html5.

    USB doesn’t really have a use considering they will not allow 3rd party to access it and SD can be had via an adapter for you camera needs to iphoto.

  • Shock Me

    Loving my new iPad. Don’t care for the auto refresh when I switch pages in Safari. But the page switcher is a good replacement for tabs. I’d like it if the page would go right to where it left off like on my iPhone.

    Absolutely love the Kindle, iBooks, Netflix, and the ABC apps. Only place I miss flash is for some older YouTube videos.

    I’ve installed more games and fewer location based apps. Also noticed differences in resolution for iPhone app icons and iPad icons. I’d like to see weather in the lock screen as well as a list of iCal events and notifications for things like email and updates.

    Very pleased with implementation of announced features. Can’t wait to see what happens when iPhone OS is updated.

  • porkchop1234

    So tell me games such as street fighter, Dungeon Hunter etc look overly blocky and generally crappy when blown up on the iPad?

  • Michael Steeber

    Yeah the iPhone apps look terrible. thier very pixelated. but, i walked right into best buy at 1:00 and they still had all three versions of the iPad plus four demos! wow

  • http://astronomyandspace.blogspot.com Abhimat

    Those aren’t shooting stars. Stars rise in the east and set in the west, and are in motion, like the Sun, because of the rotation of the Earth. When you do a long exposure, that’s how they look, a fraction of their circular movement.

  • alex

    “I can already tell, using a mouse and keyboard is going to get old fast.”

    Let me know if you still believe that when you have to write something for a few hours…

  • BMWTwisty

    What? You didn’t pick up one for me? And now I gotta buy one??? I’m crestfallen, man…

  • Roy

    FYI,
    People have greasy fingers. Oleophobic does not mean it will not get greasy, it means that you can clean the screen with one swipe of a regular cotton t-shirt.

  • Barrie

    While on holiday in Orlando last week we dropped into the Apple Store in the Florida Mall and spent a couple of hours with iPad. A great product with impressive build quality. Priced at $499 + sales tax for the 16gb version I was tempted. Spoke with a couple of sales agents who reassured me with details of the worldwide warranty etc. but did not want to risk it through customs. The Uk version priced at £429 inc vat makes it a bit more expensive and some of the stuff available in the US (bookstore etc.) are not available here (yet!). Also I think I will wait until it’s established and early issues are fixed before buying one. The early adopters will lap it up and it was selling like hot cakes in the store. The 3g version adds another £100 to the cost and i’m not sure that is needed by most people. (I would love to have the base model and just enjoy using it…. maybe i’ll just check the online store again!)