Teach42

Well, got a lengthy comment from Russ Goerend regarding my initial thoughts about the iPad. I started replying as a comment… but the comment kept getting longer and longer. SO! A new post it has become.

Here’s the original comment from Russ:

Thanks for what feels like a realistic review. Overall, I agree. There seems to be potential for it to be an expensive, big iPod Touch. It is what it is. I’d love to watch a Twins game on it, of course that’s what the big TV is for. Or my laptop.

(I thought your choice of “boot” when talking about your laptop was interesting, though. Do you really shut down your laptop at home? And why would she have to leave the kitchen to look at your laptop? I have to guess we’re talking about single-digit seconds difference between me opening my Macbook and finding a recipe vs. unlocking the iPad and finding one. Not to mention, what if she wanted to use the recipe? Lay the iPad flat on the counter? I have my MacBook in the kitchen while we make dinner almost every night.)

I’m sure if I had one around the house it would get used. As someone who doesn’t have $500 of “fun money” to spend, I don’t see myself saving up for it, though. Besides, the only model that interest me is the 3G model (grandparents are each 2+ hours away) so now we’re talking $630 with data on top.

For me what it lacks — a has been beaten to death — is what really stands out. I have a two-month-old son. When we were visiting my parents this weekend, they asked my opinion on if they should look into an iPad. I asked what they wanted to do with it. First thing out of their mouth was “Skype!”

Typing on it for a few minutes at the Apple Store, I was instantly shocked that Apple still hasn’t implemented haptic feedback on the keyboard. Maybe it’s coming with OS 4.0, but wow.

Here’s my real problem: the iPad represents everything that’s gone wrong with Apple. It is the ultimate closed device. It’s “computer sized” (compared to the iPhone) and yet it is both literally and figuratively closed. There is no sense of ownership. I get to use what Apple permits on the only hardware Apple permits. It reminds me of how schools have gotten into the mess we’re currently in: close the classroom door, now open your brains, kids, while I fill you up with what I deem relevant.

I went into the Apple Store with my wife and son tonight and caught myself about 10 seconds after picking up an iPad with my mouth agape. Then I tried moving around the icons. The Apple Store had locked that down. I tried typing. Without feedback it wasn’t enjoyable. It’s not that it wasn’t doable, it wasn’t magical or astonishing or whatever Steve wanted it to be. It was frustrating. I opened up Pages so I could type and couldn’t figure out how to do anything to the document besides look at it. Turns out, I was in landscape and you can only edit in portrait. First time I’ve had to ask for help with an Apple product in my life — and I’ve been a geek since I was running Number Munchers on our IIgs when I was 6.

I’m sad. As someone who is still running a 1,1 MacBook and sold the Wii I stayed overnight in an Iowa December to get to buy a first generation iPhone for $400, I’m sad. The iPad is really disappointing to me. It’s a tiny evolution, but the culture around Jobs has allowed it to be the front runner in conversations it should not be in. The iPad in education? It’s a textbook! The iPad to replace my laptop? Give me a break!

And here goes my response:

1) Thanks for taking the time to chime in. There’s nothing cut and dry about this, and these discussions help refine my own thoughts on the topic.

2) re: Booting and the kitchen: We have our laptops in the living room. If I wanted to show her something, I’d call her over because I hate walking around with an open laptop. I wasn’t sharing that as an example of why one might NEED an iPad, rather a way that it’s already changing the way I use a computer and interact with it. This IS something that is truly portable, and usable while standing. Significant? Maybe not. But I thought it was worth mentioning.

3) Haptic response: I go back and forth on this. I tried it for the iPhone and didn’t like it. Wound up turning it off. While typing felt unnatural at first, as I got towards the end of the blog post I was feeling pretty good. We talk a lot about learning and unlearning, maybe it’s just a matter of getting used to a new format. I would say it’s impossible to tell based just on 5-10 minutes of testing, and difficult to determine even after 30 minutes. Will let you know after a few weeks.

4) Re: Cost. Personally, I’m giving it a test drive. I figure I can buy one, try it out, and if it’s a keeper great. If it isn’t, Apple devices retain their value incredibly well. I can likely re-sell it on eBay for just a small loss. But consider this: you’re looking at it as a 500 dollar toy, not a computing device. This is a new niche. I’m just about of the opinion that this will be my home computer. I’ll have a cheap media server somewhere in the house (mine cost $300) and then use this as my daily device away from work. Is it as powerful as a computer? No. But it also does some things better. This isn’t a decision to be made solely on cost. Heck, what is? It’s about what it does.

5) And speaking of… You’re lamenting the closed community. Yes it is… sort of. There are over 3,000 apps for the iPad already, and that number will top 10,000 within a month (more likely a week). That’s an awfully big closed community. And yes, there are some things that it won’t do, but there are also a LOT of things that it will. To call it a textbook is the only thing you said that I think is absolutely ridiculous. It allows you to interact with content in a more direct way than any computing device prior. And in part, that’s due to it being closed down. Believe me, I prefer open communities. My iPhone is jailbroken and I’ll likely jailbreak the iPad too. But when I compare the iPhone experience to the Android experience, there’s no question. The iPhone is cleaner, simpler, more elegant and accessible to the average user. And that’s not a bad thing. It’s something Apple figured out a long time ago. Sometimes it’s worth it to give up a few features to make it a better overall experience.

To close this response-turned-blog-post, the key to the iPad is the same as the iPhone: the Apps. In the end, the real innovation behind the iPhone was giving a simple seamless way for people to access, browse and install applications. And despite the restrictions, the things people have come up with are nothing short of amazing. The same thing will happen with the iPad. Until Saturday, developers couldn’t hold it in their hand. They couldn’t see/feel what the experience was with it. Now they can and the developers will be going crazy turning ideas into reality. And in the end, that’s what is going to turn the iPad into a success. And that success will lead more people to develop innovative programs for the iPad.

Believe me, I can critique it just as much as anyone. The fact that I can’t use Prezi on it, or Polleverywhere, or Glogster with it drives me crazy. But when weighed on the scale against all the things it CAN do and will be able to do in the near future… well, it’s not even a fair fight. Yes, it’s Apple bullying people around. But people will comply. It’s just too big a market for them not to. it’s unfortunate for those developers that have committed to technologies like Flash, but if they want to be in the game they’ll have to play ball. And from the consumer perspective, the net result is a clean, positive experience.

So forgive the rant here. And if any of you disagree, please feel free to chime in. I’d love to hear your thoughts on the topic. But as skeptical as I was (and still am in some ways), I think the iPad is here for the long haul.

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