May26
Thoughts on the iPad from Chris & James
Since its initial announcement, the iPad has been big news around the MindComet office. First, it was the target of ridicule, being seen as a comically oversized iPhone, but once we got our hands on it, we were hooked. We already applauded the iPhone’s touch interface, and we’re excited to discover the possibilities that the extra screen real-estate has to offer.
I haven’t personally had the chance to purchase one yet, but I recently sat down individually with two of our team members that have spent countless hours exploring the device inside and out, as well as keeping up with all of the latest Apple news and discussion in their discipline. Below, you’ll find a transcript from interviews with Chris Mitchell and James May, Senior Developer and Art Director at MindComet, respectively. See how these iPad/iPhone gurus’ thoughts differ, based on their two different, but complimentary, areas of expertise.
How long have you been using the iPad, and how have your feelings about it changed from its initial announcement until now? Is it as magical as Steve Jobs touts, or is it just a big iPod Touch?
Chris: Well, it is a big iPod Touch. But the added screen real estate has caused developers to be more creative on how they use that screen real estate. We will see a lot of new functionality from applications.
I’ve been using it for about three weeks now. My overall thought on it is that it’s better than I originally anticipated, however, it’s not going to replace my everyday laptop for work, which is what I was hoping it might be able to do. But the fact that I do a lot more heavy lifting than the majority of people might do in a work day - I’m not just taking notes - I need to do my actual development; it’s not ideal.
James: I’ve had it since the day it came out - it’s been about a month now. Before it came out, I thought it was lame - because it just looked like a big iPhone to me. I wasn’t going to buy one. Right off the bat, I was like “No way, I’m not going to spend any money on that.“ I certainly wasn’t going to buy it first-generation, because there were a lot of stuff that it didn’t have and I was like “Why doesn’t it have that?“
It’s never as “magical” as [Steve Jobs] says any of his devices are, but it’s still cool. After I started using it, it was all the difference in the world. When I first saw it, all I saw was that it was an iPhone, but then I saw these deficiencies. But when I started using it, I realized the potential of it. The way Steve Jobs gives it to you - it’s fine, but it doesn’t really become cool until the apps come into play. It’s kind of like the phone, but you have a lot more power.
What possibilities has the iPad opened up that weren’t available or effective on Apple’s smaller multitouch devices? Are there still hardware limitations?
Chris: One thing that I am interested in is the fact that some people are completely replacing their existing head units in their vehicle with an iPad. They are integrating it with a USB charger and an audio amp; using it as their central hub for their vehicle.
I think a limitation is that you can’t run a “straight up” operating system on it, but I think the benefit is the fact that it is completely designed to be a touch interface. Touch interfaces are very different from the mouse interfaces which we’re accustomed to. So I think it was a good way for Apple to go - to not use OS X and instead use the iPhone OS.
I find that when I use my iPad the most is when I am at home just lounging around. I’ll just use it on the couch browsing the Web as opposed to using my laptop. It’s just a lot more comfortable. I think people will become accustomed to some of the little issues that are in the iPad Web browser (such as when you tap it, it activates the hover state and you have to tap it again to activate the actual click state), but I think one thing developers can do to combat that - to make it a better experience - is to modify these interactions based on whether or not the user is browsing via an iPad.
James: First of all, Evernote is really cool. Now I’m able to take notes and type on it a lot better than I could on the iPhone. The text input is much better. You have to have the case - it’s nothing without something to prop it up - the Apple case is definitely recommended.
Also, I use Drop Box a lot [at MindComet] so I can pull and access files. All of the iWork stuff is pretty nice to use - it’s still got some deficiencies, but it’s still a lot easier now. I can go in and edit or create documents. The most recent presentation I did, I created in there. You can do a lot more work than you could with the iPhone.
You still can’t run multiple tasks yet, but it’s coming soon. There’s no camera - which is kind of lame, but in all honesty, for what I do with it - using it for mostly work purposes - it doesn’t really matter. It would be kind of clunky to hold this thing up and take a photo anyway. Other than using it for video chat, which would be awesome - but they haven’t released that anywhere [on the iPhone] yet.
A lot of people complain about no USB or memory stick slot - that would have been nice to have. You can’t add anything onto it unless you hack it.
Will the iPad have a lasting impact on the way the public sees the Web? What implications does it have on how Web designers and developers create Web sites in the future, and how long will it take them to adapt?
Chris: Like any technology, it takes a while for people to adapt. The nice thing is that there is only a single Web browser that needs to be targeted on these devices. Therefore, it’s a lot easier for developers to adapt. In order to effectively design for the iPad, these designers and developers need to be able to actually use the device and understand how the interfacing works. I estimate that it will be another year or so until the majority of designers and developers begin to hone in on it, but some are already starting to look into optimizing for the device.
James: I think it’ll have maybe half the impact of the iPhone, actually. Still, it’s the iPhone browsing experience, just bigger. It lets you have a lot more control over what you’re doing, which is nice - the tapping, the zoom and actually copying text - it’s a lot easier with this interface, so that aspect of it is definitely nice, but I don’t think it’s going to push much more than the iPhone. This just keeps it going.
It shouldn’t be an extra step beyond the iPhone because it’s using the same platform. As long as its using WebKit - we’re good as far as that’s concerned, but we still can’t use Flash, so it’s once again pretty much the same as with the iPhone. But there are a lot of things that we haven’t been doing that we need to prepare for - like not being able to use rollover states and stuff like that. We need to be really considerate moving forward. I’m sure that this is going to become a more popular medium as soon as HP and others start to follow suit.
Click below to read the full interview and tell us what you think!
Posted by Art Wilbur on May. 26, 2010
Sir, you are quite correct. I had my equivalence severely confused.
Posted by Carney Wilson on 05/28/2010 04:16 PM