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.
How important is it for Web site owners to be tracking the percentage of visitors utilizing the iPad and similar devices? And at what point should they start to take action?
Chris: I think it’s extremely important because of the fact that you need to know your audience. You need to know who you’re serving your Web site to. The amount of users that will determine whether or not you should optimize for the device depends on your type of business.
For instance: if you track conversions from those particular users and only 5% of your users are using the device, but 80% of your conversions are coming from them, that’s probably an indicator that you should start looking at optimizing for that device.
James: Well, it really depends on the demographic you’re dealing with. Depending on who your client is when you’re developing, you need to make sure that if it’s a young set of people, it needs to be a priority. You really have to know the percentage of people that are going to be using it on your sites.
The other important aspect of that is if you’re a young company or a new company that’s trying to push that you’re young and new and doing new things, you need to do it even if it’s not necessarily a lucrative thing for you - it’s just a way of showing a strong presence toward forward thinking.
Steve Jobs and Adobe have been in a heavy debate over the future of Flash and the Web. Where do you stand on this issue?
Chris: I tend to lean more toward Apple’s ideology behind it. Steve Jobs recently posted an article, or an “open letter” to the public about it. I believe that all of the points he makes are completely valid. They are ones that I’ve been thinking about ever since the whole debate began.
For me, the biggest most valid point is the fact that Flash was not designed for touch-based interfaces. It was designed for use with a mouse, and that’s just simply the way it is. In addition, Flash is both memory and processor intensive, and therefore a real battery drain. I want to have the best experience on my device as possible, and Apple, although they’ve been criticized for being “big brother” in that regard, is genuinely looking out for our best interests.
James: I’m kind of in-between. I think they need to make a compromise. I think, in general, Flash shouldn’t just be used because “we need a video player” - it should be used for more than that. And I think that Steve Jobs wants to make sure that if we want to view video content, we don’t need to be bound down to a plugin, and I agree. I think that if I want to watch a video, I shouldn’t have to download anything else extra. It should be built in - because it can be, so it should be.
But with experiential sites and stuff like that, doing full Web sites in Flash that have multimedia and animation, there’s a cooler, more immersive experience built in - I think that it needs to be there. It’s going to have to come to the mobile platforms at some point. And whether or not it’s Apple, it’s going to happen. It’s already happening now with Google, so they are going to honestly going to have to play catch up, unless they have some sort of master plan.
I think that Flash needs to make some modifications, because Flash has already run poorly on Macs. Clearly, they are not developing first for Macs, they’re developing first for PCs. They need to come to some agreement between the two of them and get [Flash] on the platform, or else both of them are going to suffer some losses because of that.
How do you feel about the closed nature of the iPad’s Application platform and the approval process? Are there any upsides? What limitations does this impose on developers and brands?
Chris: I think the upside is that we get more polished products and applications. Granted, some people might argue that there is a large abundance of fart applications in the App Sore. Apple views these types of applications as degrading the quality of the App Store. Therefore, Apple has been taking action to purge these.
I think this gets rid of a lot of cookie-cutter applications. Steve Jobs also mentioned in his open-letter that allowing anyone to develop applications using a third-party application to write the code - you can’t keep up to date with the newest APIs and the newest SDK. I think that because of this move, we’ll begin to see more robust and more polished applications make their way into the App Store.
It makes things a little more difficult to get up and running, but the upside to it is that you are learning a new language - Objective C, which you can not only apply to the iPhone and iPad, but you can also apply toward application development on the Mac.
[For Web developers], the beautiful thing is that they are using the, WebKit-based, Safari browser, which makes writing richer Web applications possible. Apple is really pushing for HTML5 and has incorporated all of these great new features into the browser. This allows developers to build web applications that almost look like they’re native applications.
James: Well, I think that it’s good that they’re regulating, that there’s some quality control being done. Whenever an app comes through the App Store - I check through a lot of them, mostly the Featured Apps, and those run really well. The downside is that you’re blocking a lot of… it’s become this closed environment. I don’t like that any Joe Schmoe can’t design and develop an app for the iPhone. I think that anyone should be able to do it. If they would be a little bit more open with it, there would be a lot more people that were putting out brilliant ideas that don’t even have the $100 to get the developer license.
I’m for the quality control part of it, but I’m definitely not for all of the limitations, as far as “It’s not OK to do anything that competes with us” - it’s just foolish. They’re not blocking Firefox from going on Macs, but they’re giving people issues with putting Opera on the iPhone. So when it comes to things like that. When they have tons and tons of camera apps - if they’re going to be a certain way, they need to be consistent about it, which they’re not really doing and it’s not lending a lot of support to their argument.
Tablets have been around for ages but have never caught on. What are your predictions for adoption? Will the iPad be the impetus for other manufacturers to follow in their footsteps and finally see the tablet platform take off? Or will they continue to dominate like they have done for a decade with the iPod?
Chris: Well, first of all, I’d like to touch on why the other devices haven’t been successful. The biggest reason is that these devices come pre-loaded with a standard OS - Mac OS X, Windows, Linux. These OSes simply do not lend themselves well to touch-based interfaces - they’re completely different! I think one of the strengths that Apple really has is the fact that they designed the iPhone OS specifically for touch-based interfaces. The price point is still a bit sticky for the majority of consumers at the moment. If Apple drops their price point, then it might make it a bit more obtainable for the majority of users. This will help foster the adoption of the device.
We’re already starting to see implications of an Android-based tablet, which I think would be pretty cool, and I think it would directly compete with the iPad. The difference is that [Apple has] set themselves apart by being the first to come out with a gesturally optimized device, they also make a great UI. Android is a great platform, but the problem with Android is that the UI - some people might disagree with me - but the UI is not as nice as the iPhone, not as easy to use. You can’t just pick it up and use it. You have to understand how it works in some way, shape or form.
James: I think the iPhone effect is doing it’s work on the iPad as well, so I think it’s going to continue to pick up - they’re selling out still. I know HP has been floundering to get something up and running for this. Microsoft has been touting what HP is working on and talking about how this is going to be huge - Tablet computing is going to be a big thing. I think that the netbook thing is dying off.
So I like the idea of more tablets coming out that are actually using a [full-fledged] operating system, and with time, as processors get better and better, I’m sure it’s going to happen. The laptop is almost going to start dwindling if we can make these things accessible enough. Being able to actually touch an interface in this way is a lot more efficient than actually using a mouse and keyboard, depending on what you’re doing.
The iPad is kind of like a gateway to all the other stuff that Apple probably has in store, like keyboards that are glass and are dynamic and will change based on what I want to do - we’ve seen patents for that kind of stuff. Just being able to reach out and touch the application is so much more of a learned behavior for people. People that have never used computers before can pick up an iPhone or an iPad and understand how to use it pretty quickly and easily, so it’s both between this new interface type and their ability to create amazing interfaces that is going to be the thing that drives it.
I think it’s going to be remembered as the device that kind of got the whole thing going, but if they don’t start thinking about how they’re doing things, I don’t think they’re going to stay on top. All it takes is another company that’s bigger than them, like an HP, to give people what they’re actually asking for, and then if they can come up to standards with the design of the product and the UI, then easily, any other company can surpass [Apple]. I’m an Apple fanboy, but lately they’re starting to look a little too much like Microsoft. They’re doing a lot of closing off of things, and they’re doing a little less listening to people.
They need to get back to their roots of being that really cool party that no one knows about, so you feel like you’re special when you go there. They’re taking care of you and it’s so much cooler and more exclusive. It may happen that they fall off for a little while and come back cool again in another ten years, but for now, if they want to stay on top, they’re going to need to start listening to people a little bit more and stop just relying on the cool factor.
What barriers to adoption will allow netbooks to continue to compete and laptops to continue to be lugged around by executives on business trips? Will it replace other devices or compliment them?
Chris: mostly comes down to the amount of functionality that you need. For the majority of netbook users, the iPad will suffice. For people such as myself, who are developers, it’s not going to work for all of your needs. It’s a great travel device, great for lounging around the home - it’s great for those sorts of things. It’s also great for note taking - it’s a great alternative for a laptop of net-book at conferences. It’s not great for doing things such as look at multiple things at the same time - multitasking is still an issue. Even when Apple comes out with the iPhone OS 4.0, multitasking will exist, but you can’t really do view things side-by-side. It has those type of limitations.
I have heard it called this before and I agree with it - “It’s a device for your mother”. Most moms will like this. The majority of mothers don’t really do anything but browse the Web, check email - those types of things. Not to pigeonhole all mothers, but the majority of Baby Boomer mothers of the world - that will be perfect for them.
James: Well, there’s still a lot of little hiccups. First of all, probably the biggest adoption problem is probably IT for different companies. They usually run about six years behind the game anyway, so those guys are still running IE6. Of course, it’s probably going to take some time. I know that there are a lot of IT departments that still don’t support iPhones, so I’m sure it’s going to get better over time, but at least for right now, I can plug a USB stick into a netbook, and that’s something that, realistically, they pass around all the time. They need to be able to plug in their devices - like memory stick or USB drive and transfer files quickly.
Otherwise, Apple’s going to need to come up with a better solution for [users] to get things back and forth. Some people aren’t smart enough to set up a Drop Box account - or they work at a company that’s too secure that won’t let them do things like that. A lot of times, you work at a secure company with a security clearance and you have access to their server and you have to VPN in - and some people aren’t savvy enough to do stuff like that.
I think that netbooks are destroyed on a personal level - on a more media-driven level. The video player aspect of it is great. There’s tons of ways I can view ABC.com, so I can view TV series. If you’ve hacked your device, you can get Hulu on it. You can get your Netflix on there, you can get your Best Buy stuff on there. I can get to pretty much all of my media through it.
As far as games are concerned, there are tons of them. There are actually some really brilliant ones for children too - as a learning device, this has a lot of potential. You’re actually teaching kids to touch and interact with things. It’s probably a good thing anyway, considering that this interface will start taking over more and more. With children, they’ve got some really great games that speak to them and teach them as they play. You’ve got 3D video games that are looking better and better. You’ve got EA who is supporting them with game titles.
As far as personal stuff goes, I can check all of my social networks from one platform. Or I can log into Facebook just using the browser and use it as I normally would. As far as that goes, the netbook really can’t compete. Most netbooks can’t even play Hulu very well. I can stream the television shows that I want to watch to this directly. I can still type what I want or hook up a bluetooth keyboard if I need a full keyboard, but I don’t have a full keyboard on a netbook either. Plus, ten hours of battery life - and that’s actual battery life - I’ve tested it. The netbook really can’t compete on a personal level, but on a business level, it’s completely a different story.
I don’t think it will be a big deal [for people to adopt to the platform based on price]. Most decent netbooks that are comparable to [the iPad] are in the $300 - $400 range, so if I’m going to spend $400, I might as well spend a little bit more and get the lowest end wifi version. I don’t know how many people are going to invest in the 3G, especially those who already have data accounts with their iPhone, but as far as price point hurdles, I don’t see that happening too much. Maybe as netbooks continue to get cheaper, because they’re in less demand… but I don’t see that.
Bonus Question: What’s your favorite iPad app and what can you tell us about it?
Chris: I would say.. Delivery Status Touch. It’s a package tracking application. It’s not something you’ll use every single day, unless you’re constantly ordering and tracking packages, but one thing it does - you can enter any tracking code for any service, such as UPS, USPS, FedEx, etc, and it will show where your shipment is on the map. You’ll be able to see detailed information. It’s just a very nicely done application.
James: Poplet is a really good one. It’s Poplet Lite, and it’s a free app too, which is a cool thing about it. It actually lets you jot down ideas and link them up with each other. It’s kind of a dynamic interface where you can just keep adding little “poplets” and you can link them out, you can label them, you can scribble over top of them, add images, type in text points… you can build a site map or an information architecture with it, but at the same time you can use it to group thoughts and ideas together. That’s a really cool one.
Posted by Art Wilbur on May. 26, 2010