On January 27, 2010 Apple held a press event to announce the hotly anticipated and much-romoured Apple iPad. For weeks, months, and even years leading up to the event, rumors and speculation ran wild concerning an Apple “tablet.” After finishing work on the 27th, I rushed home, made myself a plate of perogies, and settled in to watch the keynote.
The press event was filled with Pixar references, software demos, and self-indulgent exclamations of awe from Apple execs, including Steve Jobs himself. Apparently Steve is really excited about the product and is quite certain that we’re all going to love it. My initial response was rather tepid. In terms of design, I didn’t have any major qualms, but it didn’t really get my juices flowing (which is usually the response when Apple releases a marquee product).
When they first announced the name, my jaw dropped to the floor. iPad?!? The name had, of course, been one of the rumoured names, but never would I have guessed that the near-infallible marketing team at Apple would pick this travesty. Time will tell whether the device can rise above the ridiculous connotations the name bears. Despite my lingering distaste for the name, basing my verdict on something this immaterial would be foolish.
Many have criticized the device for being little more than an oversized iPod Touch. At first blush, one can hardly help but agree. It looks the same. It has the same operating system. It has the same limitations (e.g., lack of camera, inability to multi-task). Even all the apps they boast are available for the device are actually just stretched iPod/iPhone applications.
So what is it about the iPad that is so special that it warranted a dedicated press event? Perhaps I’m putting too much faith in His Holiness, Steve Jobs, but I’m hard pressed to believe that he would launch a product that merely duplicated a pre-existing one.
It’s all about the software
At the end of the day, it’s not about the hardware. The success of the product will not be determined by its attractiveness. Taking a page out of the Microsoft book of business, Apple is pushing the iPad as a platform and not as another one-trick-pony gadget. Ultimately, it’s the software that will make the iPad so special.
Take a look at Apple iPhones commercials. When the device came out, Apple created one commercial that touted the physical design of the unit. After that, it spent all its time hawking the wares of 3rd party developers. At the end of the day, people care less that the iPod has a sleek, refined one-button design. People care more about the fact that they can use the iPhone to browse the web, read their emails, calculate a tip, check Facebook, edit a spreadsheet, play poker, send Twitters, review restaurants, and maintain a shopping list.
The benefit of the iPad’s screen size will become clear when people begin using applications that are specifically designed for the iPad. The increased real estate makes so many more things possible. Apple demonstrated their new iWork apps. Those would not have been feasible on the iPhone’s screen. If you think it’s fun to finger pain on an iPhone, think of how much better it will be on an iPad. Think of how the following applications might look and behave differently on a larger screen: Photoshop, Epicurious, Evernote, solitaire, VNC, Wikipedia, Convertbot. The list goes on. One might be hard-pressed to find an application that wouldn’t benefit from a less cramped screen.
It’s off to work I go
Despite my initial lukewarm response, my desire to own Apple’s latest offering has grown.The problem is that I still have to be able to justify the purchase in my mind. I already own a 1st generation iPod touch. Despite no longer being the fastest or sleekest model on the market, it plays music and performs most basic tasks without a hitch. The improved speed and sex appeal of the iPad is not enough to sway me.
While at work, I’ve begun to actively search out ways I could use my iPad as a work tool. With a little assistance from the IT department, I’m confident that I should be able to find plenty ways to utilize an iPad.
Email & Contacts. Like most companies, we use Microsoft’s Exchange email server. Now, with Apple’s built-in support for exchange technologies, my hope is that the IT department at my workplace will be benevolent enough to give a Mac fan-boy like me the permissions necessary to hook up my iPad to the Exchange server. Once that’s in place, the benefits will be obvious. I’ll be able to respond to my email and check my calendar even when I’m away from my desk. If that’s not immediately possible, I suppose I may be forced to use Outlook’s web access via Safari.
Spreadsheets. My daily tasks require me to access and edit spreadsheets on a regular basis. The ability to manage certain aspects of my inventory and edit reports should be invaluable. Microsoft has hinted that they may be creating a pared down version of their office suite for the iPad. That, dear reader, would be grand.
Evernote. I’ve only just begun to use Evernote, and already I can see the huge potential this application has on the iPad. I look forward to a day where I won’t have to carry a scattered notebook filled with cryptic scribblings. Rather, Evernote should provide me the ability to access meeting notes, to-do lists, and random scribblings from home, my iPad, and my workstation. Physical notebooks serve their purpose, but short of flipping through the pages manually, they offer no indexing and searching capability. Furthermore, a spiral notebook can only be in one place at a time. In contrast, information synchronized with Evernote is essentially accessible anywhere.
The benefits of an iPad in the workplace can only be speculated until they actually begin to ship. However, it will be exciting to see how the ecosystem of applications available for the iPad develops. As I mentioned before, it’s not the hardware that will prove the iPad’s worth, it’s the software.
UPDATE: Tried to have an intelligent conversation with a leader of the IT department. I was enlightened to the fact that they are not quite as forward-thinking as I had initially hoped. Looks like Microsoft Outlook’s web access will be the name of the game until key decision-makers realize the benefits of thinking outside the beige box. *Sigh*
The iPad: My Thoughts & Plans
03 Mar 2010 at 03:04
Admin
Apple, Commentary
Apple iPad Opinion
On January 27, 2010 Apple held a press event to announce the hotly anticipated and much-romoured Apple iPad. For weeks, months, and even years leading up to the event, rumors and speculation ran wild concerning an Apple “tablet.” After finishing work on the 27th, I rushed home, made myself a plate of perogies, and settled in to watch the keynote.
The press event was filled with Pixar references, software demos, and self-indulgent exclamations of awe from Apple execs, including Steve Jobs himself. Apparently Steve is really excited about the product and is quite certain that we’re all going to love it. My initial response was rather tepid. In terms of design, I didn’t have any major qualms, but it didn’t really get my juices flowing (which is usually the response when Apple releases a marquee product).
When they first announced the name, my jaw dropped to the floor. iPad?!? The name had, of course, been one of the rumoured names, but never would I have guessed that the near-infallible marketing team at Apple would pick this travesty. Time will tell whether the device can rise above the ridiculous connotations the name bears. Despite my lingering distaste for the name, basing my verdict on something this immaterial would be foolish.
Many have criticized the device for being little more than an oversized iPod Touch. At first blush, one can hardly help but agree. It looks the same. It has the same operating system. It has the same limitations (e.g., lack of camera, inability to multi-task). Even all the apps they boast are available for the device are actually just stretched iPod/iPhone applications.
So what is it about the iPad that is so special that it warranted a dedicated press event? Perhaps I’m putting too much faith in His Holiness, Steve Jobs, but I’m hard pressed to believe that he would launch a product that merely duplicated a pre-existing one.
It’s all about the software
At the end of the day, it’s not about the hardware. The success of the product will not be determined by its attractiveness. Taking a page out of the Microsoft book of business, Apple is pushing the iPad as a platform and not as another one-trick-pony gadget. Ultimately, it’s the software that will make the iPad so special.
Take a look at Apple iPhones commercials. When the device came out, Apple created one commercial that touted the physical design of the unit. After that, it spent all its time hawking the wares of 3rd party developers. At the end of the day, people care less that the iPod has a sleek, refined one-button design. People care more about the fact that they can use the iPhone to browse the web, read their emails, calculate a tip, check Facebook, edit a spreadsheet, play poker, send Twitters, review restaurants, and maintain a shopping list.
The benefit of the iPad’s screen size will become clear when people begin using applications that are specifically designed for the iPad. The increased real estate makes so many more things possible. Apple demonstrated their new iWork apps. Those would not have been feasible on the iPhone’s screen. If you think it’s fun to finger pain on an iPhone, think of how much better it will be on an iPad. Think of how the following applications might look and behave differently on a larger screen: Photoshop, Epicurious, Evernote, solitaire, VNC, Wikipedia, Convertbot. The list goes on. One might be hard-pressed to find an application that wouldn’t benefit from a less cramped screen.
It’s off to work I go
While at work, I’ve begun to actively search out ways I could use my iPad as a work tool. With a little assistance from the IT department, I’m confident that I should be able to find plenty ways to utilize an iPad.
Email & Contacts. Like most companies, we use Microsoft’s Exchange email server. Now, with Apple’s built-in support for exchange technologies, my hope is that the IT department at my workplace will be benevolent enough to give a Mac fan-boy like me the permissions necessary to hook up my iPad to the Exchange server. Once that’s in place, the benefits will be obvious. I’ll be able to respond to my email and check my calendar even when I’m away from my desk. If that’s not immediately possible, I suppose I may be forced to use Outlook’s web access via Safari.
Spreadsheets. My daily tasks require me to access and edit spreadsheets on a regular basis. The ability to manage certain aspects of my inventory and edit reports should be invaluable. Microsoft has hinted that they may be creating a pared down version of their office suite for the iPad. That, dear reader, would be grand.
Evernote. I’ve only just begun to use Evernote, and already I can see the huge potential this application has on the iPad. I look forward to a day where I won’t have to carry a scattered notebook filled with cryptic scribblings. Rather, Evernote should provide me the ability to access meeting notes, to-do lists, and random scribblings from home, my iPad, and my workstation. Physical notebooks serve their purpose, but short of flipping through the pages manually, they offer no indexing and searching capability. Furthermore, a spiral notebook can only be in one place at a time. In contrast, information synchronized with Evernote is essentially accessible anywhere.
The benefits of an iPad in the workplace can only be speculated until they actually begin to ship. However, it will be exciting to see how the ecosystem of applications available for the iPad develops. As I mentioned before, it’s not the hardware that will prove the iPad’s worth, it’s the software.
UPDATE: Tried to have an intelligent conversation with a leader of the IT department. I was enlightened to the fact that they are not quite as forward-thinking as I had initially hoped. Looks like Microsoft Outlook’s web access will be the name of the game until key decision-makers realize the benefits of thinking outside the beige box. *Sigh*