I am experiencing the iPad at first hand -- as I am using what is , for now, my daughter's iPad.
And I love it!
I am going through a revolution in my computer interfacery.
The irony is that I most value the iPad because it is such a useful eBook reader -- but then it is much easier to read the web on the iPad than on a standard computer screen with clickity mouse moves.
I don't have access to a iMac so I cannot sync between machines -- and an iPad is engineered to force you to Mac up -- so my experience is limited.
I was very disappointed with the web access I got via Safari. I'm a keen user of Google Chrome and I may be waiting some months before Chrome is made available (if at all,as not at all is more likely) as an iPad app. Nonetheless, I purchased a Google reader app -- Reeder -- which has completely changed my access to the feeds I subscribe to. What a dream read it is! I'm still stuck with a less than serviceable access to Google Mail inside Safari but another app -- GoodReader -- has greatly enhanced my iPad access to online files, especially those in pdf format -- and any archive I may have on Google Docs. Without GoodReader, pdf is a pain on iPad.
The only significant drawbacks with the iPad are:
- It doesn't support flash. However, many sites are converting their multimedia to accomodate this quirk of the iPad.
- The 'pop up' keyboard can be cumbersome to use especially when entering text for some online sites(eg: Blogger and facebook comments)
- It's engineered to screw you for money. iPad is set up as an emporium funded by your credit card.
But hey! I'm hooked. I suspect that this little gadget formats the future for personal computing. eBooking rather than hard copy publishing too seems the way ahead. That I can switch between reading a free novel and checking on my facebook profile or the latest news online via text or video, while being located anywhere I may be at, suggests that we are in a new era.
'tis one that I appreciate.
'tis one that I appreciate.
Update: I solved some of my browser issues by using the 'Atomic Web browser app. 'Tis a much better browser than Safari esp for those who prefer tabs and like to play around with bookmarks.
I was also asked about Kindle vs iPad. ...Well, you get Kindle with iPad, along with iBooks and Borders ebook readers. The programs are more or less similar but the big difference is that with iPad you also get web access so you also get to read the web with a much better digital text experience .
Above left is an online LINKS article as it appears on the iPad with a little touch screen formatting -- and that's merely a single hand gesture --opening a hand -- and with 'scrolling' like stroking a kitten.
Online reading is a totally new experience.
Compare that presentation to the way it appears on a standard computer screen (image left) at some distance from your nose.
I'm reading Dickens' Tale of Two Cities on iBooks at the moment and the past 400 pages have been a great joy to read. I prefer these eBook offerings to holding and visually scanning hard copy.
Reading is a totally new experience.
You can get a combination in-your-hand and eBook reader that also offer web access by using a netbook. But a netbook aint gonna be as comfortable to hold as the iPad or a dedicated eBook reader.Even when you pivot the text, holding the thing for any length of time is going to be cumbersome.
If you check out JB Hi Fi you'll see some cheaper eBook readers than either Kindle or iPad and, you should note that the Wink was launched in India last month . If you are after an eBook reader and only that -- why pay big bucks?
In a few months, Google is set to launch its own tablet to compete with the iPad.
Tablets are go. This may indeed be the end of hard copy.
So would I get a dedicated eBook reader and miss out on 'reading' the web the way I can do now with the iPad? No way. I want my eCake and I want to eat it too.
Nonetheless, the iPad is designed to be codependent with an iMac especially the way content is synced . It Apple-izes you because the best way to experience the iPad as a adjunct to the iMac.
You become part of the Steve Jobs business plan.
