Here’s another video: a ten minute exploration of some of the apps. I realize that you’re not going to be able to see the screen very well—the video itself is only about 1/4 the resolution of the iPad screen—but it will at least give some sense of scale, and how quickly everything loads.
I’ll have some better screenshots and a more in-depth blog post soon.
OK. That’s the 3rd cat I’ve seen who is fascinated iPad… =^.^=~~
Woops. Sorry about the missed “by the” which goes between “fascinated” and “iPad.”
As I’ve mentioned in other forums, Zooey gives the pad 2 paws up with an added bonus for enhanced cat hair attraction.
I still don’t understand what everyone has against a nicely justified typographic layout…
FWIW, Kobo books has a nicer interface on the iPad then the iPhone. MUCH nicer. I have major problems with Kobo on the iPhone, since it interprets my swipes as “go into the preferences” half the time. This is not the case on the iPad.
In fact, I wish I could side load into Kobo while I’m waiting for B&N to hurry up and get eReader out the door.
Kindle is still Kindle. I’m reading my friend’s newly published noir there because it has only been released on Kindle.
iBooks is OK. The store is not so great. It’s missing all of the nuances that we’ve become used to in other online bookstores such as wishlists and various searching options.
My anticipated use for the iPad was as a supplemental reading device for technical stuff like documentation and computer programming books. I’ve been using iAnnotate PDF to mark up these PDFs to my heart’s desire. It has one of the less convoluted methods for getting the PDFs off your computer on to the pad, too.
In addition to tech books and computer documentation, I also can see me using the iPad as a supplemental “thinking” tool. I’ve been reading up on Mind Mapping and solving problems through drawing lately, and I see real potential for applications on the iPad in this area. Especially Mind Mapping. I wish the iThoughts guy would hurry up and get the iPad version out, but he’s in England, so I’ll have to make do in the meantime. MindNode has an iPad specific app., but I really want something with more file format exports and flexibility, so I’ll be waiting for iThoughts.
All in all, I think the iPad is a good “ancillary” device to one’s computer. I don’t seem to mind reading from a backlit screen as much as I thought I would (it is, after all, what I do all day), but I have noticed some eye strain after staring at the various screens in my life for too long. This is when I switch to the mass market paperback reader, which, considering that I fall asleep with a book in my hand every night, is probably safer for both me and the iPad.
The one really big con (besides the harbinger of freedom doom stuff, icky DRM, and being forced to live in a Steve Jobs-ian world) is the weight. The iPad is an entire 1 lb. heavier than my Sony Reader Pocket. I think the ideal weight for a reader is just about right with the B&N Nook, which is only slightly lighter (but much more legible) than my Sony 700. By comparison, the iPad all but screams for a dock-like reading stand (or just to be used in the dock itself). I can prop it up in bed with pillows, etc., but the weight is definitely noticeable for interacting with the screen in any way. I have particularly trashed wrists, so it may be more noticeable to me than others, however.
It comes down to this: nice device. Does exactly what I hoped it would do and a bit more. I wasn’t expecting a game changer, though, and I still don’t think that the iPad is the game changer that has been hyped beyond ridicule. It’s not a replacement for eInk. It does something well that eInk does not do – namely, handling technical PDFs with complex typographic layouts.
My iPhone has been used far less in the house since the arrival of the Pad. The one other really BIG advantage? The really nice BIG screen makes things much more visible to the severely nearsighted.
Thanks for the tip about Plants vs. Zombies. I may have to check that out.
To note, there are three different versions of PvZ. The one for the iPhone is $3, and doesn’t include all of the minigames or survival modes of the iPad version. The $10 iPad version is about 2/3 of the way toward the PC side; the only things it’s missing from the $10 (via Steam, $20 via PopCap.com) PC version are the separate normal and hard survival modes, the Zen Garden, and a couple of the minigames.
You might try out the iPhone version to see if you’d like to shell out for one of the more expensive versions. Me, I have all three. 🙂