One of things I was looking forward to in my recent US trip was being able to pick up an iPad (for a more reasonable price). I’ve now had the iPad for nearly two weeks and here’s what I think: in short, I love it.
I know a lot of web developers/designers wrote off the iPad as soon as it was announced stating reasons like, ‘it’s just a big iPhone/iPod touch‘ or ‘why do I need this when I have a laptop?‘
The positives
For me, a big iPod touch is precisely what I needed. I wanted a device that I could sit on the couch with and book my holiday and not have to squint to view the screen. I needed a device to let me watch videos on the train/plane with once again not having to strain to see the picture and without it taking up too much room in my bag.
When I’m at home I don’t like getting out the 13″ MacBook to do any quick web surfing; it’s too bulky, has to load up and generally just gets in the way – with the iPad it’s so much lighter and faster to get things done. The iPad is also so much better for writing emails than the iPhone. Personally, I find the iPhone keypad is just too small for my fingers and I make too many mistakes typing with it.
I can also download movies/TV shows from iTunes and BBC’s iPlayer and watch them on my TV via an Apple Composite cable.
The negatives
Okay, there’s the good bits but are there any drawbacks? Well the battery is a bit poor just like the iPhone, it runs out far too quickly and honestly I think the price of it in the UK is still too high; £429 is a serious amount of money and I’m not sure it’s worth that much – the price I paid in the US worked out at £350 which I think is much more reasonable.
iTunes is a big negative too; I don’t like being locked into iTunes, navigating around it is a chore and I think, generally the prices are too high for what it is. I generally think that paying £3.50 to rent a film or £9.99 to buy and nearly £2 per TV show episode is too high and I long for Netflix or something similar to launch in the UK.
Summary
As soon as the iPad was announced I thought it was a great idea but when the UK prices were released I was completely put off. I had envisaged the price point being low enough- say £300-350 – to make it an easy purchase decision.
As more apps get launched specifically designed for the iPad, I think it’ll become increasing more useful. I just hope the 2nd generation iPad doesn’t come out too soon considering I’ve just bought this one, but knowing apple I imagine it’s just around the corner.