My iPad arrived via FedEx today. I’ve been impatiently waiting for it since I ordered it a couple of weeks ago.
As with all Apple products, the box itself is beautiful. While I was peeling off the plastic on the wall plugin charging unit, I dropped it. Smack! Right on the screen of the iPad. For a second, I freaked out. Then I looked at the screen and it was fine. No marks. When I turned on the iPad, there were no busted pixels.
Setting up the iPad is pretty easy. You plug it into the USB port on your Mac or Windows machine, launch iTunes, and it walks you through registration. I pretty quickly got registered and figured out the user interface. It took very little time to hook into my Gmail account and sync my iPad to my online calendar and address book.
I like the “Find my iPad” feature, in theory. As with the iPhone, if you lose your iPad, you can log onto Apple’s MobileMe web site and find out where on the planet your iPad is. From the MobileMe site, you can remotely lock your iPad or display a message on it, such as, “I know where you are, you dirty thief, so you better return my iPad or I’m sending the cops to get it for me.”
At least you can do these in theory. I tested them and the message I typed in on the MobileMe site appeared instantly on my iPad. But the system couldn’t locate my iPad, even though it was sitting right beside me.
I’ve never owned an iPhone or an iPod Touch, but the iPad looks similar to them, only . . . bigger. A lot bigger. The iPad makes a terrific iPod (although if that’s all you use it for, it would be overpriced.) I quickly downloaded several gigabytes of audio from my iTunes program to my iPad. The internal speaker is actually pretty good, but of course a good pair of headphones is infinitely better.
One of my first stops was the Apps store, where I grabbed the free iBooks app and the free Netflix app. When I tried to log into my Netflix account, I had a couple of false tries typing in my password using the onscreen keyboard. I think this keyboard is going to take some getting used to. I like it much better than the tiny physical keyboard on my Kindle, but still it’s not something that I can type on quickly, at least not yet. But once I got logged onto Netflix, it felt very much like using an ordinary web browser on Netflix. You can play any of the streaming movies on Netflix on the iPad. The screen is big enough and the screen quality is good enough to make watching a movie a real pleasure.
But the real question I wanted to answer was how good the iBook store is. When you load the iBook app, it shows you a picture of what appears to be a physical bookcase, made of wood. As you add books, they appear in the book case. Click on any book and it opens. The ease of use here is lightyears ahead of the Kindle, where you have to navigate around with a little joystick-like button.
I clicked the Store button and up popped the iBookStore. It’s a lot like Apple’s iTunes store, which is to say, it’s beautiful and easy to get around. You can search for titles (there aren’t nearly enough books in the store yet) or you can just browse. It’s easy to scan the current bestsellers on the store. They’re divided into two columns, the payware books on the left, the free books on the right. I quickly grabbed a few freebies, including a Sherlock Holmes book, Huck Finn, Tom Sawyer, Pride & Prejudice, and a couple of free Bibles.
I opened Pride & Prejudice and began reading and . . . it’s a lot like a book. Much more so than a Kindle book. I have a Kindle, and the page layout is a bit more primitive than on the iPad. The iPad is vastly easier to navigate, thanks to the touch interface. There’s a slider at the bottom of any iBook page that you can drag to quickly scroll through the book. As you scroll, a little balloon pops up to show you what chapter and page you’re on. It’s simple and slick and very, very efficient. To turn pages on an iBook, you put your finger on the right margin and flick. A lot like a book, but much quicker and easier than either a physical book or a Kindle. You also have a choice of both font sizes (like on the Kindle) and the font (unlike the Kindle).
A lot has been said about the easy-on-the-eyes electronic ink of the Kindle. Since it’s not lit up, it takes no energy except when turning pages. The iPad has an adjustable brightness on its LED screen. As with all current Mac products, the screen is glossy and reflects. (Some Macs have a matte display option, but there’s no such option for the iPad.) I’ll have to do some extended reading to see how the bright screen is on my eyes. The pixels are small–132 pixels per inch, but those are still a bit bigger than on the Kindle, which packs over 200 pixels per inch. The advantage here may go to the Kindle, but I’ll have to see. The iPad color screen is beautiful, no question about it.
Many people have been asking what an iPad is good for. That’s a good question and time will answer that soon enough. One thing is clear after a couple of hours of playing. This is a fantastic travel computer. It weighs a pound and half and it can browse the web, handle email, play movies and books, show books. You can do all those on a much lighter iPhone or iPod touch, but the iPad has a much bigger screen and it will also let you connect to a PowerPoint display and give your talk. (You need a $29 VGA connector for this. I bought it.)
Is the iPad going to be a Kindle-killer? Good question. It depends what the market wants. The Kindle is cheaper. The iPad is nicer and does more. They’re in different classes. A motorcycle is not a bicycle-killer.
I’ll have more to say about the iPad next time I blog. For the moment, I’m really loving this little machine.
Thanks, Randy, for this review. I look forward to reading as you continue to work with your iPad. I’ve been trying to exercise discipline and wait for the second generation but I don’t think it’s going to work. I’ve already spent time at the Apple store playing with one and I love it.
I’ve loved my Kindle and Kindle2, but this is Apple for goodness sake. If only it had a phone and a camera I could replace my iPhone, my Kindle and my travel laptop with one exquisite device.
Randy sez: Yes, I’d love it if it had a camera and if there were a Skype app for it. The iPad is a beautiful machine, a real work of art. I’m still waiting for the iPad cover I ordered with it (Apple split my order up into three shipments).
Hi Randy,
I just returned from a Writers’ Conf and the word was still out on the popularity of Kindle. Their comment, “You either love it or you hate it; there doesn’t seem to be any middle ground!”
I’ve decided to make do with my Kindle-2 and wait for iPad 2.0… provided it is half the size! However, I’d buy it even at the current dimensions if I can run Virtual Windows on it – I have 10 writing software applications that run on Windows. I don’t suppose there’ll be an iPad compatible SnowFlake app, will there?:)
Randy sez: The iPad is not the ideal writing machine, partly because there really isn’t any way that I can see to manage files on it. I am working with an iPad developer on a version of Snowflake Pro for the iPad. It’s not clear to me yet how we’ll deal with the Snowflake documents created. In my view, the iPad is for USING media (books, movies, music, web pages, etc.) rather for CREATING it. It’s fine for light editing, short emails, etc., but not necessarily for heavy duty work.
Awww! I want an iPad but as Wendy said I’m waiting for the 2nd generation.
Could you try it out in sunlight? Since it’s a LED screen I guess it won’t work, but could you try it? Thanks in advance.
Randy, I’ll be anxiously awaiting further word of your experience with the iPad. Of course, I don’t have a Kindle and my smart phone isn’t an iPhone, so I’m wondering why I might invest in this latest Apple gadget.
One question. How does an iPad connect for checking email when traveling?
Thanks for sharing your experience.
Randy sez: The iPad makes it easy to connect to email servers. There’s a built-in Mail app. To hook into any email server, you do the following:
1) Click on the Settings app, which allows you to change any of the settings on the machine.
2) Click on the Mail tab.
3) Click on the Add Account button
4) It then walks you through adding an account for Microsoft Exchange, MobileMe, GMail, Yahoo mail, AOL mail, or
“Other.” Basically, you have to enter your name, email address, and password.
It’s really pretty quick and easy.
My husband purchased an iPad a couple weeks ago and loves it. Knowing him, when the next one comes out, I’ll be getting his hand-me-down (that’s how I own an iPhone 3g and a Mac notebook LOL).
Streams of technology….stunning. Can’t wait to hear how Sam the Plumber weighs in on this latest! 🙂
Dear Randy,
Thank you for your review of the iPad. I look forward to hearing more about your new adventures (and what writing is like) on Apple’s latest gadget. Which iPad did you go with – 3G or wi-fi only? What size hard drive would you recommend? I’m looking forward to test-driving the iPad at some future point, but for now, I get to experience it through your blogs. Thank you.
Randy sez: The 3G version of the iPad isn’t out yet, and it costs an extra $130. I got the basic WiFi version with the 64 GB of memory. There is no hard drive. The memory is flash memory, in either 16, 32, or 64 GB.
I was talking a look at the ipad on some website and I found out that the Applecare section for the ipad only said it is only 2 years. Does anyone know why is not lasting 3 years like every other Apple product? Ok, well the iphone/ipods now says it is 2 years too on the Applecare. When did they all change to 2 years and not 3? Cheers, T-Shirt Druck
There aren’t a huge amount of apps out for it yet, too bad. I’ll prolly grab the 2nd edition and wait for em to fix the kinks out. The no flash thing is especially upsetting…
I think the hype of the iPad is similar to them of the iPhone. The functionality is brilliant because you can use the apps of the iPhone. I would like it to play the Race Games on it!
The iPad is one of the best things of apple. After the iPhone I like it to surf with the iPad. The idea of this product is good, but it can be a little bit bigger.
I’m definitely hooked to my iPad1
I think my iPad really rocks!
Has there been any progress toward a Snowflake Pro app for iPad?
I am a long-time user of the Snowflake method and was an early adopter of the Snowflake Pro program (it’s great!). I recently received an Ipad 2 and was hoping that a Snowflake Pro app for the Ipad will be an option in the near future.
I really enjoyed reading Fiction Writing for Dummies (using the Kindle app on my iPad 2), and I love the AFW blog.
You may not think the iPad is an ideal writing platform, Randy, but with the right apps, and a bluetooth keyboard, I made a great (23000 words) start on my novel last NaNoWriMo!
I don’t have the snowflake software (yet), but I was hoping there would be a snowflake app soon. (Perhaps I could use it to “unstuck” the start of that novel and get it moving again!)
Has there been any progress on that front?