At the iPad’s launch I wasn’t extremely impressed. The device seemed interesting, but it didn’t appear to have a tangible spot between my smartphone and my laptop in day-to-day use.
That changed fast.
After playing with the iPad for a few hours, it has certainly secured a new place in my tech arsenal. The hardware is able to handle all of the applications that I’ve used with smooth graphics processing and very quick responses to touch input (especially multitouch).
Typing on it is much better than you might imagine. After using the iPad through a full IM conversation, my typing speed was comparable to my speed on a standard keyboard. It’s a bit less comfortable, but it gets the job done well.
Multitasking? Yeah, it can’t run MSN, Facebook, Photoshop, and play a movie simultaneously. But do you really want it to? Remember how the old Windows phones handled multiple tasks? It was unbearably slow. Hopefully Apple has an elegant solution to our multitasking needs in OS 4.0, but mine are very rare. Push IM can get me all of my messages effectively, and I can play music on my iPod in the background. I’m not settling for less. I’m working with a completely different type of device.
I’m very excited to do work, watch movies, play games, and explore the iPad in a traveling situation. The battery has held up great today.
It’s time to do some research on equipping this thing with a solar panel!
