Posts Tagged "iPad"
iPad Fatigue
One of the ways you can measure the impact a device has, is by how frequently it’s used. A netbook, for example, might look like great device on paper, but a lot of early adopters seem to have switched back to using a full-sized notebook, whilst their netbooks collect dust.
The problem is feature overlap: if a netbook can do some, but not all of the same things a notebook can do – why not just take the notebook? You’ll need a bag to carry either, so there’s only a slight difference in size and weight to consider. Smartphones on the other hand can do some of the same things a notebook can do, but have a clear size and weight advantage, as well as a telephony features that a notebook doesn’t offer.
The iPad might suffer from the same problem as netbooks. It offers a lot of features offered by both other device categories, but it also presents these features in a new, multi-touch interface. But is the new interface and compact form factor enough to convince users to ditch their smartphones and notebooks for certain tasks?
Browsing some of the initial comments about the iPad, most users are initially very enthusiastic, as you would expect with most highly anticipated new CE devices. However, some users are already reporting that the initial excitement has worn off:
Jeff Jarvis tweets:
“After having slept with her (Ms. iPad), I am having morning-after regrets. Sweet and cute but shallow and vapid.”
Update: Turns out Jeff is actually returning his iPad:
[...] “(I) simply don’t see a good use for the machine and don’t want to spend $500 on something I’m not going to use.”
Funemployed entrepreneur Nat Friedman posts on Facebook:
“24 hours later, I must admit I’m not sure what I’m supposed to be using this thing for. The charm is wearing off.”
On a more anecdotal note, I recently had a few friends over for a party and they were playing with an iPad borrowed from work. Most of them were fascinated by the device and wanted one, but couldn’t really see much use for it apart as a “toy”.
Unlike the iPhone, which you always carry with you anyway, the iPad is something you need to actively seek out and use. With many people purchasing iPads without a clear idea what they’ll be using it for, it’ll be interesting to see whether Apple’s latest can win a permanent place in user’s day-to-day lives, or whether it will be yet another gadget collecting dust somewhere. My guess is that it’ll be the type of gadget you use regularly – just not as often as your phone or notebook.
What are your thoughts? Are you starting to get bored of your iPad – or has it already become indispensable?
Read MoreHidden iPad features?
There’s a lot of speculation at the moment regarding some unanswered iPad questions:
- Why doesn’t it seem to have the Weather, Stocks, Clock or Voice Memo apps?
- Why is there space for a camera?
- -insert latest techcrunch rumour here-
For what it’s worth, I believe it’s entirely possible Apple might be holding back certain features so there’s something new to announce around the time it’s actually due to ship. In fact, there’s a precedent for this.
Shortly before the original iPhone was scheduled to launch in 2007, Apple announced two major (supposedly last-minute) improvements.
The first was a battery life upgrade (which was probably achieved by software improvements), the second was that they were “upgrading” the display to a glass screen – which seems like such an integral part of the overall device that it would have to have been planned all along.
My guess is that we’ll see one or two minor iPad announcements in March, but it probably won’t include a camera.
3 Mac apps with perfect UIs for the iPad
For the first time ever, the iPad gives developers the chance to design desktop-class applications for a multi-touch based user interface.
Here are 3 Mac applications with user interfaces that I think would work really well on the iPad:
1. Times
This fantastic RSS reader is already multi-touch aware and is a dream to use on MacBooks with multi-touch trackpads. You tap to read full articles, 3-finger swipe up to return to the overview or 3-finger swipe left and right to switch between sections. The gorgeous UI is the closest thing to reading a real newspaper on your Mac and Times could be a perfect match for the iPad.
2. CoverScout
The coverflow-esque UI in CoverScout is a perfect fit for the iPad: You can swipe through your albums, double-tap to start a search and then drag a cover from your search results to an album to apply it.
The search results bubble introduced in CoverScout 3 is also very reminiscent of the new popover list UI element introduced for the iPad.
Whilst you can certainly argue whether this is the type of application you would use on the iPad, the interaction style seems as though it would be an ideal match.
3. Djay
If there’s one application that would really work well with a touch-screen UI, it’s Djay. Being able to use a MacBook multi-touch trackpad as your DJ controller is nice, but a 9.7 inch touchscreen control would offer a much better, hands-on experience. Currently it looks as though access to the music on your iPad will be restricted though, making a real port of Djay unfeasible.
2010
It’ll be interesting to see which Mac applications will be turned into iPad versions and what level of sophistication iPad apps have. Will they stay simple and iPhone-esque? Or will we see Mac application developers come out with truely desktop-challenging versions of their products? 2010 should be an exciting year for developers…
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Jetlinked: iPad UI Roundup
Sebastiaan de With has posted a very comprehensive analysis of some of the new UI elements introduced on the iPad:
As usual with a large Apple product launch, I’ve written up this post to round up the good, the bad, and the ugly of all the new interface and interaction designs that were set loose on the world by the company that’s regarded as the most influential and skilled when it comes to designing experiences.
Man, where do I begin.
He’s done a terrific job of scrutinizing all the videos and screenshots on various websites as well: Cocoia Blog