First Look at Apple's iPad

Thinking of buying an iPad? You should find the article below published by PC Authority to be helpful in firming up your decision to buy an iPad or forego it.

Australian First Look Review: Apple's iPad is big and beautiful, but here's what the glossy advertising doesn't tell you

Thursday April 08, 2010

Written by Adam Turner

 Watch Apple's iPad demo videos and you'll see smiling fanboys typing with the iPad on their lap. The real experience? It's a little bit different. We've got our hands on an iPad, and here are our impressions.

While our US cousins already have their hands on Cupertino's latest touchscreen creation, Australians are still awaiting details of iPad pricing and release dates. Of course the grey market was always going to meet demand and iPads are already trickling into the country via international flights and express couriers. For around $100, FedEx can ship an iPad across the globe in three or four days.

Beautiful hardware, and a magnet for dust

When you first handle an iPad you're struck by how elegant it looks, the silver and black styling reminiscent of the original iPhone 2G. Early reports of the generous bezel created images of an awkward and unwieldy device, but the iPad feels perfectly balanced in either hand - solid but not heavy, large but not cumbersome.

Unfortunately it's a magnet for fingerprints and dust, although like the iPhone you don't really notice the smudges once you light up the bright, crisp 9.7-inch display and tilt the screen so it's facing you.

Before the dust started settling: the iPad is undeniably a thing of beauty, though as we soon discovered, that screen has some drawbacks

Out of the box - firing up the wonder tablet

Fire up the iPad and the first thing it does is ask for iTunes 9.1. Set is up straight forward, although strangely it insisted my MacBook had been previously synced with an iPad and asked if I wanted to restore from a previous backup (which was an iPhone backup). I declined, set up the iPad as a new device and everything went smoothly.

The iPad picked up my Australian iTunes account details and imported all my iPhone apps from my MacBook - even those purchased with my US iTunes account. None of the settings were imported.

The iPad even imported the apps that won't work such as sat-nav (the TomTom app is convinced it now resides on an iPod). iTunes now classifies three of my apps as "iPhone, iPod touch and iPad apps" - Planets, Kindle and Logmein Ignition. Large screen versions have been installed on the iPad and they look fantastic.

Apple battle: the 9.7in iPad dwarfs the iPhone

That display - yes it really is exquisite

As with the iPhone, the iPad's display is exquisite - making it hard not to fall in love with the device at first sight. Images and colours are deep and vibrant, plus the iPad's extra grunt under the bonnet makes menus and animations silky smooth.

When it comes to using the iPad you don't need to press hard, just gently caress the screen and it responds to your every touch. The interface is amazingly intuitive and engrossing to the point where you absent-mindedly find yourself trying to flick menus with your finger on your notebook and other non-touchscreen devices.

And the screen glare - it really is that bad

Unfortunately the iPad's Kryptonite is direct sunlight - get it outside on a bright day and even at full brightness you can barely see the screen for your own reflection (similar to the new LED-backlit MacBooks). The reflection is far worse than the reflection off my iPhone 3G.

Sunlight also shows up every little fingerprint on the iPad, making the device all but useless unless you constantly wipe off the screen. As such it's surprising Apple doesn't include a cloth as it does with some MacBooks. The terrible screen glare is a major blow to those who envisioned the iPad as the ultimate device on the go.

Shooting stars and animations

The iPad interface lets you double the size of iPhone apps, which is generally okay for images and games but rather clunky for text. Thankfully applications remember their zoom settings.

You don't need to press hard on the iPad screen. The interface is so responsive and engrossing we found ourselves accidentally swiping our laptop screen afterwards. Shown in the picture is Google Maps.

Developers have been quick to embrace the iPad format - for example the weather icons are now animated in the Australian Pocket Weather app, while shooting stars cross the night sky in the Kindle app. Such touches are indicative of the iPad user experience. After a while your fingertips become quite sensitive and it feels strange to type on a physical keyboard again.

The iPad's keyboard - surprisingly functional, but there's a problem

Dipping into the applications gives you the first taste of the iPad's keyboard - which naturally has more generous spacing between the keys than its iPhone equivalent. Apple's impressive auto-correct feature allows one-finger typists to reach impressive speeds, although the larger keyboard slows you down slightly because your finger has further to travel.

Switching to landscape mode offers a surprisingly functional experience for touch typists, although proficient iPhone typists will be annoyed that Apple has relocated a few keys such Return and Backspace.

Auto-correct will get a workout. Excellent for one finger typing, potentially awkward if you pretend it's a laptop.

Our biggest concern - typing two-handed gets a little...awkward

Mentioning the keyboard brings us to one of my biggest concerns about the iPad - Apple's claims regarding two-handed typing in landscape mode. Watch Apple's iPad demo videos and you'll see smiling fanboys typing with the iPad on their lap whilst twisted in all kinds of backbreaking positions - positions that you might get away with on your couch but not on the bus or in a cafe.

Sitting the iPad flat on your lap quickly becomes uncomfortable and is fraught with danger for both the iPad and your neck. Raising your knees improves the typing experience but also raises the chances of a sore back or, worse yet, your slippery iPad crashing to the floor.

I'd say forget about word processing, the iPad is far more practical for iPhone-style typing while writing quick emails. Apple sells a wireless keyboard for the iPad, but it's very impractical for a supposedly mobile device. The iPad is designed for consuming content, not creating it, and would be a disappointing notebook replacement.

It's tempting at this point to launch into a long list of the iPad's shortcomings. It lacks many features compared to a netbook of the same price, but that ground has already been well covered elsewhere. They're points worth thinking about, considering the iPad's price tag would buy you a decent netbook (although Steve Jobs would have you believe there's no such thing as a "decent" netbook).

Why it's more than a big iPod touch

What I will leave you with is a quick list of iPad features that caught my eye and may convince you the iPad is more than a big iPod touch (although personally I think the jury is still out on that one):

- bigger screen, allowing for more functionality in apps
- 802.11n compatibility
- orientation lock for when you're reclining in bed
- picture frame mode for when the iPad is at rest
- redesigned interfaces for native apps such as Mail
- access to the iBookstore (US-only at this stage, and worthy of its own review in the near future)

This could get addictive, and annoying on public transport. Playing Need for Speed Undercover on the iPad

Our initial impression - amazing, but hard to justify if you have an iPhone

So what's the verdict? If you'd never seen an iPhone before, the iPad would blow you away - sufficiently advanced that you might think it "magical". Unfortunately for Apple, if you own an iPhone or iPod touch it's actually harder to justify paying so much for what's little more than a bigger version of what you already have. The iPad is gorgeous, there's no argument about that, it just comes down to justifying what will be a $AU650+ price tag for a luxury device that probably won't meet a specific need or replace an existing gadget.

Thinking of the iPad as an eBook reader is probably the best strategy - although if you're a regular traveller with a passion for books then you'll probably be better served by the size, weight, price, battery life and display technology of a 6-inch Amazon Kindle. Some demographics might find it easy to justify the expense of an iPad - such as photographers wanting to showing off their photos, or students needing to carry around textbooks.

If you buy an iPad you'll probably love it, as long as you don't expect it to be a notebook replacement. Big is certainly beautiful, but Apple's eyecatching iPad isn't designed to be your one true love.

The Guidon: "Why we need to vote for Noy"

I came across this article as titled above on the online version of The Guidon, official student body organ of the Ateneo de Manila University. What is your take?

Raymond S. Ang
rang@theguidon.com

Reader, I’m going to ask you for a favor.

Okay, correction. I’m begging you for a favor.

On May 10, when you go to your nearest voting precint and place your vote for the Philippine presidency, I need you to vote for Benigno Simeon “Noynoy” Cojuangco Aquino, III.
I’m going to be honest. I have never been a big supporter of the Noynoy campaign. It troubles me that two months before the elections, his birthright is still his only defining trait. It bothers me that after years in both the House of Representatives and the Senate, he never really accomplished anything. On top of having a near inscrutable (read: essentially non-existent) platform, his stand on some key issues are questionable. And on top of all that, he isn’t even the most charismatic living member of his nuclear family (that distinction goes to his larger-than-life sister Kris, of course).

I’m not asking you to vote for Noynoy because I think he’s the best, most qualified candidate. He really isn’t, not by a long shot. In my opinion, it’s Gilbert Teodoro, with maybe Dick Gordon in second place. I have a lot of friends with a lot of opinions and while we never seem to agree on who the best candidate is, I think we all agree that objectively speaking, it’s just not Noynoy Aquino.

But the thing is, I’m voting for him anyway. Why am I asking you to vote for Noynoy? I’m asking you to vote for him because of the alternative.

At this point, it’s safe to say that Gordon, Teodoro, the always ineffable Erap Estrada, campaign spitfire Jamby Madrigal, and any other presidentiable are all essentially saling pusa candidates. 2010 has long revealed itself to be a two-man race, a race that some say pits “Good” versus “Evil,” a race between Manny Villar and Noynoy Aquino.

Wherever your non-Villar loyalties lie, you need to vote for Noynoy because a vote for Gordon, Teodoro, Madrigal, and even Estrada (if you’re inclined to do so), is a vote for Villar. If you find yourself seriously considering voting for Teodoro, if you find yourself succumbing to Madrigal’s tenacity, just remember: You are voting for Manny Villar. You are voting for the man whose big philosophical question is whether or not we’ve taken a bath in a sea of trash. You are voting for a man who repeatedly refused to show up at the Senate and face the C5 allegations. You want transparency? You want honestly? Don’t vote for Villar.

For all his weaknesses, for all his perceived incompetencies, a Noynoy victory at least affords this country some dignity. It at least gives us a man with good intentions, someone who actually seems to want this country to thrive. If his being the son of Ninoy and Cory gives us anything, it’s the assurance that he was brought up well, with morals intact.

On my penultimate column for The GUIDON, allow me some self-indulgence. May 4 is my twenty-second birthday. By May 4, I will have undergone Cha-Cha rallies, the Estrada Impeachment trials, EDSA II, EDSA III, “Hello, Garci,” GMA, GMA, and more GMA. Not once have I ever thought of leaving this country despite all this. I always rationalized them as phases our country has to go through and someday, a good leader will lead us out of the grave we’ve dug ourselves into.

If Villar wins, that just might be the final straw, the end of all hope. A Villar win says we never learn. A Villar win says we are hopeless.

So on May 10, we need to vote for our country. We need to vote for Noynoy Aquino.