After a day (or three) of the iPad.
Post created Tuesday, April 6th, 2010 by Landon.
Now that the majority of the newness is wearing off from the iPad purchases, what do we know about it that we didn’t before?
Yes, it’s an oversized iPod touch. Yes, it’s running iPhone OS, and yes, you still can’t multitask (yet).
The promise of what the iPad buzz gave us was a sense that great new things would be possible that weren’t before. And after playing with the iPad for the better part of 4 days, I have to say: It will probably never leave my side.
It could just be buyers remorse fueling the fire of use, that’s true. But I don’t think that’s it. I’d get bored too easily after using it for 10 or 15 minutes if it were buyers remorse.
It could be that it’s a new gadget, and like any geek worth the letters I’ve been seeing what sort of limits are possible, but I’d still get bored of it after finding out I’ve hit that wall.
I really do believe that the iPad has turned a corner as far as mobile computing goes. Even saying that it redefines the way that people (who can afford such a thing) will use consuming electronics doesn’t seem that far of a stretch.
The keyboard is next to useless due to it not being a faithful qwerty reproduction and being a touchscreen you hold with two hands, suffers from a myriad of user experience problems, it’s still better than buying a netbook by a few orders of magnitude, because it solves what I call the holy trinity of mobile computing.
Tenant #1: Be Cool – This is the most important tenant of a mobile gadget. Thou Shalt Be Cool. Netbooks, no matter how you slice them, are not cool. Tablet computing up until this point simply didn’t have the much needed coolness factor to succeed- everything you bought was simply a convertible or included a way to function as a normal laptop. That’s not what the cool crowd wanted. No matter how you slice it, a stylus is not cool. Say what you want about the ergonomics of the iPad- playing Plants vs Zombies while sitting in bed watching TV felt like something magic was happening before my very eyes. No controller necessary, no human-machine interface required. Simply touch, and go.
Tenant #2: Be Affordable – Thou Shalt Not Break Thine Bank. Netbooks range from $200 to $500, depending on your manufacturer of choice and what sort of warranty or internet service that comes with it. That’s within the bottom rung of the iPad range. I hate that there is such a thing as an “Apple Tax”, but any early adopter will pay a premium to see the latest and greatest. The iPad is no exception to this. Paying $650 for a 32GB iPad that can do all of my digital entertainment needs (streaming video, music, movies, light gaming, contacts, email, browsing) seems ludicrous when you break down what you’re actually buying, but once you’ve spent any amount of time with an iPad – serious time, mind you – doing things like business email, talking with clients or customers, or keeping track of your schedule, things become clear that this really does change how you perceive the concept of a mobile computer. More on that in a minute.
Tenant #3 – Thou Shalt Not Shit Thine Bed – A lot of people complain about the ‘walled garden’ of the apple app store. I tend to agree with them. I think it’s silly that in an age of open information and the free exchange of ideas that a company can be so brutal and dictator-ish on an issue like ‘approved applications’, but you have to admit- the iPhone is a pretty phenomenal success precisely because of this walled garden effect. The level of quality on the applications released for the iPhone OS platform have staggering levels of polish. Because of these levels of polish required to be approved and subsequently purchased en masse by hordes of people clamoring to feel more informed, more efficient, and more connected to the world around them, apps that make farting noises just seemed to miss the point about what the device is capable of, and that walled garden at least required that the farting apps be really entertaining to be approved.
Now that you have a good idea of what the holy trinity of mobile computing is about (trademark noss media 2010 et cetera), what does this mean for the average consumer?
I think it means that the size difference will require that the notifications that become cursory glances on the imperfect solutions currently available- phone / computer hybrid Frankensteins that complain to you at the most inopportune or unwanted times, will slowly be phased out. It’s not as though they will not continue to be marketed to us in the current style, or that the number of people clamoring for the latest apple gadget will suddenly feel a hatred for what I like to call “mixed-use devices”, but they will simply stop being so attached to them.
Take for example, the size of the average notification on an average smartphone. You are lucky to get 15×15 pixels. Why is that? Why would something that is trying to tell you that important information is now available for your consumption by giving you what amounts to a freckle on the face of your device? Aren’t notifications supposed to be big, bold, and, well, notifying-y? I don’t like how the iPhone handles notifications (popups are never the answer, damn it!), Blackberries can’t do it and neither does android or the latest Palm me-too devices. What the iPad (will eventually) get right, is keeping those notifications in check, out of mind, until you’re ready to process them.
Phones have always been for making calls- but those became co-opted as mobile internet accessors when smartphones came around. Nowadays, people understand that their phone will not be ‘just a phone’ anymore. it will be the entire internet (yes, all of it) available to you wherever you happen to get service. (New York and San Fransisco notwithstanding)
Think about what a bummer that is. From a geek’s perspective, a phone that does everything is a comic book fantasy that serves as batman’s belt to your inner child. The only problem with that scenario is that it’s everything, including a phone, but not a phone that can do everything.
The fundamental shift that I am predicting the iPad will bring about is making the phone more about personal communications, and less about being everything-and-also-a-phone. It will reduce the number of people who simply wish their phone to be a phone- a way to keep in touch with others, through whatever that happens to mean at the time (Social networks, email, text, IM, what have you), while the purpose built device can do the heavy lifting of entertaining us, keeping us informed about the world, and consuming information as we now do on our phones.
The stealth victory then, for all geeks and normal consumers of the world out there, is that you no longer need to buy a netbook with silly technical specifications and requirements and software licenses to experience nerdvana- just pick up the nearest slate, and get to work. Windows (Or even MacOSX, to an extent) isn’t necessary anymore to be an online citizen- with as much as the world is now moving toward the web, what’s the point of having a multitasking powerhouse that consumes too much battery life, too much effort to keep stable and up to date, and doesn’t make your life easier?
So that’s it. The iPad is a game changer, but only if you approach it with the mindset of wanting to change the game of mobile computing as it currently stands. I’m tired of seeing everyone walking around looking at their phones. Take a minute to sit down, grab your slate, and enjoy yourself. Your phone will thank you. And so will everyone else.
The internet isn’t meant to be viewed on 320×160 pixels. And now, it won’t have to be.
About: Landon
Landon is the guy behind the scenes at noss media- he founded the company in 2009. He's the Interaction Designer and Product Evangelist.
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