Many days have passed since the iPad was launched, one of the most talked about electronic novelties in recent months. I have not wanted to talk about it until I have read the opinion of as many people and blog as I can. And I have very conflicting opinions about the iPad (which is NOT a tablet).
For starters, the iPad is not nearly what I expected. I thought it would be a laptop with a touch screen and with Mac OS X very adapted to multi-touch gestures. Something like what you can see in the photo above.
Interface and OS:
Apple chose to create a "Large iPod" with Mac OS X Mobile, no camera, 4: 3 screen and that looks similar to digital photo frames. However, the new interface of the Apple App has an enviable interface for the rest of the OS (on the other hand, evolution is logical) and that is Mail, Calendar, Agenda ... I have loved the new way of seeing it and I think I should transfer it, in some way, to the iPhone and iPod. I love YouTube, iTunes has a very good adaptation and Full Screen Safari must be very comfortable.
However, we do not have Multitasking, Safari Downloads (!!!!!) and most importantly Finder. One of the most representative symbols of Apple (apart from the apple) is Finder, in all the Software for Apple there is that square and smiling "face" that, although it has not evolved much, is a simple, intuitive file manager and search engine and fast (not like other windows of certain operating systems). Jobs insists on not including Finder to be able to navigate through the folders (those that they allow us) and to be able to download from Safari, something that made sense on the iPhone and that, without a doubt, is essential on the iPad if Steve wanted to place it between the iPhone and a Mac (something crazy).
Also, Apple has adapted the iPhone OS too little to the iPad. The unlock screen is too "isolated", the home screen looks like a desert. Too much spacing between the icons, and you have two options: put more (which can feel "cramped") or make them larger (slightly). Remember that they can have 4 × 4 or 5 × 4 horizontally and up to 6 (I think I remember) in the Dock.
Another thing that I don't understand about Apple is that every time I want to have a video on my iPhone (or on the iPad) it is having to convert the video when the Apple page says that it accepts the .mov (because I can't put neither a video in this format).
Design:
Unibody aluminum (what we expected), black frame and 4: 3 (of course nobody is adapting their videos to 16: 9 because Apple has decided to continue with the format of the future, 4: 3). The already, much talked about black frame is too "fat" but necessary to be able to hold the iPad without touching the screen and interrupting our tasks. What happens is that having the 4.3 format gives, even more feeling that the frame is fatter and that it looks like a digital photo frame (4: 3, BY GOD !!).
Hardware:
It can be summarized as:
- A4, the INCREDIBLE Apple processor, fast, low-power and with integrated GPU (INCREDIBLE, really and it is only the beginning of a very promising future of Apple chips for mobile devices, “Everything stays at home”).
- Very good screen (with wide viewing angle) and multi-touch but uncomfortable for reading books (Apple could have used the new screens that are a mix between laptop screen and electronic ink).
- Battery: 10 h with full use and one month on StandBy. Everything I say is little.
- Bluetooth: COMPATIBLE WITH THE BLUETOOTH KEYBOARD (thank goodness because the keyboard dock…)
Innovation:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjovunmqUXE&feature=player_embedded
The innovation with this new devices (they remove the battery and the A4) is totally nil. Nothing new, improved and adapted interface but nothing surprising. This was seen at the conference, no applause except when teaching it for the first time and showing the iWork, not even in guy who always always says "UHHHH !!!" (a bit tiresome). Steve noticed, he was expecting applause and received practically nothing. When iWork was unveiled, Phil Schiller was looking forward to applause.
Images were also seen of Steve leaving the Yerba Buena venue somewhat crestfallen, unlike when he left the venue after presenting the iPhone. We all expected much more and that is something that Jobs noticed on stage.
iWork:
The iWork was the one that caused the greatest surprise. Very well adapted and great, the strong point of the iPad. BUT it is not free, it costs $ 10 each App and $ 30 all (too much).
Conclusion:
It is not the device that I expected, I was very willing to buy it until I saw it and we have "inflated" a lot the Tablet Mac that turned out to be an iPad (a large iPod). If Apple adds Multitasking, Finder and downloads from Safari I would be willing to buy it (even if it has 4: 3 and iPhone OS). And it is that $ 499 attracts a lot of attention.
Let's hope that Apple does not rely so much on its mobile OS and improves it a lot, although the iPad with Jailbreak has to be a hoot.
PS: This is not, far from it, the best thing Steve has done and if he says it is… bad we go…