I too have thoughts on the iPad
I’ve given myself some time to mull over our latest gift from benevolent leader and arrived at this: bad name, exciting thesis, and nascent execution.
I’m happiest for Cassie, as come June she’ll have a shiny new iPad that fulfills her every need as a simple and inexpensive internet machine. I don’t feel like the iPad in its current form is compelling enough to steal me away from my Air, but its premise really excites me. Neven nails exactly why this is exciting, particularly from a UI/UX perspective:
And a bright light did shine upon my liberated face and a voice did whisper a thunder: You’re free. Free of pointless preferences and finger-baiting adjustments.
As Andy puts it, the iPad is an administrivia-removal device.
The iPad is to interface design what a magazine is to print design: a consistent, constrained, and explorable medium. That’s a refreshing break from designing UX around a multitude of permutations and preferences. Moreover, this freedom encourages you to re-imagine experiences from the ground up (as Apple has done with most of their core apps). Exciting times indeed.
Many people (most notably the Categorical Apple Denouncement Brigade™) are ready to call the iPad a flop due to missing bullet points, but I’m with Fraser Speirs: “What you’re seeing in the industry’s reaction to the iPad is nothing less than future shock.” The iPad’s positioning is decidedly forward, and in a culture trained to value malleability over elegance I can understand the backlash. It’ll be interesting to see how opinions maintain when people have the device in-hand.
I do have some beef with the interface—most notably the lock and home screens. The unimaginative use of space feels like an afterthought, and that strikes me as odd for something so prominent. I’m sure Apple will iterate this in future releases, but it’s clearly an area of deficiency in the current version. Also I’m not sold on the execution of the keyboard, which I imagine will be pretty clunky in portrait mode. I’ll wait until I play around with the it before I pass judgement, but I can’t picture it being very satisfying to use.
All in all the iPad is an intriguing first step into uncharted waters, and I can’t wait to check it out.
