Living With iPad – Part 2: First Week

In part 1, I explained my initial reactions on my first night of iPad ownership and after a week of use, there isn’t a time I pick it up and do not discover something new about it. The most impressive aspect to the iPad is how little I actually notice it, yet use it all the time.

Even something as simple as picking up the iPad feels like Apple had the user in mind with. The slight curved back gives the fingers just enough space to get around the device and with a simple rock, it is in the hand. I know this may seem like a minute detail, but it is these touches that separate apple from all other designers.

The apps are where the iPad comes alive and so far, there have been three apps that really stood out among the crowd. First, because I am an avid user of Google Reader and the actual web app has just too many small buttons to work well on a touch screen, I began to search around for an app frontend. After trying few out, the hands down winner is NetNewsWire. Sitting outside on the steps or in the couch with a cup of tea reading my blog subscriptions is close to perfection.

Second, I have nothing but positive things to say about ABC’s player app. The iPad screen is so crisp and compared to my iPhone screen, seems massive when watching videos.  I used this app to catch up on LOST before the finale and watching episodes cozy in bed is a great experience. Add netflix, youtube, and all the iTunes content to this and I think it is pretty safe to say the portable DVD player’s days are over.

The final app that I have been spending most of my time in is Plants VS Zombies HD.  While I am not the biggest fan of how they make users who bought this game on the iPhone for $2.99 have to pay another $9.99 for a nearly identical game with higher resolution graphics, this game is worth triple that in the amount of playability it returns from the purchase. Having played Plants VS Zombies on iPhone and Mac, I think the large touchscreen of the iPad is the format this game was born to play in.

Plants VS Zombies is the perfect example of why those who put down the iPad as just a large iPhone or a stunted laptop just don’t see the bigger picture. While this game seemed cramped on the iPhone, the bigger screen of the iPad allows for great visibility and accuracy in placing the plants. Additionally, for a fast paced game like this, I notice I end up using two or three fingers at a time to control, this is speed that a mouse can never offer.

There has been a lot of talk and debate over how the iPad will change the print industry, but I think it will make an equal dent in gaming. Thinking of a Starcraft with touch controls makes me drool.

This brings up what I feel is the weirdest moment I have had with technology in a long time.  I went back to my iMac for the first time after a full day of using the iPad and for a few moments, I was really awkward with the mouse. It just didn’t feel right. I am a graphic designer and gamer, I usually can fly with a mouse, but having to transition from the completely natural control of just pointing/touching, to having my brain disconnect the pointer from my hand again, it made the old method feel so clunky. For me, it is hard to imagine the mouse having much life left.

I have yet to really take the iPad out into the world yet, aside from using it on my step (as I said before). This is because I have that early adopter fear where I see Kindles and iPhones everywhere, I have yet to see another iPad out and about and am afraid of having someone take it or knock into me, dropping it if I am using it in the subway or train. This fear would be dissipated if I had a case.  Since I did not hear great things about the official Apple case, I am taking another route… but that is for next time.