{"id":2129,"date":"2010-10-19T13:31:51","date_gmt":"2010-10-19T13:31:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.markwilson.co.uk\/blog\/?p=2129"},"modified":"2014-01-06T21:39:50","modified_gmt":"2014-01-06T21:39:50","slug":"after-3-months-with-my-ipad-was-it-still-a-good-purchase","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.markwilson.co.uk\/blog\/2010\/10\/after-3-months-with-my-ipad-was-it-still-a-good-purchase.htm","title":{"rendered":"After 3 months with my iPad, was it still a good purchase?"},"content":{"rendered":"

After several weeks of procrastination, I recently bought myself an iPad. After my initial scepticism, seeing others (like Jon Honeyball<\/a>) using theirs convinced me that it would a good purchase, and I soon found out that I wasn’t alone in the world of Microsoft-focused iPad users – Mary Jo Foley bought one<\/a> around the same time, as did ex-Microsoftie Sharon Richardson<\/a> and I know at least one person at Microsoft who has joined the fold. As my third monthly bill for mobile broadband access is due soon, it’s prompted me to finish writing this post about my experiences as an iPad user…<\/p>\n

So, after a few months’ use, how has it been? What have I found? Where does it excel? And what are the iPad’s failings? Most importantly, was this a worthwhile purchase, or just another gadget to add to the pile of redundant technology in a few months’ time?<\/p>\n

Form factor<\/h3>\n

One of my original thoughts was that I’d find it the iPad too large to carry around. As it happens, that hasn’t been an issue – I’ve been an iPhone user for some time and had started to find the screen size a real limitation but, the iPad is just large enough to be useful but still small enough to be portable. Indeed, the rumoured 7″ iPad (and competing devices like the Samsung Galaxy Tab) may be too small for people with fat fingers like mine, whilst I can type pretty well on the on-screen keyboard for the 10″ iPad (although I do also have an Apple Bluetooth keyboard to use if I prefer). As for portability, I’m always conscious that the iPad is an attractive item for a would-be thief, consequently I find myself using a “man bag” more than I used to… but I no longer need to carry a netbook, or a second laptop, for personal use when I’m at work.<\/p>\n

Content creation<\/h3>\n

The next surprise was how I use the iPad – Jason Hiner thinks that the iPad is only good for reading\/viewing and multitouch integration<\/a> – I disagree!<\/p>\n

Whilst I can Jason’s point, it’s actually turned out to be a far more useful device than that. Whereas my netbook was<\/em><\/a> very much a content consumption device, I can<\/em> create content on the iPad – it’s not suitable for everything but the nature of iOS applications means that there are scenarios when content creation is perfectly possible – indeed, I’m typing this post inside the WordPress app (and iA Writer is a perfect example of an app that’s designed to simplify writing on an iPad). Perhaps the biggest drawback when creating new content is the lack of multitasking, but more on that later…<\/p>\n

Family friendly<\/h3>\n

Let’s face it, I’m a geek who loves his gadgets, but I seriously hadn’t expected the iPad to be such a hit with the family. My two young sons love the touchscreen (which seems to be a very natural experience for them, compared with a mouse) and casual gaming on the iPad is something we all enjoy (whether it’s Flight Control, Harbor Master, or an iPhone version of Battleships). Then, there’s the built-in Photos app which, even though it’s a bit limited (it would be nice if I could at least rate my images), has proven itself as a great tool for sharing pictures with friends and family after a day out – somehow, passing a tablet around and swiping back\/forth seems very simple and surprisingly non-geek. Indeed, for my 5 year-old son, who’s just developing an interest in photography, being able to see what his pictures and videos look like on the screen has been a huge source of delight.<\/p>\n

Ready for work?<\/h3>\n

I recently wrote a paper for Fujitsu on the impact of tablet computing on desktop managed service.\u00a0 I’d love to link to it here but, for the time being at least, its an internal document; however I really do think that the iPad has potential as a business device.\u00a0 There may be issues to overcome around security, but as enterprises look to deliver business IT services to a multitude of devices (possibly even consumer-owned devices) the iPad is a real contender.\u00a0 For example, I can connect to a VDI or a hosted virtual server environment using one of a number of solutions (for example, Citrix Receiver, or even a simple RDP or SSH client) but the limiting factor is not the iPad, but the target Windows system’s unsuitability for touch (I’m writing another post on that subject but, trust me, even with Windows 7’s touch capabilities, the user interface elements are too small for use without a stylus – as Mark Sumimoto explains, the issue is Windows recording of touch as a single point, rather than a circular area<\/a>).<\/p>\n

What’s hot?<\/h3>\n

Here’s what I love about my iPad:<\/p>\n