The powers that be has bestowed upon me an iPad2. I had previously lambasted the lack of use cases; for such intermediate devices that includes, well, all tablets. As luck may have it, I gained possession of a Samsung Galaxy Tab, and an iPad2 a couple of weeks ago.
The growth of tablet devices continues and I continue to ask my tablet wielding acquaintances what they use it for. Invariably, they use an iPad (whichever) and they use it for reading, games, note taking, email and web surfing. That does encompasses over 95% of my uses. My hesitation remains with the in-between nature of the device. I love big screens and mobility at the same time.
For the two weeks I had the iPad, I also had the chance to commute to work in a public transport, attended several conferences where the laptop is not that convenient, and buzzed between work areas. Basically, the stars all aligned to test out the iPad in its waters, where whatever limited mobility it has mixes well with the limited screen real estate and really limited keyboard.
To save you from reading further, I am not entirely pleased.
Firstly, being a keybaord person doesn't help. I'm too lazy even to reach for the mouse most of the time so VIM remained my favourite editor. The position of the huge trackpad on the MBP is godsent and I usually use my thumb for moving the cursor. With the iPad keyboard occupying half the screen without the tactile feedback of a real full sized keyboard, I estimate I am typing at a fifth my maximum possible speed.
If there is anything I really appreciate about the iPad2, its the extensive battery life. In comparison, Galaxy Tab's battery life is abysmal, requiring recharging on a daily basis. Sure, the latter device is half the weight and only 2" smaller but even then, I hardly found any use for it.
In conferences and meetings, I tried to take notes to no avail. The crippling feature was the keyboard. Despite perhaps having one of the best on-screen keyboard, the keyboard still doesn't click with me. In all cases, I eventually gave up in frustration and had to whip out my laptop. On my Android device, I use Swype and Swiftkey that are both easy to operate with one hand, and the predictive text, especially Swiftkey's, makes text entry so painless. If the iPad could just dedicate a tiny corner of the screen to either of these keyboards and leave the rest of the screen for display, I would be a happy camper. As it stands today, half the screen in landscape mode or a quarter the screen in portrait, and without predictive text simply doesn't cut it for me.
That relegates the iPad to reading, gaming, web surfing and tiny email.
The iPad generally works well for web surfing except the known lack of flash support. The screen is large enough and device is plenty fast. Gaming works well too and I spent hours on Zombie Highway.
On my train ride to work, the iPad proved a little too big. The iPad needs to fit into whatever space is available in the sardine can. This makes any activities requiring any but the simplest interaction with the device a challenge. With gaming and web surfing out, the device is only good for reading. Even that means contorting my body in the least comfortable way although I'd imagine how much better this would be if I am seated. But then, if I had a seat, the laptop is not too unwieldy either. Still, I manage to get quite a bit of reading done. The discomfort (of body) proved less detrimental to reading speed than the much smaller screen of my Nexus One. Under the same space constraint, the 7" Galaxy Tab proved the best compromise. Of course, for longer journey, the iPad will eventually emerge the winner since the reshuffling of people in extended journeys provides a chance to optimise body-tablet placement.
The one place I found the iPad exude the greatest strength is, uninspiringly, the loo and specifically on Saturday mornings. I love reading the Economist on the iPad mainly because the Economist App downloads all the articles so flipping through them is fast, faster than reading it on my laptop. I'd love not holding the iPad but that will be a small compromise compared to holding my 15" MBP. So I spend my saturday morning loo sessions flipping through at least 3-4 articles. Weekday mornings are too rushed for the luxury of reading, and weekend afternoons are just too warm for enjoying the experience.
For a lifestyle device, I can start to appreciate how the iPad may work. It reminds me a lot of the now demised Palm devices which does a couple of things really well. The Palm eventually gave way to more powerful devices that provided better convenience by integrating Palm's organising ability with the mobile phone.
The iPad (or tablets in general) will not replace my laptop, at least not in its current iteration or perhaps even the next few. There is a constant tug of war between mobility and function and I am still leaning towards a mobile phone and laptop for the best of both. I will always have my mobile phone with me so the incremental function the iPad provides does not justify bringing it around. All the time I had the iPad 2, I still lugged my 15" mbp around. It was the same with the Samsung Galaxy Tab.
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