My employer purchased a couple of the new Apple iPads for testing. I got to use it as my own for the better part of a week. Here are my thoughts on the device.

Overall Experience

Overall, it is really nice. It is really solid to hold, it’s well built. The glossy screen is a pleasure to interact with. My children took to it immediately. Even my Mom, who is a sworn computer atheist and who has never had an email address, sat down and used it for 20 minutes. While I’m not convinced that we’ve seen the future of computing, I think we’re getting a very good peek.

The first day I had it I didn’t have a keyboard to go with it. After experimenting with iPad virtual keyboard I’m still not sure how I feel about it. I’ve owned an iPhone since November 2007 and, after the initial learning curve, I’ve come to love it’s virtual keyboard. I’m not there yet with the iPad. Perhaps with time and patience I could get there, but who knows.

There is one thing I am sure of—I wish the iPad virtual keyboard gave feedback on what you typed. The iPhone’s virtual keyboard pops up an enlarged version of the key you are typing so you can see what you just covered with your finger. The iPad keyboard doesn’t provide that affordance and I miss it. If it did that, maybe it would be easier for me to adopt. Ironically, if you use an iPhone app on an iPad and it requires typing, you get the little iPhone keyboard complete with Pop-up Keys.

The second day I had the iPad, my boss dropped off a docking keyboard to try. Then the fun began! I enjoyed using my fingers to navigate around and then using the keyboard to type. My hand kept trying to find a mouse after I finished typing. I also kept trying to use the keyboard to command+tab my way between open applications. Old habits die hard. The keyboard has some handy iPad specific keys—home, sleep, and slideshow mode (where it shows pictures from your photo albums on screen).

Of course, being able to type without being able to print is a bit of a pain. Especially since the version of Pages on my desktop machine isn’t compatible with the Pages on the iPad—I would have to upgrade my desktop software. Google’s Cloud Printing might solve this one day. Or Apple’s own wi-fi solution could fill the gap. By they way, laying it face down on a copier doesn’t work either—I can’t explain why but the paper just comes out black! In any case, it would be nice to print from the device without having to transfer documents back to the desktop. One good note: there is no save button, it’s always automatically saved!

Applications

Keynote was a little bit different experience. Because Keynote is a landscape only app, I couldn’t use the docking keyboard with it. After going through the built-in tutorial, I was able to make a decent presentation. I didn’t really enjoy it but who likes making presentation slides? The iPad did connect quickly and easily to a projector. Unfortunately, the projected image isn’t mirrored on the iPad screen. Usually a speaker faces the audience but that would be impossible with this arrangement.

iBooks. It works. Bookmarking, last place saved, shelves, store—all very nice. Highlighting is good. Would be nice if you could add notes. My complaint is that I can’t sync the book and last read location with my iPhone or other device. I understand this is coming but Amazon can already do this. I think the iPad beats Amazon’s Kindle but not Amazon’s Kindle software.

Video is incredibly enjoyable. Crisp, bright and fast. Landscape mode feels like the best mobile movie watching device ever. Great for road trips with the kids—if you can get the movie you want. I’m hoping Hulu produces an iPad app. Great opportunity for other film content producers to market their materials.

Like video, the audio experience makes this feel like a media enjoyment device. Flicking through albums is a delight. The audio is good quality. I was unable to connect anything except iPhone headphones to the device. But I don’t know much about audio connectors or audio in general for that matter.

The maps are amazingly fast and responsive. Pinching and zooming moved quickly and naturally. It was very impressive. With GPS this would be the most amazing GPS device ever.

Skype. Flawless. Works as advertised. Apparently Apple in-ear buds that include a mic are compatible with the iPad.

Labyrinth Lite. Really fun game and rich graphics and interaction. Again, this game makes it feel like this device is built for entertainment.

Battery life is incredible! This device really could replace a laptop when traveling—especially with a bluetooth or docking keyboard and Apple case. Much lighter, more flexible.

Conclusions

I believe Steve Jobs has given us a peek at the future of computing. This device leaves some major problems unsolved but opens the door to great possibilities. With improvements to input interaction, book syncing and printing options this device could replace a large percentage of the desktop and laptop machines around the world.