I am wrapping up a two week stay-cation, during which I have tried working on the iPad almost exclusively. While I have run into some issues that I hope will be resolved in future operating system updates, in general it has been an incredibly positive experience.
Every day, after dropping my son off at Miami Dade College, I have gone to McDonalds for my breakfast. I love the parfait, and it is a fairly healthy and inexpensive item on their otherwise death inducing menu. But that is for another message. All McDonalds stores now have free wifi, so I take out the iPad and do email for an hour or two, while listening to soothing new age music on my headset. Very relaxing. I adapt to new technology fairly quickly, so the on-screen keyboard has been a pleasure to use. I actually can touch type on it. It is a bit tiring since I have to hold my hand above the keys, the way I was taught in typing class years ago, but not the way I actually rest my hands on the keys of a keyboard. I make mistakes, but they are realized almost immediately, so I can correct them, or the iPad corrects them for me using Apple's excellent predictive typing technology that I have grown to depend on in the iPhone.
ISSUES
The lack of windows is a bother at times. When I am writing an email and have to check a web site for the exact wording on a link, I have to save the draft message in Mail, open the browser and check the wording, then go back to mail and open the draft. Slows me down a bit compared to having both the message and the browser window open on the display on my main computer. Slows me down a bit, but isn't that big of a deal.
There is no easy way to attach documents to an email message. That is, I cannot work on the message and then add a document. I can work on a document in an application on the iPad and email the document to someone, so there are work arounds, but they all feel like major detours compared to the simplicity of attaching a document to a message on my desktop computer.
There is no way to access the file system. There are no folders. You can't move files around. You can't even see files unless the application let's you, and then you can only see files that are "owned" by that application. You can email a document, and add text to the email, but if you reply to an email message and want to attach a file, you are out of luck without some serious gyrations.
I have Pages, Numbers and Keynote, the Apple iWork office suite on the iPad, so I can work with Word, Powerpoint, and Excel files. If documents are sent to me via email, I can open the attachments in the office apps and work on them, modify them, and return my copy via email. But the transformation done to read them on the iPad loses a LOT of features, like change tracking, some formatting, macros in Excel, and more. You experience that loss whether you are coming from iWork documents on the Mac or Office documents on a PC. Updates to the iWork suite on the iPad will reduce this issue over time, but for now it can be a real problem.
Getting a file from my desktop computer onto the iPad is confusing, at best. The easiest process for me seems to be either using Dropbox, which has a great iPad app, or emailing the files to myself and then opening the email attachments on the iPad. Some files can be synced with iTunes. Some files can be dragged onto the iPad when it is docked to iTunes. Some programs offer other options. But i am still struggling with this. I write down what I have done each time so I have some hope of doing it again a week later.
NONISSUES
I have only run into two web sites where the lack of Flash on the iPad was a problem. That is probably because the iPhone is now three years old and most sites that use Flash have created alternatives for Safari on an iPhone or, now, iPad. Anyway, this has not been a big problem for me.
There are times that I have to do something on my desktop computer. I can do that on the iPad, although slowly, using LogMeIn. This is a free service that you run on your computers, i have it running on both my Mac and my PC. With a $30 app on the iPad I can access and control either computer from anywhere on the Internet. This has made it possible to do somethings, like send a file that is on my desktop to someone, that I couldn't have done otherwise. As long as the computers keep running, I am fine. If they shut down or restart, I can't get back in without physically entering my password at the keyboard. But I have not run into that yet.
SURPRISING POSITIVES
Some of the apps on the iPad are so good it is scary. I was trying to estimate the cost of attending some conferences and needed airfare data. The Kayak application made the process a pleasure. Even if I was sitting at my computer, I think I would use this iPad app in the future over the Kayak browser add on or web site.
The iPad calendar is wonderful. I have my UM Outlook/Exchange calendar together with my personal Google calendar and a slew of IAC calendars all visible and color coded on a single unified calendar. When someone schedules a meeting with my through Outlook, I am notified on the iPad, if it connected to the Internet, so I can go to my calendar, automatically, and see how that day looks, before accepting or rejecting the request.
Mail is great. I have my UM Outlook/Exchange calendar with push notifications of new email. I also have my personal gmail account and two other accounts I need to check on occasion. This is not a unified inbox, so I still have to check each account individually on the iPad, but that is scheduled to be corrected in the next operating system update, due out this summer.
I have the entire season of Law and Order: SVU on my iPad. I was watching these on my bus ride to and from work. (If you want to talk about using public transportation to/from UM, let me know. I get a monthly pass with a parking tag at a reduced rate through UM and love my personal time riding back and forth. Takes me 15 or 20 minutes longer than driving but reduces my gas and auto costs while at the same time letting me relax instead of driving. Back to the iPad comments...) During my stay-cation I decided to watch the end of the season. It was great. I could do it anywhere. And i bought the iPhone composite audio/video cable, which allows me to watch the videos on our TV at home. Just plug in the yellow, red and white cables from the iPhone/iPad cable, change the input on the TV to video, and play the show on the iPad. Great picture and sound. Better quality than out TiVo, I think.
CONCLUSIOIN
So the iPad is now with me all the time. When I travel, it will be all I take with me in the future. I even found a small man-purse that holds it, with a little work, so I only have one thing to carry my sunglasses, keys, checkbook, pens, ID card, Metro transit card, and my iPad. You can see the bag on the http://bit.ly/bZO3Hz web page. It cost $20 at Target. It may not work for everyone, since there is NO padding for the iPad, but with the Apple iPad case the edges are protected nicely so I am happy. I put the bottom of the iPad onto the back compartment and then pull the top corners of the bag over the top corners of the iPad. Perfect fit. Sort of like putting a fitted sheet onto a bed. If you see me with that bag, you can know that I have my iPad and have hours and hours of reading, entertainment, and information at my finger tips. An iPad is NOT a computer. It IS an incredible magic slate.
Again, anyone who is interested in seeing mine is welcome to set up an appointment. I will be back at my desk on Monday.
Bill Vilberg - bill.vilberg@miami.edu, 786-250-2255
