Notes on the iPad

These are some very rough notes that I wrote to prepare for an interview on Radio New Zealand yesterday. I wrote the note, and am posting this from, the iPad.

This morning I bought six ipads into New Zealand – they are all allocated sorry. And yes – I did pay GST on them.

Overall Vibe
1: at the stores there was constant stream of purchasers, queues were small and fast
2: everyone wants to play with it. It is a beautiful product
3: We are all still working out what it is for

Ebooks
1: the ipad is a better kindle than kindle for short reads, out of the sun.
2: in fact better than anything in Nz as kindle not even here yet..
3: though neither is iPad

Apps
1: apps so far are stunning. Pages, numbers, keynote, flight control HD. All $10
2: news nytimes, BBC stunning, but little content. The future is to pay for it
3: pricing is still an issue for mags and newspapers. Not realistic yet – after all we are no longer delivering printed paper to the home

Other uses
1: Movies – clean the screen first but otherwise wonderful with headphones
2: games – wonderful device, going to be great. Flight control is beautiful
3: work – not so great for complex tasks, good for single documents, no references, but early days

Feel
1: Sits on then lap, knee, table. Solid feel, not as light as kindle, robust, high quality.
2: battery slow to charge but seems to last well
3: typing is easy – horizontal or vertical

NZ
1: not in Nz yet, not sure when
2: some iPad apps on nz iTunes, but not many and no apple ones, kindle?
3: iPad AppStore fails unless you use the usa store.. Need usa credit card or lots of gift cards in usd

Adoption
1: Geeks and early adopters have it now (in the USA). Security in San Francisco International airport said they had seen a content steam of them. (6 was a record though)
2: Next step is to see new applications doing new things
3: After that the next wave of adopters, new product, OS

Overall/future
1: Technology is compeling – use the hands all over the screen
2: Love to see this integrated with laptops. Perhaps the new air?
3: Single mode is a pain, keeps it fast though; No flash is not upsetting – mostly ads and poorly designed websites

Impact
1: media – venue for gloss and newspapers
2: games – the medium is new, interaction brilliant
3: apps – another ecosystem has opened up, prices are good for now