iPad

Apple just released their iPad today. It looks just like a giant version of iPod Touch. As of now, Apple has not released Steve's keynote, so I can only judge it based on the video available on their website. I wonder how I'd like to use it.

The swipe to change page on the screen, gesture on the screen, all look so similar. Does that mean there is no really important breakthrough in their software? When Apple released Snow Leopard, one of the main features is that when users drag the application window to the dock, they can use the reflection of the window in the dock. I was wondering why that could be an important feature to brag about, and as it turned out, it is NOT for me. So now, it is fun to see that I can use zoom-out gesture to 'sort of' open the photo album and see what photos are in there, and if I can't find what I want, then I don't have to open it. So for me, I'd rather double click, or whatever, to open the photo album. Why should I keep 2 of my fingers on the screen and manipulate that way? Would that not be too much of an effort to search?

I'm sure Apple's GUI would be very easy to use, but they still don't have found a even better way to use gestures. It's nice to have soft keyboard, however, I can only tap on the hard surface of my iPod Touch for a short period of time. If I need to type a long message or write some documents, I'd much prefer using a real keyboard. It's more ergonomic to use for me, and easier to position my fingers.

With the lightweight feature, iPad certainly is easy to carry around. I know I can hook it up with my iMac to sync up songs, movies, books, but if I make a quick note of the meeting I go to with one of the applications, or if I work on a document in the coffee shop using Apple's iWork for iPad, will that be easy for me to sync up to the computer, so I can use my iMac to continue with my work at home? I don't have an answer to that.

Electronic books are certainly an important feature with its release. The 499 price for the entry level 16G model is certainly enough to kill Amazon's DX Kindle. I guess I have not read enough to actually understand my need for it, but it is definitely the major factor to distinguish an iPod Touch and an iPad. iPod Touch is really too small for reading.

I'm sure with the SDK release, software developer will come up with all kinds of fun things to increase their revenue and boost the sales of iPad. However, so far, I think my iPod Touch is still doing a good job.