My parents always told me I was special. One in a million, they’d say! Of course, every parent feels that way. Well now I really am one in a million. Apple has sold an estimated one million iPads already, and I got to spend the week with one of those million iPads!
Let me give you my Mac-ground. Four years ago, I made the switch finally from PC to Mac. This includes the purchase of a MacBook Pro. I’ve owned a couple of iPods. But my personal mobile device is a BlackBerry, not iPhone. I like Apple products. A lot. But I’m not fanatical, like some of its oh-so-loyal disciples. Prior to launch, I felt like the iPad was a cool idea, but I didn’t feel as though I needed to stand in line like a Star Wars fanboy. So I’m middle of the road. Like a James Taylor song. So I safely feel I can give the device an honest look.
The verdict? The iPad is a useful device and shows great potential, if viewed as being in its infancy, still. As a first generation device, it’s already a nice little bridge between the mobile user and the on-the-go ‘Net-user. Laptops are still bulkier, once you pack them into a case and add plug in devices. And it’s still difficult for everyone at a table to get a good look at something on your iPhone. As long as you see the iPad as that link between the two, rather than the replacement of, then you and your iPad will have a happy relationship. Because there’s still a ways for it to go. And I’m in no hurry to get rid of my laptop for it, yet.
The first weekend with it, I didn’t have the iPad case. Big mistake. I spent more time treating it like a rare, mint condition baseball card than a portable computing device. And when I’d sit on my couch attempting to tweet, I couldn’t find any comfortable way to place it on my legs or to hold it upright. Once I got the iPad case, the experience improved exponentially.
The iPad case provides not only a nice form of protection, but by folding the case backwards, it places the iPad at just the right angle that finally makes it conducive to typing so you don’t have to hold your arms like a Praying Mantis.
As a heavy Twitter user, I decided to test the Twitter applications and services, first.
On my work PC and home Mac, I prefer TweetDeck. The columns and auto-updates provide me with the at-a-glance, ease of use I need. When I saw TweetDeck made an iPad app, I was instantly delighted. Delight turned to fright upon first use, however.
The iPad app isn’t very intuitive nor user-friendly. Even clicking on some of the icons failed to work at times. Don’t even try to remove a Twitter account from it. I spent a half hour with it, and was beyond frustrated. I moved on to HootSuite’s website, to see what a web-based Twitter application was like on the iPad. I also use HootSuite at work, to manage our Twitter account. Scrolling through the columns takes the two finger approach, which isn’t ideal, but works.
For my money, however, Twitterrific is the way to go on the iPad. With regular refreshing, ease of use, and a crisp display, as someone who spends too much time tweeting I would almost buy an iPad just for the way Twitter looks and feels on this application.
How does YouTube look on the iPad? Is this device sure to be a Kindle-killer? What about iPhone apps? Look for my take on these and other iPad applications out there later this week in the next installment of ONE IN A MILLION PART 2: ELECTRIC BOOGALOO!
Bruce is a Mobile Media Specialist at Roll Mobile. He is a lover of good music, bad puns and ugly sweater vests. Want to learn more about adding mobile components to complement your existing marketing strategies? Or have a BLOG@ROLL topic you’d like us to explore?
Contact bruce@whyroll.com or on Twitter via @RollMobile.