iPad Unboxing

Admittedly, I didn’t really want to like the iPad. As an Apple agnostic verging on Apple atheist, I had only the merest hint of curiosity about testing the way over-hyped device and was determined to dislike it.
So, it came as something of a shock when, after a full day with the device, a day which had started out with snooty loathing, I actually found myself bonding with it. I mean, yes, it has its flaws, huge flaws, but it’s just a baby.
And a beautiful baby at that. No doubt about it, the iPad is a real looker. Sleek, shiny, with a touchscreen so crystal clear it’s enough to make tears come to your eyes. Weighing about the same as a bag of sugar, it’s small enough to carry everywhere, without being too small to want to use for all your media needs.
But like all new babies, if you want to keep it looking good and protect it, you have to buy some expensive top-of-the-line gear for it, and the $40 silky silicon protector case fits the bill. Literally.
Using the iPad for the first time, non Mac users may experience a sense of confusion and bursts of frustration, especially with the mandatory iTunes download (or update), which is a lot more painful than it needs to be. Indeed, one could call it a labor of love.
As the iPad flickers to life for the first time, a rather cryptic prompt ordering the user to plug it in to the PC and iTunes appears on its screen. Fine. Proprietary Apple connector inserted, iPad plugged. Then what?
Well, then one has to download the latest version of iTunes, which for some reason decided to sputter and crash several times for this reporter, also having the gall to tell her she was not the administrator of her own computer (although PC settings begged to differ). With much cajoling and crooning, however, iTunes installation was finally achieved. And there was much rejoicing.
That is, until iTunes discovered it had rather a lot more than the available 16GB of storage to upload to the iPad, which caused yet another dilemma. To store music on it or not? To add a bunch of photos and videos to it, or not? Everything is a compromise in terms of storage on the device, and that is unpleasant from the get go.
$500 for a device which holds less than my smallest mp3 player, really? And the 64GB version, although bigger, is also not big enough. Device makers, take note; future tablets need CAPACITY and LOTS of it. Got it?
Another hardware frustration was the complete lack of a physical “back” button. This is maddeningly annoying and one could even go as far as saying it is quite possibly the most irritating feature. Want to flick between Facebook, iTunes, photos or videos? Tough luck, you can’t. You can press the “home” screen button and start from scratch, but no flicking. No multitasking. It’s an extraordinarily male device. In the dumbest sense. It’s a huge design flaw, and one other tablet makers would do well to avoid.
And on the subject of multitasking, why, oh why, is it so hard to imagine, Apple, that people may want to browse the web whilst either listening to their own iTunes library or streaming music from Pandora. Why should a user be forced to either listen to music, or view photos. Where is the sense? The logic? It’s certainly not like it’s impossible to achieve, so why cripple a perfectly good device with such a handicap?
Something about the device which is certainly not flawed is its wifi connectivity, which works like a charm. No sooner is the router password keyed in, surf’s up, and browsing on the iPad is a delight. Except for the fact Safari won’t allow multiple tabs – one website at a time please – and that many favorite websites can only really be experienced as apps. Like Netflix or LastFM for example.
And while there may be an app for everything, the apps don’t always work properly – the aforementioned two being good examples. Netflix crashed repeatedly and wouldn’t play most films selected, whilst LastFM refused to play at all. Teething problems? Could be, but if that’s the case, Apple really needs to supply a generous dose of Bonjela.
When Netflix finally did sort itself out, however, it was a delight to behold. Crystal clear image and sound quality in the perfect form factor. It’s easy to see the tablet becoming indispensible to anyone who spends much time traveling or commuting, and that alone is a good reason to own one.
Picture browsing is also wonderful on the iPad, with the interface for the pictures being both intuitive and joyful. If it weren’t so bloody expensive, grandparents around the world would be getting one from their grandkids at Christmas, to ooh and ahh over family pictures to their heart’s content.
But back to the complaints form again; and, no, we weren’t even going to mention the most obvious annoyance, lack of Flash. Instead, we’ll mention the fact Apple really can’t bear to bring itself to play nice with other firms, like Google for example.
Want to check your Gmail on the iPad, fine, you can do that, but there’s no way to import your contacts so the mail client won’t let you write a new email. And having no contacts – unless one starts from scratch using a contacts app – makes the whole email experience somewhat restricted.
That’s not all either. While it’s possible to log on to one’s Gmail on the device, it’s impossible to log off, so the only way to stop someone else using your iPad from going through your emails (aside from trust, obviously) is to wipe your account every time you want out of Gmail. Logic?
Also, far be it from an adoptive mother to be platformist, but it’s a Mac. Which is great if you’re into the whole trendy, hipster thing, but the whole user interface is very hard to swallow for anyone coming from a PC only world. Much like a blond, Macs look great, but are a little ditsy and silly. It takes getting used to.
But so do a lot of things, so, perhaps that’s an unfair criticism. And, would a Windows experience be better? Doubtful. Android on the other hand… well… wishful thinking.
To end on a positive high note, however, the one thing Apple got 100 percent right on the iPad was the battery life. After using it intensively all weekend, the battery has still not run out, which is a bloody good thing, seeing as it won’t charge by being plugged into a PC and needs a special (proprietary) charger.
If Dell, HP, LG or Samsung are out there and listening, we’d make a couple of suggestions. One; proprietary connectors are bad, lack of USB ports are bad, lack of openness in general is bad. Two; The more battery life the better – Apple got this right first time, so don’t do tablets the disfavor of regressing on that point.
All in all, a mixed bag. I certainly don’t hate the iPad, but it does have its growing pains. Can’t wait for it to mature.