Back on topic...here is my review of the iPad that I just got synced and running a couple of hours ago, but first some background...
After owning a Commodore 64 (yeah, I am dating myself) I bought my first PC in the late eighties, and had struggled with Windows for many years. Windows XP was the first windows operating system that was reasonably stable, everything before that was junk. I had a junky Compaq PC from 2003-2008 that I had originally bought for my daughter - it gave her so much trouble that I took it and bought her another computer. My old HP finally gave out so I nursed that Compaq along until 2008, when I was thinking of getting a Dell XPS. But being just tired of Windows by that time, I decided to buy a used Mac to see if I would like it. So I bought a used Mac PowerPC G5 in fall of 2008 to try; it came loaded with the original operating system (Tiger) and was in beautiful condition.
Long story short, I fell in love with the Mac. No more random crashes, blue screens of death, installing, reinstalling, and reinstalling software. The darn thing is stable. Not perfect, but WAY WAY more stable than any PC I had ever owned. I would describe the Mac as the BMW of computers. I too tire of the fanboys; it is like a guy in a BMW trash-talking you for buying a Camaro. When you are a young guy a Camaro is what you can afford, nothing wrong with that really. The success of the PC is a result of affordability, but it is sort of the Chevy of computers - relatively cheap and works well enough for most people.
I bought an iPod Classic for my girlfriend as a gift several years ago when it was the best iPod you could buy. I didn't even own an iPod myself, but our relationship was in that early infatuation phase (she was putting out a lot, those were the good old days, that phase only lasts two years for me then I should give up the lease) so I wanted to buy her something nice. She loved the iPod Classic and tossed her old iPod mini in a drawer. About a year later she pulled it out of the drawer and offered it to me. I took it on the idea that I could do something with it maybe. It is pink but I bought a black cover for it; problem solved. So I tinkered with it a bit and got it up and running and soon discovered that it was a really cool little device, and that you could install it in a car as a replacement for a CD player. So I did that.
After that, I bought an iPod touch, then later one for the girlfriend and one for my daughter. At first I wasn't exactly sure what to do with it, but over time I learned that I could play movies on my boat TV with it, or stream internet video onto the TV with it, plus surf the internet with wireless, plus a whole host of cool stuff with the apps that they make for them. They have apps for everything - you really have no idea just how many apps there are that are simple to use and do what they are supposed to do.
So recently I was at the boat for a long weekend, using my Dell laptop, which was my last Windows machine - I had gotten rid of any Windows devices in my house, and I took an Xbox (Christmas gift from girlfriend) back to Target last christmas when I discovered that it was a Microsoft device and that you had to buy a subscription to do online gaming with it - screw that. So anyway, I was using the laptop on the boat, which is a fairly reliable but somewhat aging Dell, to surf the internet, watch movies, watch internet video on the boat. The wireless is unstable so I have to constantly richard with it to keep it linked, but it works like a Chevy, just acceptable enough to be acceptable. So I go to put the laptop down and I drop it for the last half inch of travel, with a little bump. Poof! The hard drive crashes. I groan and start planning to buy another hard drive. I brought the laptop home with me for surgery, and I am laying in bed thinking about it when it occurs to me...I can do everything with an iPad that I do with the Laptop, only do it better. So, using my iPod Touch while laying in bed, I order up two iPads, one for me and one for the girlfriend, before I can talk myself out of it. It shows up a few days later courtesy of FedEx. I set up hers first and it went perfectly. My Mac gave me a little drama, I had to upgrade the operating system, as well as tweak my wireless router settings, plus reinstall iTunes, but the Ipad is up and running so here is my review:
People say it is just a big iPod Touch like that is a bad thing (uninformed critics make similar statements about the Honda Gold Wing: "It is so big it is almost like a car!" like that is a bad thing. But when you own a Gold Wing you understand why it is called the "King of Motorcycles".) I agree that it seems like "just a big iPod Touch" but you really have no idea what these things are capable of. I would say that the iPod Touch (which I love) is just a small iPad. Apple built the secondary device before they came out with the "main" device - they conceived of them in reverse order. So how does the iPad work? The darn thing is near perfect. You turn it on and it boots up quickly; it goes into sleep mode quietly to conserve power when you are not using it and wakes up instantly. You link to your e-mail account and it becomes a breeze to check your e-mail, or send an e-mail. It has a great internet browser that works well, you can do anything with it online that you can on a desktop, except Apple doesn't do Flash as mentioned earlier. You can bank, trade stocks, get movie listings, weather forecasts, Maps, find a bar, watch movies, stream video to a TV, anything you can do with your desktop computer only it does all these things better (except Flash). You can print with it if you have a bluetooth printer. You can view .pdf files. It will store all of your photos (mine has 1300) and all of your music (I have about 1000 songs) and all of your video and movies unless you have a huge collection. And you can view all of these things with ease on the device or watch them on your TV, even an old TV that only has RCA inputs. It is optimized for iBooks which you can purchase easily online while lying in bed. I downloaded a sample of one an hour ago to have a look, it is much like reading a physical book. The iPad is truly quite incredible because of all of the things that it does, and that it does them so quickly, simply, and so well. And as it is very similar to the iPod Touch, it should be super-reliable, just like the iPod Touch. I think the 3G model iPad would be fantastic - all that functionality plus 3G coverage so you could use it anywhere you can get a cell phone signal. I have read (unconfirmed) that you will be able to get a 3G data plan starting at about $30 monthly - at that price point I would probably get a 3G iPad and sell my Wifi iPad, although if a data plan was, say, $130 monthly, then I would stick with the WiFi iPad.
Criticisms? I would like to be able to delete pictures from the iPad (or my iPod Touch) without first having to delete them from my computer then resync the device, you can do this on the iPhone. I would like to see Flash support, and iPhone/iPod Apps that don't have an iPad version yet will still work, but in smaller iPhone mode unless you use the 2x magnifier on the device. They still work fine enlarged but they look grainy. Some apps have already been optimized for the larger screen of the iPad so those look fine. I expect all suppliers will eventually offer two app versions; the smaller ones for iPhone/iPod Touch and larger size ones for the iPad. The Wifi iPad requires that you are in range of a Wireless router, and there have been reports that the device won't sync with all wireless routers. I can vouch for that - I had to tweak my own router settings to get it to recognize my Linksys router. Apple still has some minor issues to tweak, but overall the user experience is fantastic, especially for a device that was just released. Here is another instance where being "just a big iPod Touch" isn't a bad thing: the Ipad benefits from Apple's knowledge base with the iPod Touch.
In summation, as an iPad owner who just got his up and running today, but a long-time iPod Touch owner, I can report that the iPad really rocks and I highly recommend that you get one. Once you finally break down and try your first Apple product, like I did when I bought the Mac G5, you will understand what all the hype is about. A succinct way to describe Apple products would be to call them the Hondas of electronic devices, whereas Microsoft products are the Chevys of electronic devices. Hondas aren't perfect but when you drive one you understand what is so great about them; they just work and are super-reliable. Apple products are just the same way. That pretty much sums it up.
If I have piqued your interest, you can view the iPad videos here. These videos aren't just advertising hype. All of the claims that they make about the iPad are true. If you buy an iPad, trust me because I know what I am talking about, you will love it!
