Reasons why i returned my iPad

Here is a list of the main reasons I returned the iPad. I am not the target audience as I was hoping this would be less of a third device, and more of a watered down laptop that was portable and allowed me to be productive, simple tasks well. The iPad, for now, is more of a toy.

Examples:
The iPad is not a good reading device for two points:
1) you can't alter the brightness of JUST the reading application, it affects the whole interface, and applications you would prefer to see brightly like games,
2) its fine as an e-reader until I try to read in bed, this is impossible with the iPad as, light as it is, it's just too heavy to hold for long periods of time. The Kindle wins hands down here.

The iPad is not very good at writing for the following points:
1)You can't lie it flat on a table and type. The curved back means it rocks as you type.
2)Pages is an ok application for writing, but the lack of a desktop concepts means keeping and transferring files between devices is not intuitive. The work does not follow me as easily as it should.
3) I have to buy too many peripherals, keyboard, case, to make it work as a typing device.
4) It's not bad as a keypad, but eventually hitting glass with your fingers at speed, while typing, hurts your fingertips.
5) Screenwriting software is poor at the moment - I can not use short cut keys on the keypad to navigate to various functions, which becomes tiresome very quickly.

Other points:

The iPad is dependent on the consumer having a laptop. A customer cannot throw away their laptop by buying an iPad, as the iPad has to sync to something. This is acceptable with an iPhone, but when it comes to the iPad, it feels like a cop-out.

The lack of flash really is an issue , I'm not sure why Apple underestimated this one. You only get a very underwhelming subset of Youtube videos because of this.

The iPhone 4 is leaps ahead in functionality and hardware, so waiting for iPad v2 makes more sense.

I really hope they rethink the interface and not go the iPhone route. I would love to look at the iPad Pro, a professional extension of the iPad. In my next posts I will be looking at what the iPad Pro might look like.

Why I am returning my iPad after one day of use

I thought that would catch your attention.
Read why i will be returning the iPad after just one day, coming next week.

Feedback on iPad

So I have decided not to give feedback until I interact with the product. My only comment was the lack of creating content and emphasis on absorbing content, but that may be a business plan to get 3rd parties to develop such applications.

Watching live event----ehm

So its a giant iphone meets kindle...............initial reaction is disappointment. Will watch the whole thing and give my feedback

More concept images... T - 1m to reveal!

I've included some more images of the rendered concept just before the launch of the real, will be interesting to see what the reality will be! Can't wait!

Presenting the MacProTouch...or the iPad!

Here is an initial concept rendering of the iPad (due to be unveiled for real in two days!). You'll notice a few features:

The two way camera described in the post below is shown here, with the camera facing down. I thought this would be a perfect place to show the apple logo, which is slightly raised, and gives the user grip to quickly turn the camera over to face them.

We described the ports and buttons before, so I quickly highlighted them here. The key is minimal. Two USB ports, one power cable port (see my concept about a wireless plug) and only one socket for a mic/headphone combination (why do you need both anyway?).

The home button and power on/off button are combined. How? Simply holding the button for more than a few seconds will call a command on the interface to verify shutting down the iPad.

Also note the aluminum backing of the iPad (I will render the back of this tomorrow to show some potential features)

Last but no means least, note that the iPad interface rotates as you rotate. You can type/paint/draw in landscape or portrait mode. The interface is so sensitive it can pick up the lightest stroke of a brush, as well as changing the nature of the drawn stroke depending on pressure.

This is my initial rendering. Over the coming weeks, I'll be posting renderings of how I think the interface might work!

Till January 27th!

iPad camera.......AND video chat

While currently modelling my idea of what the MacProTouch (or the iPad) might look like, one thing really struck me, having a camera at the back and at the front might seem messy. So i came up with an idea of a dual function swivel camera. The image below shows the iPad in profile. Imagine you are video chatting to your friend and suddenly you see something in the street that you want to share with your friend, real time. No problem, simply touch the camera, and swivel it to face the back of your laptop. They can now see exactly what you're talking about, while you can enjoy their reaction on your iPad!

I really love this idea because its simple, multifunctional and has a relevant affect on people's lives in how they interact with each other. It also combines a camera and video chat, two tasks typically treated separately, because one faces the user, while the other faces what the user is looking at.

Now your Apple swivel camera can do both!