iPad first impressions

I've written in the past about how much I like the idea of the tablet, but in execution, how if fails to live up to the promise, mainly down to poor hand writing recognition or being too heavy or too short of battery life. The best applications for tablet are bespoke, using easy to navigate icons, but if you aim for a cross over with common apps like Microsoft Office, it doesn't really work.

Apple effectively takes the bespoke, big icons and easy navigation approach (as it did with the iPhone in 2007) and implements it on a tablet device that's ready to run a wide range of consumer apps - from, or approved by, Apple. The apps are proven, on the iPhone and the iPod touch, but the big format, notebook replacement, is a new game.

The breadth of applications from the Apple App Store is a big positive, but I find it hard to see the iPad as much more than a casual user device for the living room/home - its not business, and I don't think it will turn its hand to business or more involved tasks; and its not going to replace a gaming PC rig, or even a well used word processing app and a real life keyboard. A plug in keyboard, which is available, might extend usability, (almost all PC tablets are hybrids with a full keyboard, any other form of input is too much work), but I'd also like to see real tests of the claimed 10 hours battery life - the vast majority of manufacturer's claims of battery life don't seem to hold up in reality.

There's also the question of how easy it is to use the iPad, particularly once you step outside of Apple-sanctioned applications. iPod wins on simplicity, but the iPhone stumbles because its too complicated, especially if you buy one that's not on a plan. It's very much a device for the Apple fan too - compatibility with lots of Apple applications, no mention of anything outside of the cult of Jobs. Great if you'll drink the kool-aid, but not so much for the regular users.

Price-wise, Apple seems to be getting there - $499 for the basic device is pretty good, although you can bet that any Middle East version will come at either a huge mark up or with a very expensive program. iPad needs to prove it does enough for the price, without being tied just to Apple-approved apps and functions, and the blurring of netbook, cheap notebook and slim and light expensive notebooks is continuing apace - why spend for a locked off Apple device if you can get a quality laptop that does all the same things without paying the premium for an Apple device and having the freedom of Windows-compatible apps.

I don't doubt that we will all have these sort of devices in the home eventually - the penetration of internet into our lives is so much that we want to sit on the sofa and do email and facebook, and a light, easy-to-use device like the iPad should be, makes complete sense, but I suspect that even now. companies in Taiwan, China and Korea are looking at doing everything the iPad can, but cheaper. Companies like LG, Samsung and Acer have done a very good job of catching up to the iPhone at a much better price point, and the ‘laptop' segment is their backyard - I think they will be rivalling the iPad much quicker than they were with the iPhone.

The iPad does seem to join the dots, by bringing together all the things you might think you need in what seems like a pretty nice bit of hardware, but its not quite as game changing as the iPod, and it will have to prove itself against competitors who are wide awake to the potential of the sector.

Of course, this is just my opinion, and I haven't even seen the thing yet. But if we're going to have these devices in all of our living rooms, maybe someone should think about ruggedizing them, so they can withstand being sat on, chewed by the dog, mauled by children or lost down the back of the sofa?