_iPad – The Weekend

On April 3rd the world got their hands on Apple’s latest creation call iPad.  Our company (Story Worldwide) pre-ordered one and we got our hands on it the following Monday.  We all “oohed” and “ahhed” over the looks.  The screen was crisp, the movement was as expected.  We downloaded a few apps, surfed a few sites, hooked up email etc.  Some liked it, some dismissed it.  Overall it met the expectations that we had for it.

So after having it in the office for a week and messing around with it how would it really hold up with ‘real world’ use.  I decided to bring it home this weekend.  Here is my recap.

Friday Night: After running around when I got home and making dinner I was able to settle down with the iPad and my family.  I showed my kids and they instantly thought it was cool.  Probably because it was a new gadget in the house.  I went to the app store and downloaded a few games (all free) and they were hooked to the big screen.  So Friday was an A+ with the kids.

Saturday Morning:  Like most people, Saturday is the day to catch up on the week that has passed.  So with my coffee and my iPad I started to surf the web for the latest news.  I started with Google News like I always to on my Laptop.  After reading some headlines and clicking over to the news sites, I had hit and misses.  The resizing became more of a pain surfing the web for some time.  Flipping the iPad horizontal was better but still a pain.  Grade B.

Saturday Mid-Morning: While I was prepping to start running around with the kids, I flipped on Netflix for them and they watched Tom & Jerry for a bit.  Kids Grade A+

Saturday Afternoon: During my running around my car died.  That was it.  Time for a new car.  (we have been thinking about getting one so this just seemed right).  I opened up Google and did some searches for local dealers and their inventory.  Well, most of the sites are in Flash so it was very difficult for me to search and find out the info I needed.  Grade C-

Saturday Late Afternoon:  I did end up visiting some dealerships but more on that later.  When we got back we decided to do some DadPerfect basketball shots.  See DudePerfect.com for more info.  After hitting two shots from down the driveway and over the garage I went in with the kids to show them how the experts do it.  So we whipped up DudePerfect.com and….wait…that is Flash.  So we fired up the Laptop instead.  Grade F

Saturday Evening: After putting the kids to bed I started to check out the app store.  A few things I noticed.  1.  Not a lot of apps yet, that will eventually change.  2.  Not a lot of free apps.  3.  Why are these apps 1000% more than what the iPhone are?  Is it the bigger screen?  Anyway, I downloaded a few different ones.  Some for the kids, some books, magazines and games.  The one I was excited about was the Bible.  I can bring the iPad to church and have the Bible right there.  When I started to view it and read it, the glare from the screen was a little annoying.  It seems ok for web pages and images but when I really needed to focus on text I did not like it.  Grade C-

Sunday Morning: After looking at a few cars I wanted to do some more research.  I went to MazdaUsa.com.  That proved useless.  The site detected my browser as an iPhone so I got a skinny mobile site.  I tried to hack the url to get the full site but kept getting an XML error.  I Google’d some Mazda terms and found some links into the Mazda site but same result.  Argh.  I then went over to BMWUSA.com.  Mobile site appeared.  I could not do anything.  I tried entering my zip code.  I tried clicking on some dropdown menus and nothing.  Site was not working.  I went over to Ebay.com so I can just view some photos.  That worked but not as fulfilling as I wanted it to be.  Grade D

Sunday Evening: I skipped the afternoon since I ended using the Laptop to view the sites listed above.  So my car died again today leaving me and the kids stranded, has to be alternator.  I dropped my wife off at work earlier in the day and now it was time to pick her up.  We hop in the car that works and take the iPad.  The kids are playing Tic-Tac-Toe and having a blast on it in the back seat.  Kids A+.  Me – C- because the screen was so bright it was annoying me on the way home.

My overall impressions.  It is nice.  Videos look nice.  Kids love it.  When push came to shove and I wanted it to do what I do on a normal basis, it failed.  Until the Internet converts everything to HTML5 and out of Flash then it will be worth it.  Until then, you need to rely on ‘apps’ and pay for everything that is normally free on the Internet.  For another game console or a portable DVD player for the kids, sure it is good but I can get those for 150 bucks.