I got my iPad yesterday! I was waiting anxiously for the last 5 days, as I watched FedEx tracking of the shipment of my iPad from China, to Tennessee, to California, to my work. First thing it asks is to dock with iTunes, so I did that and found a bunch of free apps to try out.
It is heavier than I remember. Robust heavy. It didn't seem that heavy in the store, but was attached to a huge security cord; and my buddy's iPad had a case on it, making it justifiably heavier. Love the screen. At stock setting it was bright and clear, wasn't too bright when used in the dark, must be a well calibrated light sensor or I'm not that sensitive.
I spent most of the evening signing up and setting up. No fault of the iPad. But all that new software required a sign-in. Even just visiting my usual websites, I had to sign-in. Had to set-up the Wi-fi and email accounts. This was a good opportunity to test out the polarizing keyboard. No problems for me, and I actually liked it better than my iMac keyboard. I tend to fat finger the iMac keys. But laying on the bed, iPad in landscape orientation, in my lap, it worked good. I actually got pretty fast at switching between letter/number mode. Inputting your email address over and over can do that. I'm not saying I want to write a novel or long, rambling blog post like this one. But I figured for status updates, searches, and the short general text entry I plan on doing, it is fine. (I might upgrade it to good or downgrade to annoying, just need more time with the keyboard)
Holy apps Batman! I downloaded only popular, free apps. I didn't get through them all in 3 hours. Granted, I got sidetracked all evening. Changing settings, tweaking icon placement, etc. Some apps were clearly junk and got immediate delete. Others had competitors like paint and weather, so like any playoff, the loser got deleted. I still have a dozen apps to go through yet, haven't bought a thing.
The iPad is very focused on media consumption. News websites, books, video, music. But the bigger surprise is the creation aspect. My kids were playing around on it with me. The drawing programs were popular. We made several dozen drawings and it was a blast. I think because kids naturally want to touch the screen. The computer and laptop have smudges from little hands all over them. It drives me nuts. With the iPad, that's the point. The screen is bigger than other "personal" devices: phone, Nintendo DS, iPod; so it can be very interactive with multiple people. The only downside is several hands trying to do something at the same time.
My inital thoughts are positive. Is it just a big iPad touch? Absolutely. But I love it so far...
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