Product Review

Web 2.0 The Magazine

A Journal for Exploring New Internet Frontiers.

Category: Internet Appliance

What It Is: The Apple iPad is a computer that works like an iPhone; a sexy Internet appliance.

Price: $499 to $699 (WIFI model); the 3G model is about $150 more. Accessories make it a pricy choice.

iPad by Apple

product review

Two Weeks with the iPad by John F. McMullen

I got the iPad two weeks ago and very rapidly have become dependent on it. I use it for e-mail, Social Networking (Facebook, Twitter, etc.), web browsing, word processing (this is being written on it at my local Barnes and Noble), newspaper reading, video watching, book reading and a myriad of other activities.

The dependency is interesting. Andy Clark in his 2003 "Natural-Born Cyborgs: Minds, Technologies, and the Future of Human Intelligence," points out that we are all (or at least most of us) "Cyborgs" as humans, unlike any other species, make our technology "a part of ourselves." If we lose a cell phone or even leave it home, it is as though someone has cut off a finger. It is extremely easy to become dependent on a technologic tool and I admit to a new-found dependency on the iPad.

I am a newspaper junkie and always bought at least four New York papers (Times, Wall Street Journal, Daily News, and Post) a day and, when I travel, all of the local papers from wherever I am. Since I brought the iPad home, I have not bought a daily New York Times (I do buy the Sunday paper) nor a Wall Street Journal (and only one Post to read a sports column). Not only do I read those papers on the iPad, I also browse the Associated Press, the Financial Times, USA Today, and papers from Boston, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Washington, Atlanta, Miami, New Orleans, St. Louis, Detroit, Chicago, Denver, Dallas, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, London and Dublin. Additionally, I have access to audio and videos from NPR, PRI, Pacifica, local Radio Stations, PBS, CNN, & MSNBC.

Additionally, I have access to the few hundred books in my Kindle library and almost 24,000 Free Books. I can purchase additional books through either my Kindle account or my iTunes account.

The ability to access all of this material rests on "apps," free and commercial, that may be downloaded directly to the iPad. I presently have one hundred sixty-four apps above that which came with the iPad -- apps for the above gathering of information and for e-mail, word processing, spreadsheet, presentation graphics, weather, statistics, instant messaging, drawing, painting, and various other activities. Most of these apps were free or cost $.99; the word processing program ("Pages" from Apple), spreadsheet ("Numbers" also from Apple) and presentation graphics ("Keynote," likewise from Apple) were the most expensive at $9.99. Many of the apps installed were written specifically for the iPad but others are iPhone apps that work perfectly. New apps appear daily as developers try to establish presence on the platform.

The e-mail hooks directly into my G-Mail account -- one may do this by either downloading the app from Google or by simply directing the built-in "Mail" app to your e-mail account.

The word processing is particularly nice. I write a document and, when ready for final editing, printing, and/or submission, e-mail it to myself in MS-Word format (the conversion and e-mailing are features in "Pages"). Additionally, I can e-mail an MS-Word document to myself as an attachment from my WINTEL machine or Mac and, when I open the attachment, I can read it and then choose to open it in either "Pages" or "GoodReader."

I chose the WiFi-only version, deciding that I would rather spend the money to have the 64GB largest version than to spend it on an AT&T 3G connection, reasoning that I already have a cell phone and that where I would work on the iPad (home, book store, restaurants, and hotels) will have WiFi. I also purchased a few accessories -- a case with a screen protector that doubles as a stand, Apple's Bluetooth Keyboard, a stylus for drawing, a car adapter, and extra power connection, and a small bag to handle the iPad and accessories (small enough to fit in the storage space on my motor scooter). I use the Bluetooth Keyboard (under $75) when doing real word processing (articles, short stories, poems, etc.) and the on-screen "glass keyboard" when doing most e-mail, web browsing, and social networking.

The only negatives that I've come across -- and they haven't impacted me in what I do -- have been:

The strength of the WiFi does not seem to be as powerful as that on my iTouch (but not noticeably worse that on my netbook). When coupled with the vagaries of my AT&T connection at my local Barnes & Noble, this leads to me both taking longer to connect than I'm pleased with and having to re-connect more frequently. Although these problems seem to have more to do with Barnes and Noble than the iPad (and the bookstore is aware of connectivity problems), Joe Scarborough, host of MSNBC's "Morning Joe", has mentioned WiFi problems with his unit (while still praising it overall).

While "Pages" exports documents to the comparable Microsoft Office format, "Numbers" and "Keynote" do not. They do, however, export "PDF" files which can be read into any system (but not modified by most). We are told that updates to these programs will add the suitable "Excel" and " Power Point" conversion capabilities.

Neither of these negatives has really posed any problems for me -- but I have a friend who uses Excel regularly and sees this as a major problem.

In closing, the iPad is, as we said in my Wall Street days, a "BUY."