Technology Matters

I’ve been an iPad user since they were released and I have to start by saying it’s a great device as well as being a cool gadget… However, it will never replace my laptop… Why?

Well let me start on a positive with what I like about it:

The boot up time is excellent, log on and bingo, PC manufacturers and Microsoft take heed!

The battery life is excellent, much better than my laptop.

Watching movies is good, although not fantastic quality when played on a TV or external device.

A good selection of apps available from the AppStore … not a huge selection as I’m not including iPhone apps which run on the iPad but don’t use the device properly.

So, what don’t I find as good?

The keyboard, whilst being very responsive isn’t a fantastic experience when trying to edit text, getting the cursor in the right place is a pain.

The lack of flash support is a massive drawback, 50% of the sites I try to visit use flash and I can’t use the iPad to get to them.

On some non flash sites I can get to, I have problems scrolling data entry screens, Eg blog sites like this when I try and add a comment I can’t scroll up or down if I’ve entered more than 4 lines… WordPress is a good example of this, very tricky to create a new blog post on the iPad.

The output to TV and projectors isn’t good quality, and I was miffed that my iPhone cable wasn’t supported on the iPad… Sales gimmick?

And finally I question the ergonomics of the iPad, for prolonged use it stresses the neck as you need to look down on it as opposed to forwards with a PC. I know this for definite as I’ve experienced these problems whilst using the iPad whilst travelling. I wonder how long it will be before someone sues Apple or their employer on the grounds of health and safety?

So I summary, whilst I cherish my iPad and can’t see myself giving it up soon… It will never replace my PC, which is the tool I will continue to use every day for business.