I just ordered my iPad yesterday evening. After playing with it, I think I’d enjoy using it.
I asked a bunch of iPad owners I know for their opinion:
Justin said, “Key use cases would be: read books, couch/toilet web surfing, comic books, video, video/web surfing on the go, draw”.
On the other hand, Jim said “The iPhone changed my life, but I haven’t found a place for the iPad in my life yet”.
Lastly, Dave said “It feels sooooooo much better to touch. Touching changes EVERYTHING.”
For me, I think the iPad will fit in my life. I’d like to use it for reading all my favorite RSS feeds, surfing the web, checking email, playing games, and watching youtube. I’m also a designer, so I’d like to understand the touch interface better… and perhaps develop an app for it with Dave in the near future.
Am I an apple fanboy for owning an iPhone, iPad and Macbook Pro? I’d say no. I used PCs for 3d modeling, I owned a sidekick phone and another smartphone that ran windows mobile, and I’ve always used 3rd party monitors. My background is industrial design, so I have an appreciation for good product design!
My iPad should be here sometime next week.
Ha! Well, my answer wasn't quite so metaphysical… what I meant was that it took no effort or thought at all for the iPhone to slip into my day to day activities and make them better & easier.
I spend more time on my iPhone surfing, reading email, texting, sharing URLs (go go AddThis bookmarklet!) scheduling, etc. than I do using it as a phone. The iPad, on the other hand, hasn't managed to insinuate itself, even when I've actively gone out of my way to integrate it into my daily routine.
Don't get me wrong – it's a beautiful device, and a joy to use. The user experience it brilliant, and using iPhone apps at 2x size works better than I had anticipated (Facebook, where the heck is your iPad app???)
But I still don't find myself constantly picking up the iPad like I do my phone. Perhaps as I start using Instapaper more or if I start downloading books this will change, we'll see.
yah, the iphone is the ultimate portable device. i'm still using the 2g version, and i find myself using it more than the laptop (outside of work).
ipad just needs some better apps… there are only a handful that are really useful at the moment. i suspect it will show its true value in a few months from now.
good advise!