What Can a Tablet Do Better?
As I contemplate purchasing an Apple iPad when it is released, I stopped to consider how the iPad would work with the laptop I already use for most daily functions. After all, since 2004, I’ve managed all my computer needs using just a laptop; do I really need to throw another powerful device into the mix? In considering ways in which I envisioned myself using an iPad, I came up with a list of four areas in which the iPad excels over a laptop or desktop computer.
First, augmentation of other media. There are plenty of opportunities for media multitasking during the day. Indeed, a recent Kaiser report indicates that teens are able to cram so much media use into a single day because they are often multitasking (i.e. using the internet while watching TV, et cetera). And if you are like me, you do similar things with your day. A tablet fits well with this multitasking because of its size and shape. While a laptop is designed to be used on a flat surface (like your lap), a tablet is designed for your hands. That means it’s easy to pick up and set down while watching TV. In fact, I imagine using a tablet in conjunction with my laptop – for example, typing on my iPad while pulling up sources on my laptop.
Second, portability. If you use your laptop as your primary computer, that means it’s full of stuff that you would be devastated if you lost. Though also backed-up on an external hard drive, my laptop serves as my main storage device for all my music, movies, pictures, and other documents that I have assembled over years and years. There is no reason that I should be taking all of this with me everywhere I go. Because most of my daily computer tasks do not require the full power of my laptop, an iPad can be an ideal alternative.
Additionally, the iPad offers portability of the data that might currently be trapped on your desktop computer. For example, digital photography has all but replaced traditional film photography. But that means that digital photos must be associated with some device that can display them in order to be useful. This restricts the ways in which photographs are shared with family and friends. The iPad is an ideal solution to bring your photographs with you without having to use a computer. It can serve to fill a lot of the functions of a laptop, without you having to burden yourself with managing two different computers (a laptop and a desktop).
Third, staying organized. This is a big one for me, as I like to keep my calendar and address book up-to-date, but find that having them trapped on my laptop means they are less useful than I’d like. When I want to add something to my calendar, I want to do it as soon as possible, not have to go get my laptop to do it. The iPad seriously lowers barriers to accessing a digital calendar. And with all those helpful iPhone apps that run right on the iPad, it’s really easy to find productivity software that can help even more.
Finally, as a digital document display. I print out a lot of documents to have as references in meetings or in class. For example, I print out an outline for section that I follow along to make sure I cover everything. Reading the document from my laptop alleviates the need to print, but it’s awkward to use a laptop while standing up and talking to the class. The iPad solves this problem. It’s just the right size and has the right mix of functionality to make it perfect as a document display. I additionally intend to use it to read PDF articles for class (rather than print them out).
By now, you are probably sick of reading my gushing over the iPad. But hopefully you are also starting to see some ways that it could fit well into your own life. I think it has just the right mix of features to offer something for everyone, even if you already have a laptop computer.
Related posts (automatically generated):
March 11th, 2010 20:55
You sir, are an idiot.
March 11th, 2010 22:15
I enjoyed your post and you made as to “Daniel” explain why he’s an idiot. There’s no reason to troll about.
March 11th, 2010 22:21
Thanks for the comments. Daniel – I’d love to hear more of your thoughts, if you’re up to giving them.
March 12th, 2010 01:23
I am in a similar situation. For about 2 years now I have been an avid Apple fan. I’ve been sick of windows operating system and the flaws in it. I finally made the commitment in December to buy an iPhone 3G S and love it and find myself consuming more media then ever before, not to mention I have the web where I go and it’s proven it’s worth for a too be college student. I have been following the rumor of the iPad for some time and when unveiled I saw a huge iPhone/iPod touch. After anaylzing it a bit more I decided I would commit again to a 16GB wifi model. I had previously just planned to use it as a key role in college but decided I would buy low end and get a mac for classes extending mac and apple into my everyday life and keeping everything synced flawlessly. The iPad to me is a invention worth having. Though no flash, if you have a laptop with you it won’t be a problem. The iPad and mac will both be carried around campus with me so I don’t have to boot up my MacBook pro everytime I want to check something, the iPad can take the spot. For classes though the MacBook pro will be the work horse there and depending on how the keyboard dock is made for the ipad (portable or not) it could take ace of the MacBook pro.
March 12th, 2010 07:39
Thanks for the comment. Two thoughts:
1. Should the iPad be a big hit, then websites should automatically redirect users to a non-Flash version of their page. For Flash games, the user should be presented with a link to the App Store version of the Flash game. Not sure if this will happen, but it would be a good way for content providers to serve iPad users and for iPad users to not miss Flash.
2. I totally agree about the keyboard dock. I was on the fence for awhile about whether to buy one, but I’m pretty set on it now. Imagine writing a paper by typing on your iPad and looking through sources on your laptop. It’s close to the perfect solution.
March 12th, 2010 08:21
Though you didn’t mention the camera issue, people should stp and consider that Jony Ives is a successful industrial designer and he knows that the pose one is in when using an iPad would only have a webcam provide an unflattering view up a nose harboring snarbies and oigles.
March 12th, 2010 08:25
Ha, good point.
March 31st, 2010 21:11
It’s always amusing to watch someone justify a completely frivolous purchase. Let us know in a year what you actually use it for. In the meantime, let me bring you back to Earth regarding how you’ve rationalized a need for this:
1) Reviewers are already commenting on the weight of the iPad, saying it gets heavy after holding it for a while and that it can be awkward. If you’re sitting up while you watch TV, a LAPtop makes just as much, if not more (you don’t have to hold it the whole time) as a multitasking device (no pun intended).
2) The fact that you have all of your music, television, pictures, movies, etc. on your laptop is absurd. Invest in an external hard drive and leave it all there! Simply move onto your computer what you want when you need mobility.
Also, if you want to share your photos with friends and family, how about uploading them to a webhosted picture site, like Picasa or one of the billion other options? Very simple, free, and your friends and family can see it from anywhere they have a computer. (Although, how much time do you really spend looking at photos with people?)
3) Need to take your calendar and e-mail with you? Are you serious? How about any smartphone on the market that also doubles as, you guessed it, A PHONE! It’s truly amazing, you could kill several birds with one phone. iPad not needed.
4) It will be awkward carrying around a 10″ slab of aluminum in front of class too. If you need to constantly look at your outline, you haven’t prepared well enough. Obviously you can read PDF documents for class just fine on a laptop, no need for an iPad to do that.
Believe me, I’m as enamored by the latest and greatest gadgets that come out too. But that’s why I can see what you’re doing here. You’re convincing yourself you have a need for this thing because you want it. Why not just be honest with yourself and admit that you just want it, and that it won’t revolutionize or make your life easier/better. That wasn’t so hard, was it?
March 31st, 2010 21:20
Hi Nicholas,
Thanks for the detailed comment!
Here’s my thoughts.
1. Yes, this is potentially concerning. My forearms could use a good workout, but I do worry about the weight. I expect most of the time to use my iPad on a desk propped up on the stand (which the reviewers seem to regard as an ideal position) on in my lap. On the bus for an hour a day, I can deal with holding it (probably with two hands).
2. Don’t worry – I do have all my data backed up on an external drive!
I wish that I could share pictures with family online, but many of my relatives don’t have internet access! I’m at an awkward age (just 26) where my grandparents are still alive (though in their 80s), not about to adopt new tech., and still interested in what’s going on in my life. And because I’m a bit of a prolific photographer (and known as the person with a camera at family events), I actually do spend a lot of time sharing photos!
3. I don’t have a smartphone and am not interested in paying for the data plan. Frankly, I use my phone so little, I wish I could do away with it completely. Plus, I spend only a brief amount of time each day (on the bus, like I mentioned above) away from a wireless connection (and don’t get nearly enough emails) for me to want a smartphone.
4. I’m glad you have success covering all material for your classes (are you a teacher as well?). But I need to double check to make sure that I’ve gone through everything, especially when teaching multiple classes the same material!
I appreciate your feedback!
-Michael
March 31st, 2010 22:10
For me, being able to read pdf files of journal articles will be the reason, if I get one. But, after reading this, I am wondering if maybe an iPod touch would be enough? And if I do get one, how big?
March 31st, 2010 23:49
Umm, just directed to this from the NYT article.
Just wondering, do you have an iPhone? if not, you should get one. then you’ll understand that you don’t want a big clunky device that has no camera, no phone etc. That said, I have a similar family photo role in my family. My 92 year old Grandma can’t go to Flickr. I have showed her pics on my iphone and, testament to the amazing intuitive interface of the iphone she started pulling pics around with her finger. when that isn’t good enough I just print them out lie a regular person. Most family members want copies anyway. You do seem to be weirdly trying to justify your purchase..
April 1st, 2010 05:01
Hi Ken,
A touch might be enough for you, although I guess it depends on how much you want to annotate and/or scroll. My guess is that there is an app that will allow you to reformat PDFs for easier reading, at least for PDFs that can be recognized as text. For anything scanned, that may not be possible. The application PadNotes seems like something ideal for your uses. It allows you to use a PDF as a background image and then draw and write over it. This is an area where I think the iPad’s screen really excels. You can see a lot of the page, whereas this isn’t as possible on the iPhone (at least, not at its current resolution).
http://www.9to5mac.com/padnotes-app-ipad-45983508
-Michael
April 1st, 2010 05:09
Hi heather,
I do not have an iPhone or iPod touch. I agree – they are both wonderful devices. Personally, as someone who right now carries my laptop with me at all times, going to an iPad will actually be less clunky! In terms of sharing photos, I feel reluctant to use a small device for two reasons. First, I think the iPad’s larger screen is better for viewing and sharing (multiple people looking at once). And second, I think it’s something that can be seen as a device to share, whereas any family member would be unlikely to open my laptop and launch iPhoto or look at my cell phone without permission.
I think that’s wonderful that your grandma was able to use your iPhone so easily! One of my main areas of research is in how the elderly choose to use and adapt to different types of technology. I’m specifically interested in understanding how the interface itself communicates how to use the device. I think the iPhone is a prime example of interface design that invites exploration.
Thanks again for your comment!
-Michael
April 1st, 2010 10:50
Hello Michael
I would ignore much of the negatives here until you can actually try an iPad for yourself. I worry about the doubtful integrity of so much eager commentary based on an absence of first-hand knowledge of the subject itself. Ho hum, what else is new?
The iPad will be a success in my opinion chiefly because it addresses needs and explores opportunities that became evident from the strengths and weaknesses noted in the iPhone and iPod Touch. The success of these two devices demonstrated their worth to many tens of millions and also proved that a purely touch based device has redefined (and re-imagined) ease of use in computing. What better then, than to overcome the two chief limitations of these two pioneering designs – low power and lack of screen space. Scrolling around all day to enjoy the entirety of a view on a small screen, soon becomes tiresome. Life is too short….. As for the weight of an iPad, how much does a chunky paperback or hardback weigh nowadays? I’ve observed many people standing in buses and trains for more than an hour holding huge broadsheet newspapers open at shoulder height and arms’ length. They were not weight lifters or registered masochists in training.
The iPad will appeal to all those dazed and confused people who gave up trying to use a PC or a Mac. They will smile again as they learn by their own efforts that it was not they who were too stupid to compute with ease but the techies who designed such arcane, unfriendly systems. I estimate that there are almost a billion such folk who will approach iPad with confidence anew. The iPad will find favour in every usage area that it addresses and most of these are still waiting to be discovered! That is the magic of it, as others have observed. It will be a catalyst for new ideas and creative ways to do familiar things more easily, as I will hint at here.
As a device to use in tandem with a desktop or laptop, there is huge potential. In creative work, the iPad can be a mixing palette for an artist whose work is being viewed and painted on another more powerful computer with a larger screen. It’s called interoperability. In support of this I will say that there’s a Scrabble game coming that shows the game board on an iPad but allows each player to view their own tiles in the privacy of their iPhone or iPod Touch! You’ll see where this could lead, I’m thinking.
A video editor can now have a handheld tracks and effects controller to work her magic on the main screen. The same applies to composers and musicians working with complex multi-controller software like Logic Studio, for which a keyboard and mouse are truly awkward transducers of thoughts into creations. Knobs and switches to twist and click (tap) to your heart’s content…… Ahhh, joy again.
For children, the iPad may become the ultimate early learning tool. Penguin Books seem to think so. Based on what I have seen in apps for existing devices, there are some wonderfully creative minds out there designing apps that amaze and delight with their beauty, simplicity and power. I can see some bright spark designing a completely new musical instrument, from scratch, with no baggage in the way of pre-conditioned ideas of what a musical instrument ‘should be’ and with the sole objective of making it powerful, expressive and yet ultra easy to learn to use. this is possible as others have demonstrated by doing terrific work to render the Periodic Table of Elements in ways that are beautiful and easily comprehensible to mere mortals like me. Ease of use, promotes use. That may be a daily mantra at Apple. Who knows, perhaps they gather each morning for five minutes of ritual chanting of these words. whatever it is, it haas worked for 30+ years.
Videographers and filmmakers will queue to buy one as it could be a monitor that is so much more than just a dumb monitor. Photographers will use it as a viewfinder to monitor a camera remotely and even trigger exposures. That might strike a chord with you Michael.
I could go on.
As a former trainer, I can fully appreciate your planned use of an iPad as an aide-memoire and a completion checklist that you can carry around with you and refer to unobtrusively. That is true professionalism. Only a terminal naysayer would suggest it might be a prop for unpreparedness, incompetence or carelessness. We often accuse others of our own failings in life; or so i’ve heard.
I’m British and living in Malaysia pro tem. The iPad seemed an interminable wait away. I’ve been through some manic organising to get an iPad sent to me from the USA. It’s so much cheaper than flying there just to get one! I was eager because I have no shortage of ways in which I plan to use mine. All my computers earn their keep or I show them to the door.
Clearly I can agree with some that it’s less convenient to carry around than an iPhone, but that is to make the mistake of looking at a new thing, with its own potential, somewhat blinded by a mindset stuck in the domain of the familiar. The iPad is, and isn’t, a larger iPod Touch. It loses that easy portability but it is freed from all those constraints imposed by small size. Imagine…..
I also believe that a device like this should carry a positive mental health warning (for a change). Something along the lines of:
‘Warning: Extended use of an iPad may seriously enhance your IQ and enlarge your cranium significantly.’
We will see. Que Sera etc.
Buy one. I seriously doubt that you’ll regret it. You may find that it excites new ideas all of your own for your teaching work and for recreation. In 10 years’ time it will still be earning its keep as a capable digital picture frame. That too, will serve a purpose for you.
Best
Chandra Coomaraswamy
Disclosures:
I am an ageing and unashamed fanboy and happy shareholder in Apple Inc. I remain demanding of my value and am wholly objective as a discerning customer.
April 1st, 2010 12:00
Hi Chandra,
Thanks very much for the extensive, enthusiastic, and well-informed comment. I’ll be at my local Apple Store, 9 AM (or earlier!) Saturday morning, excited and ready for my iPad.
Thanks again, and good luck getting yours soon!
-Michael