We didn’t preorder so I thought we were safe, but predictably, Huz came home on Saturday with an iPad anyway. I feel it’s only right I give my first impressions, but I haven’t gotten to play with it much. And not because Huz wouldn’t let me — he’s practically shoved the thing in my face a jillion times and forced me to at least touch it, but I have been very hesitant to get to attached.
Why? It’s synced to Huz’s iTunes account and computer. I’ve had my own gear for almost as long as I’ve been online, and to use somebody else’s gadgets just feels wrong and unnatural. And under no circumstances do I want to be tempted to buy my own because there are other toys higher up on my list (ahem, iPhone 4.0 and possibly new hardware on April 8th!), and oh yeah, bills need to be paid and Hugga will eventually grow out of the summer clothes we just bought her. Also, given all the time Huz spent on this stupid thing all weekend, I can’t help eyeing it like it’s The Other Woman. Ugh. Fuck you iPad.
BUT ANYWAY, I am loath to admit that this thing is really lovable. It’s fast, the screen is beautiful, and Huz explained to me about a billion different scenarios in which it would actually be useful. I’m fully aware of how clutch the iPad will be on our road trip, just for the Yo Gabba Gabba and Pocoyo-watching factor. But I’m still not sold on totally ditching my MacBook Pro for one… yet.
The keyboard takes getting used to. I said the same about the iPhone when I first got it, and now I’m super tempted to type on the iPad with just my thumbs, but obviously my hands aren’t big enough. Not a whole lot of video content (specifically Fleshbot) is viewable on it either, at least not until HTML5 rolls out and everyone gets on the bandwagon. Also, I really want a front-facing iSight on this, and I swear that has nothing to do with the previous sentence.
The lynchpin, of course, is how I’m able to read eBooks on this thing, which I haven’t tried yet, and which, frankly, I’m too afraid to try. I did download the Kindle app and briefly tested page turning the books I already bought, but not so much actual reading. I will say that at least on the Kindle app, the eBooks look more like real books, but I’m still not convinced I’ll be able to spend hours reading on a backlit screen without killing my eyes.
So those are some early, early impressions from a person who just sort of has the thing in the house. The 3G version will come out at the end of the month, but iPhone 4.0 will be unveiled on Thursday, so that should give people enough time figure out their gadget budget, IMO. I’m still holding out for the do-it-all device that’ll fit in my pocket.
(If it matters, my next-gen iPhone wishlist is merely a front-facing camera. I couldn’t give two shits about multi-tasking. I jailbroke and it wasn’t really all that. I just want new hardware with a video camera, and possibly Skype video conferencing, since we couldn’t upgrade to the 3GS last year.)
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