iPad Review Day 1

Day 1, Part 1, I’m not sure, but yesterday at 11:30, a very chipper UPS man that obviously knew what he was carrying delivered an iPad to my door.  I had been on pins and needles for quite some time as can be attested to by my friends and family.  I’ll skip over the revolutionary nature of the device (it is) and the massive change in the way the entire planet operates (it will) and go straight to the good and the bad.

The good – it is amazingly fast – like a giant iPhone on crack – apps open in a flash (pun intended) and it navigates like a champ.  All of the features that were presented in the demos vetted to be true – great browsing, great full screen apps, etc.  Some of the apps are just down right awe inspiring – the BBC app, the Reuters app, the Weatherbug premium app…holy bananas!

The bad – could just be our internet, will have to vet further, but seeing some slowness in the internet speed itself.  The iPhone app compatibility mode is a joke – when that was demoed during in Jobs’ speach showing Facebook, I swore it looked better than that – a pixilated pile of goo.  But no matter, cause I am sure that almost all apps worth a damn will be either iPad friendly or ‘Universal’ in short order.  And finally – saw this on the Apple’s website – something about a fingerprint resistant screen – that’s a steaming pile of BS – it has my fingerprints all over it – I’ve used the cloth that I use to clean my glasses about ten times and it still has smudges.

Finally – a test of the productivity apps – iWork for iPad.  If I had any idea that these things would have been THIS powerful, I would have paid twice what I had or more.  I tinkered with Numbers for about an hour and I’ve already sworn off Excel (sorry my love) for all but the most demanding.  What I would like to see is a common files repository and the ability to sync my iPad to an entire folder, not just select a doc or two for each app in iTunes, one at a time…I suspect that won’t be far off.

All in all – it will change the way I work and play.  The iBooks app is whatever cause I’ve got all of my Kindle books on there (well played Amazon) and all my music still comes from Amazon as well (cheaper).  Otherwise, I’m sold – hook line and sinker!