On initial inspection, an iPad will appear to many as the title of this article implies, but let me say this: you’re wrong. Granted, it does look a lot like a big iPhone, but the implication of its larger size will affect the way it is used much more profoundly.
Let me explain.
It’s all about Content
We are now a society with a voracious appetite for content. By content, I mean absolutely anything that you can watch, read and listen to on a computer, all being delivered to you via the internet. Thanks to the internet, there are now many more channels available for content to be delivered to you than there have ever been before. This is where Apple and the iPad come in. By creating a device that is less cumbersome than a laptop and more usable than a Smartphone, they have created a middle ground or a ‘third category’ of device as it is now becoming known. Apple are counting on the iPad to change the way we consume content , much the same way the iPhone changed our perception about the limitations of the traditional Smartphone.
Let’s not forget the software
VisiCalc was the original 'Killer App' for the personal computer
If you were to stop a few people in the street today and ask them ‘What is the main purpose of the iPad?’ you’d be lucky to get a few, if any consistent answers. The reason for that is that no one really knows yet. If you were to repeat this experiment in the early 1980’s asking people what the main purpose of the personal computer was then, chances are you’d likely get the same answers. The point I am trying to illustrate is that the iPad is only limited by the creativity of the leagues of developers creating new and innovative ways for us to use it. The real turning point for the iPad will be the moment it finds its ‘killer app’ in the same way word processing/spreadsheet software acted as a catalyst for the widespread distribution of the personal computer 30 years ago.
What can we expect to see?
The iPad was designed in a way to make consuming content supremely easy and enjoyable; the emphasis was not on creating content, hence the omission of a physical keyboard. The iPad’s large (9.7 inch diagonal) screen and impressive 10 hour battery life were clearly intended to facilitate the consumption of visual content, such as movies, books and web-based content. Apple’s flagship iTunes and fledgling iBooks are poised to make this a reality; however this does not mean that the iPad won’t be used for productive tasks, it will – it just needs to show us how.
An Inconsistent Interface
As with any new and disruptive technology, there is always an initial ‘teething’ period. Jakob Nielsen – a world renowned expert on user interface design and best practice recently wrote a review which lambasted the iPad and its early apps for having unusual and inconsistent interactions. This is hardly surprising, considering the iPad is a brand new device, and existing ways of designing interfaces cannot simply be transposed onto the iPad – it’s a different beast altogether.
What comes next?
The challenge now lies in the hands of designers and developers around the world to come together and begin designing iPad apps and iPad optimised websites that adhere to good usability practices and that we avoid making the same mistakes as we have done in the past, when designing for new platforms. Once the iPad matures, and a set of interaction ‘standards’ are defined, we will begin to see the iPad offer value – both at home and in business, in new and innovative ways.
[...] So the iPad has been around quite a while now, in tech-time anyway, so it’s my turn to make a few points about it which will contrast with my colleague David’s article, The iPad: More Than Just a Big iPhone. [...]