iPad - A New Paradigm in Computing

I was tempted to write a post shortly after I got my iPad but thought better of it.  I wanted to use the iPad everyday for several weeks before summarizing my experience.  My overall conclusion is that the iPad truly represents a new paradigm in computing.  It's a game changer.  I've written on this blog for years that advances in operating systems that were touted by others as being significant, like Windows 7 and OSX Snow Leopard, were really tweaks on a decades old system.  The iPad is a true departure from this operating system heritage.  It's a resetting of the dial.  It's what's called "clean-sheet" design in the industry - not worrying about backward compatibility and consistency with prior systems.  

I believe that Apple had a vision for the iPad when they designed the iPod Touch and the iPhone. By the way, I don't think they planned the evolution of the non-touch iPods as carefully since the information architecture broke several times throughout that product family transition.  It was different with the touch line of products.  I think they were planned as a transition.  Introducing a phone with touch capability was revolutionary but it also set the stage for the later introduction of the iPad so that everyone was already comfortable interacting with a touch device.  You can use the iPad the moment you turn it on partly because you've experienced an iPhone or iPod Touch before (or any of the other manufacturer's products that have copied the interaction design).  Interestingly, though, the iPad feels quite natural to those who haven't had experience with a touch device previously.  The actions are generally so natural and obvious that it leads truly to a walk up and use experience.

Here are the things that I think are key to the new computing paradigm that the iPad is introducing.

1. Instant On - while other computers need to boot up even if they're coming off a sleep state, the iPad comes on as fast as you can swipe your finger to unlock the screen.  It's amazingly fast - essentially instant. This is a game changer because the iPad becomes the device of choice when you want to quickly check your e-mail, an app, or a website.  
2. Convenient Portability - while notebook computers and netbooks are portable in that you can carry them around, you still have to use them like a computer; similarly, smartphones are portable too but are too small to do any number of activities that require a larger screen and keyboard. The iPad has the ideal form factor to conveniently access and interact with information.
3. Simplicity - while other operating systems make a user figure out a file system, the concept of an application that works with files in the file system, left and right mouse clicks, click and drag, and such esoteric things as drivers, settings, and the need to download, install, and configure applications, the iPad simply has apps which you can get by pressing a button called "Install App" and an interface that mostly works like you would expect it would if you were using an analogue version of the thing (flip the page in a book by placing your finger on the page and pushing it.)

The iPad at my house is used by anyone who needs quick access to content, for watching movies personally, and for using doing school projects.  I should point out that since I got the iPad in Canada before it was available in Canada, my access to the App Store has been problematic.  Initially, the App Store wouldn't load at all and it would after I created a US account but then I could only download free apps because I needed a US credit card in order to buy paid apps.  I now know about the latest fix to even be able to buy apps in the US store but haven't gone through the laborious steps to do that.  It has been frustrating working with the iPad given these conditions and it has also meant that I haven't been able to use higher-end productivity apps to further test the iPad experience.

There are some limitations that I've experienced.  The glare of the screen is problematic in bright light conditions but I use mine indoors mostly so this isn't a problem very often.  The lack of printing support may become a problem once I use higher-end apps.  The lack of a camera is a problem in trying to use the iPad for Skype calls but a recent Camera for the iPad app appears to have partially solved the camera problem.  I find the lack of multitasking a problem in only certain situations and I suspect the 4.0 version of the OS will address this issue. The major problem I've experienced thus far has actually been the inconsistency in the user interface design of the apps on the iPad.  Apple appears to have approved some of these apps too quickly in order to fill out the App Store for the launch and I hope they'll review apps more carefully in the future.

I'll provide another review in time when I get direct access to my country's App Store and then use more sophisticated apps.  All in all, my impression from a few weeks of using the iPad is that it represents the first in a new paradigm of computing.  

Comments

[David Schwartz]

Thanks Karel.

I was reading about the highly rendered visual experience of iPad software and how it can undermine the discoverability of touch controls within an app. Any experience with this?

David

[Karel Vredenburg]

Interesting point, David. That's related to the comments I was making in the post about the inconsistencies in the user interface design of the apps on the iPad. One news app will include a collection of images that look static but then you discover that you can flick the collection vertically and find more images but then you go to another news apps and try the same thing but it doesn't have the same behavior; instead, after a while, you discover that the second news app actually uses a horizontal scrolling of the images.

I've also experienced situations where I'll be reading something and pushing the page up to see more of the page and then discover that the story I was reading is completely gone. After some further discovery, I learned that you can swipe right and left to move between stories. However, if you exert a little pressure right or left while you're scrolling down, you can inadvertently switch stories. There's no affordance in the user interface for these actions. The user interface model used on the iPad tends to only show controls once you start a touch action. For example, a stroll bar appears only after you touch the screen to scroll.

I'm still willing to go with the user interface model that Apple has used here and put the interaction design problems down to the fact that virtually all of the apps in the store were developed and tested entirely using the emulator. Now that designers and developers have had their hands (and fingers quite literally) on the actual iPad for a month we'll likely start to see better design and behaved apps. As I mentioned in the piece, Apple may also get more stringent with their approval process once again. Contrary to popular belief, many app developers actually appreciate the approval process because they get such good design advice on their app.

Thanks for the follow up on the post.

Karel

[Tracy Hutcheson]

How about connectivity? What's the wireless experience? Are you using for your work applications such as Lotus Notes, VPN etc?

tracy.

[Karel Vredenburg]

Connectivity is amazing actually, Tracy. Not only is the iPad instant-on, its connectivity is also instant-on. I press the "on" button, swipe my finger to unlock the screen, and tap the "Mail" app after which I instantly have the e-mail updates downloading. I've only seen the "connecting" progress indicator once or twice during the time that I've had the device.

I haven't put any of my work things on the device because I'm using it as the family communications device. My work things are on my personal communications device, the iPhone which also has the additional security built-in to access work systems.

The only system that I'm having any difficulty with on the iPad is Facebook. It only has an iPhone app to date with no plans even discussed regarding an iPad one. While Facebook does mostly work on Safari on the iPad, key components of it surprisingly don't work. Lists of friends can't scroll, Facebook chat doesn't work, and the keyboard doesn't come up in certain parts of Facebook. I hope that they develop an iPad app soon.

Lastly, when I say that Facebook has an iPhone app but I don't use it, you may well say but Steve Jobs said that all iPhone apps automatically work on the iPad and that you just need to press the "2X" button. That comment was a bit disingenuous on Steve's part in that he's technically right but given all the focus at Apple on the user experience, it is surprising that they would recommend that people use iPhone apps on the iPad. The user experience of using an iPhone app on the iPad is horrible. I've deleted all my iPhone apps off the iPad.

Karel

[Tracy Hutcheson]

iPhone apps not working on iPad, not surprising to me. We need the mobile browsers to support and push the standard web UI technology so we don't have to write native apps everytime.

[Karel Vredenburg]

I agree, Tracy. However, those UIs need to be appropriately designed for touch.