Okay, I’ll admit it. I ordered an iPad the first day you could. I gave my reasons HERE.
I’ve had it almost two weeks so I thought I’d give my impressions.
What I noticed first:
- The screen. It’s very cool. You’ve got to see pictures to really get it.
- The size. For me and my uses, it’s perfect. I don’t really like the rounded back, but I use it in a case most of the time so I guess it doesn’t matter
- The cool factor. Apple did it again. They know cool.
What I liked best:
- You can preach with it. That’s the main reason I wanted it, to replace my black 7X9 notebook and paper notes. The idea of being able to continuously update my message as a thought hits me is the killer app for me. I’ve tried using laptops, but it ties me too close to the computer and I get distracted by remote controls. The ability to carry it around while I talk and have it look like a small legal pad works for me. I’ve already used it twice. Love it.
- You can read on it. I’ve already become a Kindle lover to the point of refusing to buy and carry around “real” books. (Hint, hint…if publishers want me to read and promote books, send them to me in epub format. Otherwise, I just give them away.) Reading on the iPad takes it to a whole nutha level! I love how my Bibles look (youversion, ESV online study Bible).
- You can share vision with it. A big part of my job is communicating vision. With the Keynote app I can sit down with someone and give visual emphasis to what I’m thinking about. That’s pretty cool…something I want to get good at.
- It doesn’t look like you are lugging around a computer. It’s great for jotting a few notes in a meeting (or watching the CUBS on MLB if the meeting lacks interest
. Since it looks like a “real” notepad, you can easily carry it anywhere. - You don’t have to sit by the power outlet. It seems that the battery lasts a LOT longer than my laptop (Macbook Air) or my iPhone.
- You can attach a keyboard to it. While I’ve gotten used to one handed “thumbing” on my iphone, you are not going to want to type a very long email or article on the virtual keyboard on the iPad. There is something about resting your fingers on a live keyboard that can’t be done on the screen. I still find myself resorting to my thumbs and an occasional index finger. It’s nice to have the option of hooking up to a bluetooth keyboard.
- You can think with it. I’ve been using programs like Carbonfin Outliner, Evernote, and the native Notes App to capture my thoughts with my iPhone, but the extra screen real estate is even more inviting for a good solo brainstorm.
What could be improved:
- You can’t work on one document from multiple locations very easily. My standard work flow goes something like this: I open a “Sermon Template” document to start my message prep every week. I save it to Evernote immediately so I can access and edit the same file from any computer. At the end of the week I distribute copies to the proper people from the Evernote file. You can’t do that with the iPad. I suspect it has to do with Apple’s “walled garden” philosophy. I have figured out a work around using iWork.com, but it doesn’t need to be this hard. Honestly, the iPad Pages App is good for touching up what you’ve already created somewhere else, but it’s difficult to do very much moderately serious word processing. (I had to type this blog on my laptop.)
- You can’t print from the iPad. Why not? Good question.
- You can’t do much on a big screen. I purchased the VGA adaptor hoping to be able to project on a big screen. I was disappoint to find that the only thing that projects are Keynote slide shows (somewhat poorly) and a few youtube videos. I would love to project my Pages notes, web surfing, and other things for our weekly message planning meetings. Not so much…
- You have to take it out of it’s case to put it on a keyboard stand. The case fit’s like a glove, so that is always a bit of a wrestling match. I’m tempted to buy a third party case that will support the iPad on a horizontal slant (Quirky), and use an unattached bluetooth keyboard.
- You can’t do video conferencing with it. No front facing camera. That’s just dumb…
- You can’t multi-task. What does that mean? Normal stuff is twice as hard. Fortunately this one is being addressed this fall.
The verdict:
Do I like it? Yeah, a lot.
Do I love it? Nope, not yet.
My advice? If you can’t wait, go ahead and get one. It does some pretty cool things. But if you’ve got the patience, you might want to see if someone (Google? HP? Generic Android?) comes up with a comparable product that let’s you leave your laptop at home. Now that would be really cool.
Check back with me in a couple of months. I may have changed my mind.
What do you think?
It looks like a really cool toy. Maybe version 2.0 or beyond will actually be useful.
Comment by Geoff Surratt — April 13, 2010 @ 10:40 am
Really nice review, Geoff! My feels so far are quite similar, though I think I can say I love it. What I don't know yet is if that's due to new car smell, or inherent awesomeness. Size, screen, portability, long battery power, Kindle and Bible apps are wonderful. I'm glad much of my data is in the cloud, but do any serious writing in Word. I too was bummed by case and dock not working together.
I look forward to your update in a few months. I'll do a review soon as well.
I'm finding the ease of 'quick access' is also super. One swipe, two seconds to launch, I'm in my app instantly. Compared to 3 minutes to boot up laptop or 1 1/2 to wake from sleep and launch browser, then navigate to YouVersion, the iPad rocks. I'm in and out more often. It's definitely more than a toy. Although, best of all perhaps, I love my kids sitting in my lap and playing games together on it
Comment by Larry — April 13, 2010 @ 11:16 am
Michael Hyatt has an interesting review today as well: "The iPad: An Elegant Solution in Search of a Problem" at http://michaelhyatt.com/2010/04/the-ipad-an-elega…
(And… oops on the name, Greg – I followed Geoff's retweet to find this post. It's all his fault!!
Comment by Larry — April 13, 2010 @ 11:33 am
So I ordered on the 1st day but I got the wifi+3G 64GB one so I haven't got it yet. I figured I would pay more now than regret later. I HOPE I LOVE IT Pastor G!
Comment by Jennifer Jones — April 13, 2010 @ 12:29 pm
Thanks Pastor Greg! I wanted to buy one myself but was waiting to see what the negative fall-out may be…Im going to wait.
Comment by Tracy Bolt — April 13, 2010 @ 1:32 pm
Greg, I am with you. I have never heard of CarbonFin. What a cool app? (But for the life of me, I can't figure out the marketing rationale behind the name!)
Great review.
Comment by Michael Hyatt — April 13, 2010 @ 2:03 pm
I haven't purchased an iPad yet but I'm planning on it. I hadn't thought of using it for preaching, but now that you mentioned it, I want one even more!!
On a side note, I would be interested in seeing your sermon template that seems to be compatible with a couple of programs. The one I currently use always has issues when I transport it to another program.
Comment by Danny — April 13, 2010 @ 5:09 pm
For our family it is great. It's more like a big toy for us and the only thing I don't like is the calendar functionality for non-Mac users. But other than that I LOVE it!
Comment by Mimi — April 13, 2010 @ 5:45 pm
The keyboard issue can be fixed by using a bluetooth keyboard instead of using the docked keyboard– gives you a lot more flexibility and ease of use. I imagine we'll start seeing more and more accessories that improve some of the issues.
Comment by Delhokie — April 13, 2010 @ 6:09 pm
Loved the blog! I am a youth pastor who has been looking at the iPad to solve the same problems…thank you that I won't have to upset Dave Ramsey just to find out that it doesn't really solve anything. Albert Einstein: "We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them." Or as one man said: "beware of technology that solves a problem technology created." Thanks again for sharing.
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