Living with the Apple iPad (part 3)

Back in May I talked about the launch of the iPad in the UK. In July  I wrote about some tips for purchasing and using an iPad. In August I updated this with further tips, mainly on syncing with a PC. Now after 10 weeks of use, where the iPad has hardly left my side, here is a further update looking at what’s good and bad about the iPad.

Firstly why buy it?

I just love it. This emotional response far outweighs any of the negative logical points below.

I love its neat size. I love the touch screen and its magnification features. I love using standard apps such as email and Twitter in a portable format. I love that I can run iPhone apps at a size that makes them much easier to use. I love …. The list goes on. The device itself just works beautifully. It runs at least all day on one charge.

It was bought principally for passive use - to read websites and documents and watch YouTube videos  - but also to write and run simple business presentations. But what I’ve found is that I’m spending much more time on it writing stuff – tweets, notes of meetings, emails, etc.

So would I be better off with a Windows netbook or small laptop? That is the question I’ve been researching in terms of buying another device.  Without going into too much detail:

• Netbooks provide a similar size screen, or slightly larger, with the advantage of a “proper” keyboard
• Netbooks running Windows (Starter Edition) or Linux can run Word, Excel, Powerpoint, other PC apps, and Flash videos on websites (see below) which the iPad won’t run
• However Windows Starter is a heavily cut down version of Windows, so I’ve been focusing on smaller “laptops”, with and without a DVD drive (which netbooks do not have)

The conclusion I’ve come to is:

1. Use a smaller laptop (or maybe a netbook) to run PC software, Flash, and/or if a lot of data entry is needed
2. Run an iPad for everyday tasks and ultra-portability. Unless a laptop was necessary, like really necessary, it would be the iPad by my side

What tips are there for purchase?

As I mentioned in the earlier articles:

1. Go for a case such as the InCase instead of a screen shield. The InCase acts as a protector and a stand, both for own use, but especially for running slideshows and business presentations
2. Think twice whether it’s worth spending £100 on the microSIM socket models. This sum doesn’t include a 3G contract. The new MiFi devices from Three and Vodafone (subject to coverage) are £50 or less, and can be shared with your laptop and other WiFi devices, again excluding contract. But the charge doesn't last very long, so you need to carry a mains or car recharging cable.
3. Also think twice whether it is buying more than the 16GB RAM version. More is only needed if you are likely to want to store lots of videos or pictures.
4. But as neither the RAM nor the 3G slot can be upgraded later, go for the best model you can afford.

I have also found it useful to lock the screen in the landscape position, so the “menu” button used to change apps is always on the right (or left if you prefer).

But what are the frustrations?

There are a few principle frustrations, none of which relate to the device itself, in two main categories:

1. Limitations in the software provided as standard by Apple
2. Limitations in the third party apps, especially PC software that has been rather too heavily cut-down for the iPad

Limitations in the software provided as standard by Apple

Out of the box, the system has five fundamental frustrations:

1. The Safari web browser does read PDFs, but does not have a “Find” function. For these and longer web pages, it’s all by eye!
2. No support for Flash. You can watch YouTube videos and BBC iPlayer, but most other videos or sound streams on websites cannot be viewed. This means you cannot watch or listen to any live TV transmissions nor videos embedded on the BBC website, amongst others. (But note that as Flash crashes regularly on a PC, a non-Flash standard such as HTML5 is preferred as a future solution)
3. Difficult to load photos from a PC. All photos wanted on the iPad must be held permanently as a copy in one specific folder on the PC, otherwise what is already on the iPad gets overwritten and lost
4. It is not multi-user, so confidential information cannot be hidden if you let someone else use the device. It would be far better if there was a simple set-up for multiple log-ins and a public folder, similar to Windows
5. The absence of left and right arrows on the keyboard can be a bit annoying, especially when trying to correct spelling mistakes. 

(Tip: You can get around the lack of arrow keys in two ways (a) by tapping on the beginning or end of a word, and (b) by holding your finger down on a word until a mini magnifying glass appears, and sliding held-down finger to move cursor. There are also "Undo" and "Redo" keys hidden on the second and third levels of the keyboard, accessible by pressing the numbers and then symbols keys)

The three principle optional apps which are available at a small charge are poor:

• “Pages” for word processing is OK, as it can read and write simple Word documents. For writing notes, I tend to use the standard “Notes” app instead
• “Numbers” spreadsheet is almost unusable for new spreadsheets, but can read and write simple Excel
• “Keynote” for presentations is actually quite good, but can’t be used to run anything but simple imported Powerpoint or Mac Keynote presentations (suggestions welcomed for any workarounds!)

The “Office2 HD” app for iPad at only £4.99 is supposed to have much better Word and Excel read and write functionality (so you can edit a Word document and send it on). This is officially only for 97-2003 (XP) versions, but not 2007 or 2010. I have just downloaded it, and will try it out with a range of Office versions and report back later.

Otherwise you need to try out compatibility yourself. Fonts are likely to be a problem, and you will need to standardise and coordinate things like this if necessary.

Limitations in the third party apps

The iPad runs on the same operating systems as the iPhone4:

• All iPhone apps run on the iPad, in “portrait” mode but with a x2 button that magnifies them to fill the available screen
• Specific iPad apps are also available, designed for the iPad screen

These are all downloaded from Apple’s “ iTunes” site, whether the apps are free or chargeable. The site clearly groups apps into iPad and iPhone.

Native iPhone apps tend to be very good, albeit formatted for the small size of an iPhone screen. The following major apps are currently only available in iPhone format :
•    Facebook (plus third party clients in iPad format)
•    LinkedIn
•    Foursquare
•    MetOffice (with information no more accurate than on PC)
•    Some newspapers, such as the Guardian

Native iPad apps are often cut down versions of PC apps. These tend to have frustrating omissions. It’s as if the iPad version of each app was rushed out at minimal expense. To take a few:

1. YouTube: The iPad version does not run playlists, so each video has to be run independently, and when each video finishes the playlist sequence not visible to see what next to play. Fortunately frequency range and response virtually indistinguishable from a standard PC, using the same standard headphones, so I’ve gone back to using the PC when available. In addition, I’m finding a YouTube video opened from a Twitter or similar link does not run until clicking to run in the Safari browser
2. TweetDeck: This keeps crashing at random (the only app to do so) and is missing several standard features, such as not being able to see details of a person. This means that it is not possible to start following a person mentioned in someone else’s tweet. There has been no update for over 2 months, despite many recorded complaints
3. Twitter’s own iPad app: This is not a patch on either the “old” or “new” Twitter PC apps.

So in Conclusion

The iPad is certainly a tremendous piece of kit. It is far more than just a gadget. What works well, works very well indeed.

However, it would just be good for the software issues mentioned above to be fixed sooner rather than later. Then the iPad would be just brilliant!