iPad Review: Initial Thoughts

Here are my initial thoughts on the iPad (video also). While many folks were sitting in line at an Apple store, I had taken the risk (which is very unlike me) and pre-ordered a device with shipment directly to my house.

My early conclusion is that the iPad is exactly what I was hoping for in terms of quality and experience.

A Platform for Content Consumption, Not Creation 

Okay, so we all read this early on and it is true. The iPad fulfills it's intended purpose of content consumption very well. It is not a content creation platform. I could not even post to my blog from the Safari browser, which is a gap that will close in future updates, I'm certain. You can't take pictures or video with iPad either.

On the flip side, watching videos and surfing the net are awesome experiences. Even without Flash, there is plenty of video content to consume from Netflix and other apps.

Performance

A major source of appeal for me is the quick boot up time for the iPad. Unlike my Windows-base laptop, which can take several minutes to boot up, you pick up the iPad and you are in action as soon as you hit the power button.

The interface is smooth and slick. Frankly, I'm shocked at the battery life built into the device. I used it for about 4 to 5 hour straight this afternoon and it still has more than 60 percent battery life. Try that on your Droid, iPhone, or iTouch. And thank Apple, for making sure that battery was fully charged before it left the factory in China on Wednesday. I had 100 percent full battery power out of the box.

No glitches and smooth interface have made for a very fun experience so far. Not all the apps are perfect, but I'm certain developers will be sending out updates faster than we can download them.

Favorite apps

My favorite iPad app so far is the Kindle app from Amazon. It's exactly what I was hoping Amazon would deliver. I download the app, entered my username / password, and in about a minute, all my Kindle books purchased on my iTouch were on board and available.

I also downloaded iBooks. The experience is different, but I'll definitely give it a try with some free books before I write it off.

Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and USA Today have free apps to download. We'll all be paying for the content soon. I accessed the WSJ content through my print subscription ID. Now more than ever, I believe iPad-like tablets will definitely save newspapers. Yes, the solution has arrived and the need for high quality, high journalistic content will be stronger than ever with these devices.

Surprisingly, Facebook doesn't have an iPad app available today. Quite honestly, I was really surprised at that, but I'm certain that will be resolved quickly. Meanwhile the iTouch app and access through the Safari browser give users complete access to Facebook. I had initial issues with the Tweetdeck app (see the video), but I think I have it figured out now. It's pretty decent.

Conclusion

The iPad isn't perfect. If you are in a lit room, the screen is too reflective and hard to see. Maybe a protector will fix that a bit, but I found that to be one of only a few minor issues so far.

Was it worth the risk to pre-order? Yes. Absolutely.

But don't toss away your laptop. If you plan to create and post content (blogs, video, etc.), Apple still has some work to do on that front. 

But if you are looking for a convenient, slick, well-crafted platform to consume content, the iPad rocks!