The Apple iPad is Great – Still Provides Room for Improvements
Being based in the EU at the moment, I finally got my iPad yesterday and have now spent some quality time with it the last 32 hours. First impression has been extremely good even if it did not take long to figure out what the iPad 2.0 will need to provide.
I’m sure that if someone is able to make the tablet PC a viable product category Apple is the company to do it (first). Still, without knowing the intended positioning at Apple they have succeeded to create a device that is perfect for the my-lap-internet-computer-used-in-the coach-in-front-of-the-TV and I-love-to-read-the-morning-newspaper-without-6sqft-of-empty-space-around-me use cases. It is brilliant for that, and I’m glad to see that we can finally start to enjoying a very pleasant digital magazine reading experience.
Anyway, to expand the use cases, I suggest Apple do the following simple improvements.
1) Make it less slippery. The first gen iPhone had this same problem and I’m surprised Apple did not learn from this mistake. Designs for usability is not living up to its meaning.
2) Add the missing “Back” button. As a previous iPhone and current Google Nexus One user I’ve grown to love the back button in Android. not having this makes me frustrated as it really improves the UI navigation experience (not talking about the browser here)
3) I know there are rumours for this but having an Android-like (simulated) multi tasking experience (Sorry Apple, even Nokia did this years ago) to switch apps by holding e.g. the Home button would be a killer feat for the iPad.
4) Offer carrying & protection for the device and the screen. As it is now, it is not very portable as such and always need special attention wherever you transport it. My 11.6” laptop actually feels much more convenient to carry around. This can be fixed with 3rd party products but it kind of falls outside of the intended great use experience. As such, it works for the couch and bed.
5) Include a build in kick stand for watching video and reading. The iPad is just about unbeatable when it comes to viewing video on the go, and being able to have it in upright position without holding it would add a lot of value. Please add the kick stand in the next version.
6) Add a camera to the perfect Web video phone. This is featured in every second blog mentioning the iPad so I’ll be short but this combined with the kick stand would have opened up a completely new market segment for the iPad.
That’s all for now, now back to couch-surfing on the Apple iPad, one of the greatest Internet devices released so far…
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