IPad, Just Another Gadget

Recently I have been tinkering with IPad for some time, in an attempt to convince myself to use it on day to day basis. However I felt it is was not built for working people who use the computers to produce something of value to their companies or customers.

This might be hard said, but that was my reaction. For me IPad is a gadget and not a tool for work. Before going further, I would like to note that this does not diminish its value as an amazing technological device.

On the other hand for people who use computers as a productivity tool, there are some big issues related to it. The minute you lay your hands on one of them you will instantly notice the following:

• Your fingers are not as precise as a mouse pointer, so if you are doing something like paintings or graphic design you will have hard times going through it.
  
• Also it is not suitable for real work on spreadsheets such as Excel, due to the endless manipulations you need to do with your fingers, instead of a mouse.
  
• Certainly it is not suitable for programming, but I guess this is the least of concerns for many people.
  
• Another annoying feature is the continuous switching back and forth of keyboards as well as jumping from alphabetic mode to numerical mode. This will make any writings take at least 1.5 times the writing on a real keyboard.
  
• Now the real big issue is in the design concept itself. To really use the IPad for writing you will have to bend over it to use its keyboard causing you a pain in the neck and shoulders on the long run, and reducing your ability to easily view the content of the screen. If you place it vertically to read or view the content you won’t be able to write without twisting your fingers and wrists.
  

So with all those drawbacks, what is IPad for?

Well it suffices to look at some of the advertisement to know that IPad is only for sharing photos, doing social networking, reading books or articles, viewing videos, and web browsing in general. But if you are doing serious work it won’t help you.

When I asked a friend if she is going to buy an IPad she replied: “what for? For music I have my IPod, for work I have my laptop and for roaming I have my mobile”.

So it is just fair to think that IPad is more cumbersome than a mobile, and less effective than a laptop.

Based on this assertion I don’t think that all of us agree with Mr. Steve Jobs that the era of PC is over.