Fearful that the iPad could become the hot Christmas gift in short supply like the 1983 cabbage patch doll, I broke down and bought myself an iPad this weekend. I got the 32 GB WiFi + 3G model, a tripod case that makes screen typing easier and a small keyboard. Even though Apple said they would “set it up” if I bought it at the Apple store, I decided to take advantage of the credit card 5% off deal from a retailer and spent the weekend trying to figure it out. I am writing this blog on Sunday while watching a very sad Bronco football game.
After admitting this, I guess I fit the typical profile of an early adopter. A study released last week found that most users are well-educated, hard working guys between the ages of 35 and 64. While I am not sure I am well educated, the study by the Reynolds Journalism Institute found that most users were well-schooled, successful guys between the ages of 35 and 64 who use the iPad for reading at home.
The study found that:
- 80% of users are men
- 70% are between the ages of 35 and 64 (the average age of all respondents is 48)
- 73% reported that they use it most at home
- 90% reported their satisfaction was either very satisfied or somewhat satisfied
- 76% reported they are very likely to recommend the iPad
- 63% reported that they spent more than an hour a day with the iPad
- 89% said that they use their iPad throughout the week.
At this early stage, I can say there are some things I love and others that I hate. I love the wide variety of web experiences such as web browsing, email and social media such as Facebook and Twitter. I like the app store too much. Like the Kindle Store, it is too easy to download apps or books and with little effort. I like the NetFlix app and streaming movies. I like the access to my Kindle books and the access to the NY Times and USA Today. But the newspaper access is only available when online, which means I can't download newspaper subscriptions purchased through Amazon for the Kindle and read them on an airplane – at least not yet.
Admittedly I am a newbee and maybe there are work-arounds but there are two things I hate. I hate the lack of arrow keys on the iPad screen keyboard, which makes it tough to correct a typo, especially if you have big fat fingers like me. But this may be an easy change since the screen is “virtual” and if I were a betting guy I would bet that future OS changes would include arrow keys for both word processing as well as spreadsheet applications. Thankfully this is a huge advantage of the seperate keyboard.
And most of all I hate the lack of save options, and lack of standard computer file folder strategy. I would love to have the iPad appear on the network, share files with my computer, and allow “Save” and “Save As” functions with files – but I can’t – at least not easily.
There are all kinds of work-around solutions with iTunes, emailing and iWorks to transfer and synchronize files but they are all kludgy. It’s strange to say but it is easier for me to save a Word file as a PDF and copy it to a $140 Kindle than transfer files to a $700 iPad for access on an airplane.
At this point I am emailing files, but I am curious how others are "working around" the issues of file transfer and saving? Anyone have some great work-arounds?
Howard Fenton is a Senior Consultant at NAPL. Howie advises commercial printers, in-plants, and manufacturers on workflow management, operations, digital services, and customer research.
