About that OS and multitasking:
Now that I have had a bit more time with my iPad I thought it would be useful to share some application-specific thoughts. After all, the iPad runs Apple's iPhone OS and that "limits" it to the 150,000 or so applications you can download and install on it. This is approach has been a brilliant success for mobile devices like the iPhone and iPad Touch, but some have questioned whether it is too limiting for a device that attempts to approach laptop functionality.As I mentioned in my first review post, the OS does have its limitations and I have felt those limitations a bit more here than on my iPhone. The common phrase used to describe the main limitation is lack of multi-functioning. In other words, you can run more than one application at a time (there are a couple of exceptions, and some background tasks are allowed, but these are few and far between). This is an issue, to be sure, and one that Apple is going to address in iPhone OS 4.0 (coming out this summer to the iPhone and this fall to the iPad). There are times when I wish I could leave Pandora running while using other applications, for example.
However, this issue isn't as bad on the iPad as it would be on a laptop or other computer. The iPad's instant-on and application launching speed makes switching between applications nearly as quick as alt-tabbing between running applications on a computer. Most (not all!) applications save their last state, so hitting the "home" button and selecting the app you want to open up brings you back to where you left off in it. As a result, there are only a few circumstances where multitasking would make a significant difference. Music or audio from any source other than the iPod application (which can run in the background), having more than two or thee applications to hand for, say, research writing.
In my meeting testing I had to present information that was coming from several places: email message body, files attached to a message, and Evernote. It was easy enough to have the email message open in Mail, the tagged files at hand in Evernote, and the file attachment open in Pages, and switching between those applications was quick and easy. Each of them preserves the state of the last session, so no subsequent navigation was required. Really, it wasn't much different than alt-tabbing through the applications on my laptop. Had I needed multiple email messages open simultaneously, or multiple documents open in Pages, though, it would have required more maneuvering than on a laptop.
That said, the limiting factor here is more related to most applications inability to open more than one file window at a time than the lack of multitasking in the OS. Saved state is an important trait for applications in the instant-on world of the iPad, but finding ways to present multiple documents/files at the same time from within a single application may also become a new application standard to seek. In my experience so far, most (like Evernote, Mail, Outliner, and other writing applications) do a pretty good job of giving a list (and sometimes preview text or image showing content) of multiple files/documents while viewing one at full size. This comes pretty close, and makes finding and switching between documents within the application quick and easy.
Finally, on this point I also concede that we are talking about a usage case which isn't really what the iPad was designed for. I have been describing behavior associated with doing work (office or personal) on a computer/laptop, and the adaptations we have become accustomed to for that kind of work. This isn't what most consumers will do with an iPad as they sit or move around the house of an evening, reading a book, watching a movie, showing off photos, checking online, answering email, or checking in with Facebook and Twitter. Those of us who are interested in stretching the current usage case for the iPad need to be aware that we are looking outside the current design goals of the product.
Thoughts about specific applications:
First, applications which have not been upgraded specifically for the iPad are quickly becoming irritating to me. iPhone applications can be run on the iPad in their native size (which looks really stupid) or doubled to full-screen size. The latter state results in fuzzy out-of-focus text and interface tools. Usable, but not great. Fortunately, most of the applications I use most are already available in iPad flavors or universal versions which run on both iPhone and iPad at their respective aspect ratios and with features/interface customized to each).
As others have noted, you don't get the clock, stocks, or calculator applications on the iPad. The new iBooks application is also not pre-installed (though is a free download from the iTunes App Store). These omissions are probably due to the many users who have complained that you can't delete the built-in applications and the fact that there are better similar apps out there for download or purchase. Applications I have found especially well done on the iPad and which are now part of my regular-use stable:
Evernote: I've already raved about this one, so I'll leave at that. Evernote is a vital part of my workflow and having such a strong version for iPad is great. My wish list for Evernote is for the full editor feature set, especially the lists tools. I miss those a lot when taking notes on the iPad!
SketchNotes: a great note-taking notepad that allows both keyboard and finger-drawing, making it ideal for notes where illustrations or whiteboard sketching is part of the equation. Works very well, yet is very simple to use. Export (email) as PDF makes it useful beyond the iPad.
Pages: while I have some issues with the interface here and there, this is a very well done adaptation of full word processing for the iPad form factor. The fact that menus are only available when in portrait orientation, yet most of us will keyboard in landscape orientation, makes quickly adding things like bulleted lists to a page a complicated and workflow-interrupting process. We need something akin to keyboard shortcuts in some of these applications!
Outliner (Carbinfin): A very easy to use (and free) outliner that I will use until Evernote or Pages allows me to quickly create bulleted lists in notes. Export is limited to text and OPML, RTF or PDF would be more useful to me.
Digits: a great adding machine style calculator with running tape and nice large buttons for the iPad. Basic calculator functions, but works very well and the inclusion of a tape on-screen (displays in a column on the left side of the screen) is very welcome.
Utilities like Dictionary and WeatherBug have been nicely updated for the iPad. WeatherBug is my favorite weather app for iPad now; very rich and detailed informational interface.
Remote Pro is a great remote for the iPad and makes using my iPad as the keyboard and mouse for my entertainment center very easy. Many application-specific settings are built in, so you can quickly toggle between them and get customized screens optimized for each
On the news front: Reuters News Pro, NY Times Editor's Choice, BBC News, NPR, and USA Today all have beautifully adapted iPad applications and I recommend all of them for a well-rounded sense of what's going on in the world.
Twitter: I am torn between Twittelator Pad (this being my hands-down favorite on the iPhone) and Twitterriffic for the iPad. Twittelator has a beautiful interface and I find using the various tools and settings much easier. But it doesn't show me how many new messages have come in and it uses more screen real estate for its beautiful layout than for reading. Twitterrific has the cleanest interface of the two for simply reading Tweets and actually doing what most of us do with Twitter most often. I find it's interface, otherwise, needlessly confusing with lots of hidden drawers and screens. The last couple of days, though, I have been using Twitterrific more regularly on the iPad.
Facebook: this application has not been updated for the iPad yet. The good news is that the larger iPad version of Safari makes using the Facebook Web site a full-featured experience. So I have added this bookmark as an "application" to my desktop and surf Facebook via the Web rather than the Facebook iPad application.
FeeddlerRSS: finally, a good application for reading Google Reader RSS feeds. Syncs with Google Reader and works beautifully. Much better than the limited Google mobile interface Google serves up when you hit that site with mobile Safari in the iPhone or iPad.
Netflix: fantastic job on the new iPad application and full access to your Instant Watch queue for streaming movies. Need a move when traveling? This is the way to go!
WolframAlpha: what can I say? If you like or use WolframAlpha, the new iPad application is jaw-droppingly rich and beautiful to use.
Pandora: a great updated interface for the iPad, which is better than on the computer, the Web site, or iPhone. I want this Pandora interface everywhere, please!
IMDb also has a great new interface for their iPad application and it works beautifully. Same is true of Epicurious - very rewarding to use.
Instapaper is another application that has made the leap to iPad interface goodness, and makes reading articles saved this way a lot easier.
Apps that are not yet updated for iPad, but which I really wish were: DropBox. It's easier to bookmark and use the Web interface at this point. Much easier on the eyes, though with no local caching of content so it is slower. Amazon.com AT&T myWireless, and the handful of games I keep on my iPhone/iPad (Mastermind, Fox Vs Duck, Five Dice).
Finally, a word about email on the iPad:
If you are familiar with the Mail application on the iPhone or Apple computer, you know Mail on the iPhone. In landscape view it has a handy mailbox list and message pane layout, less so (in my opinion) in portrait orientation. I still dislike having to click back three steps to change accounts, and the coming "unified mailbox" isn't the solution I want (I don't want to mix my personal and work email messages in a single mailbox). I want a quick way to toggle between displayed accounts. Why not a simple "accounts" drop-down selector - it wouldn't be that hard and there is now plenty of screen real estate to use for something to simple.
On the other hand the new Gmail Web interface you get when you hit that site with an iPad is very slick. I would use this most of the time except that I keep running into odd sporadic problems. Sometimes I can't scroll a message; what I can read in the first screen is all of it I can see. Sometimes the keyboard blocks too much of the message window and it is hard to adjust it so I can see more of what I am typing. This is especially true if I need to scroll down to refer to the quoted message while typing my reply.
Both handle file attachments well on the iPad, and both will open files first in a preview screen and the present the option to open the file in Pages, Numbers, or Keynote if you have those applications installed.
So I find I still toggle between the two, wishing each were a little more like the other in one respect or another.
A small note that has nothing to do with applications or OS:
There is a fair bit of confusion out there about charging the iPad. In my first-hand experience I have found that using the wall charger it comes with works best and is quickest. No surprise there. Apple's Web site indicates you can charge it with an iPhone charger, though it will charge more slowly. I have found this does work. Plugging it into a USB port on a computer will indicate that the unit is not being charged, however, under some circumstances this will trickle charge the iPad. If it is not being used while plugged in, the charging capacity of the USB port is enough to slowly top up the iPad's battery. If the iPad is on and being used, then the net charge will be less than the usage drain. Battery life on the iPad, even with heavy use, is amazing, however, so needing to charge at unexpected times is not something most users will need to worry about.
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