NZX tech savvy team: iPad is delightful and painful
Apple iPad has arrived to New Zealand. We are not endorsing or denouncing the product, but our CEO Mark Weldon and Melbourne based tech developers Justin French and Marcus Crafter have been using them for some time.
They are happy to share some views about this much-hyped product with you.
What’s good about it?
Team comment:
“It’s better than my MacBook because it’s more portable, it’s lighter, it feels faster and has fewer distractions. It encourages focus, it has better battery life, it’s instantly available, it’s casual, it has a 3G connection to the internet from anywhere.”
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Lightweight
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Portability
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Long battery life
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Instant availability
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Good screen size
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Great at consuming information: reading email, browsing web, twitter, video/audio and podcasts
What doesn’t work well?
Team comments:
“Just like the iPhone, it’s a pain to have to synchronise with a computer. Plugging in to get OS updates, do a backup, or sync new music/podcasts is such a pain. They’ll eventually do it all over the air of course. It’s confusing in that it’s still only an accessory to a computer: you still need a computer with iTunes to sync with, you actually have to plug it in to activate the device. It’s not (yet) a true replacement for a computer.”
“My sense is that Apple is about to run into a wall managing the complexity of multiple formats across both software and hardware.”
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On screen keyboard
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Wifi
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Integration with other Apple devices
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Synchronisation
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Developing applications
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Creating, importing and exporting documents
How good tool it is for a business user?
Team comments:
“You can’t directly save or version your own documents. Pages handles saving automatically for you and lets you see all of your prior documents on an initial scrollable start-up screen. If you want to get your documents out of the iPad, or bring existing ones into it, you need to undergo a cumbersome process of importing and exporting them, either through iTunes, e-mail or by using a third-party application.”
“It depends on your job. I can’t really write software on it, my brother can’t really record music on it, but for most people, I imagine it does enough to negate the need for a laptop in meetings or on business trips — deal with email, deal with most documents, catch-up on news, access that file you really need.”
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Saving documents is cumbersome
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Exporting and importing documents difficult
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Good on catching up news, reading e-mails
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Easy to take with you when travelling
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Posted by Merja on July 29th, 2010 :: Filed under General, Hi-Tech
Tags :: NZX Tech, technology









