First thoughts about the iPad

So the Waco Best Buy had a few iPads.  As it turns out they got 15 iPads in for sale starting on April 3rd and they were all purchased by people that had lined up outside the Waco Best Buy starting Friday night.  I never would have dreamed that the Waco Best Buy would have had iPads in stock on the first day of availability. (It is probably best that I did not know...)

I am pretty sure the Best Buy salesman thinks I am a jerk.  I sat there and poured over the device and just smiled and nodded while he tried to sale me on the iPad.  He told me about how Apple had developed a special chip just for the iPad called the A4.  He told me that the iPad could run iPhone apps.  He told me that he likes to refer to it as a tablet.  Smile and Nod.

Enough about that.  What did I think?

First, it feels solid.  It is going to be interesting to see how they sell to people that come in and use them at a Best Buy or Apple Store or something.  I think there are going to be a lot of people that want to use one before they buy one.  However, the "theft-prevention" cable coupled with the lack of chairs makes it difficult to imagine using the device normally.  I found myself a little tentative while using it. (not wanting to set off any alarms.)

The concerns I have heard about the iPad mirror that of the pre-released iPhone.  Most center around the on-screen keyboard.  I ran the keyboard through all the tests I could think of and have to say that it works very well.  I think the central difference between learning to use the iPhone keyboard versus the iPad is going to center around how much more similar the iPad is to a real keyboard.  The iPhone keyboard was different enough from a normal keyboard to basically allow me to learn a new skill as I learned to type on it.  The iPad, however, is close enough that it taps into my preexisting ideas of where the keys should be.  This is both good and bad and makes it feel really natural to a point.  Have you ever starting using a new keyboard where the keys are just a little bit different than your old keyboard?  That is how it felt.  Only time will tell how long it will take for it to feel completely natural.