Loading ...
Apple's sleek new device hit the shelves in Canada and 8 other countries on Friday May 28th. Apple Inc.
What the heck is an iPad?
The iPad transcends so many boundaries for use-case scenarios that it is actually quite hard to define precisely “what” it is. This device is the first of its kind and fits somewhere in between a smartphone and a laptop. Without further ado, here are 6 reasons (I have many more, but the review would then be longer than long) why students/researchers/scientists/professionals will fall in love with the iPad.
When Steve Jobs introduced the iPad in January, he claimed that the iPad would only succeed if it did some things BETTER than a laptop or iPad. Apple Inc.
1. Productivity manager
If you’re a believer in incorporating technology into your “Getting Things Done” workflow, then the iPad does a superb job of this. The biggest problem with traditional productivity apps like Evernote, Things, Omnifocus, Remember the Milk, etc. is the need for a mobile device for task entry so you can keep your tasks and projects updated on-the-go. It’s nice to go over your task and project list while you’re on the subway, on your way to work. Unfortunately, poor user interfaces, cramped keyboards and small screens have been a huge barrier for this. With the iPad, everything changes…
Month view of the Calendar app that comes built in with the iPad
2. Reading Journal Articles
I’m about to show you an App that will rock your world. “Papers”, an app produced by Mekentosj, presents a new and exciting way for academics to view and manage their scientific library. Imagine an iTunes like application that sorts, catalogues and manages your PDFs on your Mac, iPhone and now, iPad. Again, why waste words when two screenshots will summarize. Enjoy:
The Papers app in landscape view, tap on a preview to have the article expand to fill your screen for reading in portrait or landscape mode.
Double tap an image or column to zoom in to that region. Note the iPads high resolution screen displays crisp, vivid images.
Can you imagine the limitless potential of an iPad powered with this App? Let’s say you’re writing your thesis and need to do some distraction-free background reading, just take your entire papers archive with you, and read them all on one device. Save the environment, stop printing papers!
Cons: Highlighting and Annotating is currently not supported in Papers, but there’s an app for that (iAnnotate)!
3. Email and Web Browsing
Reading, sorting and writing emails is quite impressive on the iPad and the touchscreen offers an intuitive way of interacting with all your emails. At the risk of sounding a bit cheesy, the ease of use and interactivity actually makes me look forward to dealing with emails!
Browsing the Internet on an iPad is simply the *best* way to navigate the web. Period. No other operating system, no other mobile device, no other gaming platform does this better. The browser is just raw speed. You might be thinking why anyone would bother improving such a ubiquitous task. Well, ignorance is bliss – I was skeptical when Apple called the device “magical” in its announcement, but browsing the web really drives this point home. The smooth interface combined with full control of what you’re looking at all times actually does feel like magic. The ability to use multitouch gestures to zoom in on articles and paragraphs, tapping links and navigating with your entire hand just feels like that’s what browsing the web should have been from the start. Add to this the incredible battery life (~12 hours) and light weight (~1.5 lbs.), the iPad makes it convenient and fun to browse the web in more places for longer. If you’re ever lucky enough to play around with an iPad, I strongly suggest you start with the browser. The video doesn’t quite do it justice, but here it is:
Cons: Still no unified inbox (Coming in free OS 4.0 update this fall), Poor 3G Data plans from Rogers, Telus, Bell etc. (No solution, welcome to Canada), Intermittent Wifi issues (software fix is in the works)
4. Electronic lab notebook
Sample interface of Evernote, an app that is best described as a "portable brain dump".
The high resolution screen on your iPad is gorgeous for showing graphs, PDFs, images and even DICOM images directly from a PACS server. This sort of thing is best shown as a demo and the Osirix iPad is still under development but here’s a quick look at what it would look like:
DICOM MR image of a hand visualized in iPad. Osirix, open source PACS, DCM manager is coming soon to the iPad!
Cons: iPad apps for pre-existing desktop software for syncing not quite mature enough (Cloud solutions do exist though).
4.5 Writing and typing on the iPad [Addendum]*
Typing on the iPad was certainly a very rocky experience, but like the iPhone, it did get better with time. I had to re-train my muscles to account for the changes in the key sizes in both landscape and portrait. For a while, I only typed in portrait mode (I never use landscape typing on the iPhone because Steve Jobs trained me not to) and I could do it with one hand at a reasonable pace (~30-40 WPM). Then I discovered that if I used two hands and started touch typing, I could type much faster but with significantly lower accuracy (particularly when reaching for keys at the far left of the keyboard). After practice (writing this review), I started hitting typing speeds approaching those on a physical keyboard (~70 wpm). I think the iPad will be very useful for typing long emails and short reports. I probably wouldn’t write my thesis on an iPad though – the formatting options just aren’t there yet. I have not tested the iPad with a physical keyboard, and likely won’t. Don’t need to…
As far as writing on the iPad, I discovered an app called WritePad for the iPad and it claimed to have advanced handwriting recognition technology. I was a bit skeptical of this, but I figured I would give it a shot. This is something you really need a video to demonstrate (I’m sure a few exist on YouTube) but a screenshot will have to do for now:
The interface for WritePad for iPad - it's got a lot of the features that I want (search, draw, control of delay before recognizing handwriting) but the UI is a bit clunky. It does what it's supposed to though, which is sometimes, all you can ask for from Apps in the App Store!
I’m going to be honest, while this technology works like a charm (the above will turn that text into Hello World, I promise), I have not yet taken it out into the real world. Talking about the features of an app vs. using that app on a daily basis for 2 months are two very different things. WritePad works for instant hand writing recognition (almost, you can control the delay from -0.5s to a few seconds), and I can see it being very useful for jotting down notes during an experiment – but I can’t quite put my finger on why I haven’t executed this.
Other solutions, include apps that that offer the ability to take typed notes and mix them with hand-drawn diagrams (Course Notes, Dudel etc…) and of course there are many canvas apps on the iPad. In my 60 days of looking though, I haven’t found one single solution compelling enough that does it *all* for me – I want to mix diagrams and typed text, I want to choose when to convert handwriting to text and I want a true notebook style solution including table of contents, index, search, multiple notebooks etc….This kind of sounds like Evernote doesn’t it? Well if you believe rumours, Evernote will be making a play in this deficiency in a big way, very soon!
Stay tuned…
* I was waiting until there were better options out there before talking about this, but a reader complained there was nothing about writing and typing on the iPad in this review so I figured I’d throw this in with a few caveats.
5. Keeping your data portable
Ever been at a conference or a meeting and wished you’d brought your laptop to show your supervisor or fellow researcher an image, plot or apparatus photo/schematic ? Well with the iPad and an app called Dropbox, you can keep your data in the cloud and accessible anywhere you have an Internet connection.
Dropbox allows for quick and easy access to all of my important data, schematics, diagrams. Because everything is stored in the cloud, it's accessible anywhere I have internet. Dropbox also allows sharing files from directly within the app.
Folder layout within my Dropbox - a digital file exists for every important document organized into intuitive categories.
The iPad can also output video to a projector using the dock connector to VGA accessory. Both Powerpoint and Keynote presentations can be exported to the iPad, and while I have not had the pleasure of delivering a talk with my iPad, I have tested it out and it looks quite good on the screen. The touch screen is really responsive so if you’re brave, you can even try annotating your talks as you’re giving them. The best thing about the presentation feature on the iPad is that if you tap and hold your finger on the screen, you can activate a software laser pointer.
I was blown away:
- With the Keynote app and a VGA adapter, I can take presentations in common formats (.ppt, .pptx, .key) and output to a projector bypassing the need for a laptop and USB keys. Tap and hold on the iPad and a software laser point appears!
Cons: Data access may require a WiFi network (get the 3G version, I wish I did). The iPad is connected by VGA cable so it’s difficult to walk around while giving your talk. On the fly annotation features aren’t quite all there yet.
6. Entertainment Device
Angry Birds: An amazing game for the iPad. The user shoots birds at the green monsters using a slingshot. Each bird has a unique talent. The fewer birds you need to use, the more points you get.
Hotel Mogul: This story-based game is a cross of Sim City and Civilization. A scorned woman seeks out revenge against her cheating real estate mogul by trying to beat him at his own game. Hours of gameplay! I'm hooked.
Prince of Persia: Classic side-scroller game on the desktop before fancy touch screen devices. Ubisoft released this game with on screen touch controls. Fond memories.
Post Script: iPad Reception and Final Thoughts
I think this photo truly captures the moment of how excited I was about my iPad! The friendly Apple Store employee is just as excited for me. See that guy in the background also holding an iPad? That's Greg Packer, notorious "Professional Line-Sitter". He was first in line at Ground Zero and the original iPhone launch. I beat him at the iPad launch. HA!
Many have claimed over the past few months that the iPad will be an unmitigated consumer disaster the likes of which haven’t been seen since the Apple Puck Mouse. Why would anyone buy an iPad if they already have a smartphone and a laptop? Who needs another e-Reader? Well, I’m happy to report that those claims have all been dismissed, as the iPad has been flying off the shelves.
In the United States, nearly 200,000 iPads (both WiFi and WiFi + 3G) are being shipped weekly – for some context, this is *double* the amount of all new Macs shipped. The iPad sold 1 million units in just 30 days – it took the original iPhone (by many accounts, a device that started the modern smartphone revolution) 73 days to accomplish this feat. Apple’s futuristic device is so popular that they had to delay the international launch of the iPad by several weeks as they struggled to meet the demand.
Many of you are wondering why consumers should be happy that a multi billion dollar company is raking in cash from sales of this product. Well the answer is quite simple and it actually leads into the reason why I thought, and still do think, the iPad could change the [Tech] world: adoption. Consumer interest from all aspects of society, including industry, entertainment, academia, and most importantly, education, could lead to rapid, almost viral spread and adoption of the technology in next generation touch screen devices. Its no secret that many hospitals and academic institutions are stuck in the dark ages when it comes to adopting administrative technology at a rapid rate.
Would you believe that with all the technology we have at our disposal, doctors still *print* out reports and attach them to clipboards by the patient’s bed? In the year 2010, our tax dollars still support and encourage a system where prescriptions are *hand-written* on pads of paper and snail-mail is still common? Is it not spectacular that new generation students still archive and catalogue their journal articles in desk drawers and filing cabinets? That secretaries and scientists still manage *paper*calendars? That students print out graphs, cut them out and glue them in a book, like in kindergarten?
One can’t quite blame them for their misgivings – good alternatives have not really been presented by tech companies in user-friendly ways, well suited for mass consumption and rapid adoption. This is Apple’s role in all this. Education is in Apple’s DNA and while it is not necessary that a single company dominate these industries, there needs to be a pioneer every time. Competition is healthy for consumers and fosters innovation but remember how the world waited with bated breath as the announcements of the iPad came. Whole companies put their mobile device roadmaps on hold as they waited for the release of the iPad before releasing their own versions of it. Apple has a tendency to create markets of opportunity where none exist with innovative technology and breakthrough design practices.
Despite this, reactions were mostly negative. Although, it is amusing to think back and realize that most of the negativity was directed at the name, “akin to feminine hygiene products” some said. Few saw the iPad as the opportunity and the success it has become today. The same thing happened with the first iPhone, the first iPod, the first Macintosh. Hate on Apple all you like, but appreciate their products for what they are and what they represent: mini revolutions. Take things in stride and remember this prescient quote from Battlestar Galactica:
“All this happened before, and all of it will happen again.”
Firas.
P.S. Comments welcome, but please don’t hate!
P.P.S. This entire review was written on an iPad and my typing speed improved from 30 to 70 words per minute in a single sitting.
Related posts:
Ok so I’m not going to hate on the ipad. But I would like to voice my opinion about what you say the ipad does “better”.
1. Productivity Manager – Sure I can see the ipad running the task manager apps smoothly and well. But really how is it remotely feasible to lug the device around and remove it from it’s carrier every time you want to check off something you’ve done. It will only work in a static context and will only do it marginally better than a lap top even then.
Let’s face it pdas are much better at this you don’t need a “large screen” to view a list of tasks to complete. So I’d much rather have an iphone for this.
2. Reading journal articles. Well I’m sure you CAN read journal articles on the ipad but why is it any better than on a lap top? Hello eye strain! I think the kindle would do this much better. There is also something nice about a printed version where you can highlight and make comments.
3. Email and web browsing. This is probably the only point I’d tend to agree with. Although I have not used an ipad yet, I can see it making email and web browsing a very interactive experience.
4. Lab notebook – This might work in the context of a dry lab, but in a wet lab unless apple comes out with some sort of chemical resistant case- can’t see it taking off. In a dry lab – why is the lap top any worse though? Seems like it could be just as effective to me.
5. Keeping data portable – I guess I can see the merit in this. You can quickly show someone your data without having to turn on your laptop. But better at presentations? I don’t see why.
6. Sure the ipad is good at playing games, that’s what it is an entertainment system that is kind of a neat large screened iphone (in my opinion).
So why won’t I ever buy one?
1. My laptop does the majority of things as well or better and does much, much more.
2. A smartphone is much more portable and does everything else just as well.
I think the ipad sales figures are just an indication of hype – and apple does hype very well- ask the people who are buying an ipad “why” and I bet their answer would be “it’s really cool” or something along those lines. It really does not add much “functionality” to anything. I’ll stick with my open source, customizable technology thanks!
Thanks for the comments Cale, very insightful. It is useful to see how others see the iPad and gives some perspective.
My Rebuttal:
1. Productivity Manager: You claimed it’s not “remotely feasible” to lug it around. In fact, I’ve brought it to work every day for the past 2 months, and even took it to a conference in Sweden. The purpose of the device isn’t to check OFF tasks that you’ve completed, but to ADD tasks that you need to do while on the go. I can’t count the number of times I’ve thought about an interesting experiment to do, or a question that needed answering on the Subway while on my way to work. The iPad is that device that you whip out and type that in. It’s a breeze.
Because these productivity apps sync with both iPhone and Macs, you don’t skip a beat.
2. Reading Journal Articles – When it comes to reading journal articles, the iPad does everything a laptop does and more:
a) ~12 hour battery life
b) 1.5 lbs and extremely portable
c) Provides a distraction-free environment
d) People have claimed the e-ink screen is “better” for reading, but I don’t quite buy the advantage of black and white e-ink over colour LCD. Many people are in front of an LCD screen most of the day anyway.
3. Email and web browsing – Good.
4. Lab notebook – I was speaking from the POV of a dry lab, I’m not really involved in any wet labs myself, so I’m not sure how it would compare. Again, the advantage is that it does everything a laptop can do, but has a 12 hr battery life, and is ultra portable. The touch screen even allows you to jot down notes using your fingers as a pen.
5. Keeping data portable – The advantage here is keynote: even if you don’t have a Mac, you can still design great presentations on the iPad. The size, weight and multi-functionality of the device again comes into play.
6. Entertainment device – Games, Movies, TV shows, Music all on-the-go.
———————–
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t believe the iPad will *replace* the laptop, but I do think that it will replace the majority, if not all of the reasons to get a Netbook.There will be a need for a full fledged computing device for all the hard core stuff that academics do, but for the soft tasks, I do believe that there is room for an iPad in your/our lifestyle.
Your throw-away comment about open source and customizable technology opens up the whole “Open-Source is now a religion” debate. I’m perfectly happy locking down certain freedoms if it means a superior user experience that will have an appreciable benefit in my day-to-day life.
Thanks!
*Tape*. I *tape* graphs into my lab notebook. Glue would be ridiculous. Seriously though, my system works for me. The only advantage I could see for going electronic is that my stuff would be more search-able for anyone who was looking for information later.
(Also, have you actually seen Battlestar Galactica? Because “technology is the way to a brighter future” is not the message I got from that show, although iToasters would come in prettier colours).
This is, indeed, the next logical step on the road towards Cylons.
[...] here to see the original: iPad Review: 60 days and 6 reasons why you need it « Medical … Share and [...]
Interesting review, and you almost sold me. The big problem I have is with presentations. I can’t stand Keynote on my Mac, why would it be any better on an iPad? As much as I hate M$, PowerPoint is a superior product for making presentations. I don’t think I’m alone on this one, even among Mac users.
For reading pdf papers, I’m beginning to agree with you after trying an iPad here in Tokyo, but highlighting and note taking are really critical features. You can get them in Skim for Mac OS – lets hope something similar is made available for the iPad.
Curt…. I m sorry, but I just have to throw in my two cents: I seriously doubt anyone’s sanity who states that PowerPoint is a superior product to Keynote. I m sorry, PowerPoint, from oh so many technical points of view, just sucks like hell!!! Granted, even I prepare most of my presentations on PP, but that is just cause virutally everybody else uses it and you may have a hard time being the only one using something different. But when you talk about superiority, please……
Hi! Very interesting review. This is the review most related to the academic-researching environment that I saw. Because of I cannot get an iPad at the moment, I have some questions: Could you use GoogleDocs in the iPad? What about if you need write equations on it? If you need save data in the lab or in the field, some app as Numbers is recommend for that?
Thanks for your review!
@Curt: I respect your opinion and it may be boil down to a matter of taste.
However, respectfully, I do believe that you are quite possibly the *only* one that feels that way about Keynote, certainly among Mac users but likely even among PC users that have experience with Keynote. Keynote actually IS magical !
@marco: haha now now…let’s be nice…!
[...] would like to point out a recent review of the iPad, specifically geared towards scientists and researchers. The author of the review details his [...]
@KeyNote Fanboys
Having used both products extensively, I’d say none of you that favor Keynote have used it much for editing presentations. I tried to move all my PowerPoint lectures to KeyNote at one point, and found KN maddening to use to alter or add new content. I know I’m not alone on this – have discussed these issues with others at length.
The magical part of the KN interface is it’s simplicity, which unfortunately means lack of features and control. KN is nice for presentation fluff, but the level of control is pretty poor IMHO.
I feel the same about Word vs. Pages.
And just because Apple makes something, doesn’t mean it’s necessarily the best.
[...] iPad Review: 60 days and 6 reasons why you need it « Medical Biophysics GSU (@UofT) – (tags: ipad science review ) [...]
[...] iPad Review: 60 days and 6 reasons why you need it some nice thoughts from an academic perspective [...]
I just wanted to let everyone know about a cool app I use for reading papers and ebooks. The software is called “iannotate” and it allows for text highlighting, not addition, bookmarking, and all sorts of other cool things. You can also export the “marked up pdf” to your computer and preserve your notes! How cool is that. Check it out
[...] iPad Review: 60 days and 6 reasons why you need it (Medical Biophysics GSU) [...]
productivity manager: nothing beats a hands-on agenda.
reading journal articles: depends.. for a professional study of the article you’d better use a bigger screen.
email and web browsing: neutral, prefer desktop. great in case of emergency info, though.
electronic lab notebook: good only for research done in the electronic sector; not safe in chemistry, biochem etc. research, physics has some limitations.. might be great for math, though.
but honestly, I can’t take someone seriously if he/she is using an electronic device as an important lab notebook, there are risks of lost info or tampering..
keeping data portable: depends on the data, but a major plus here!
entertainment: depends on the person.. for a short break and flights it’s great, but it’s not really practical in crowded environments..
I see the iPad as a toy for grown-ups, and people usually buy Apple stuff for the hype and beauty, but they lack in customization.
IMO iPad does not have a place in serious research work, but it’s really useful for socializing and transporting info or for presentations.
For To Do kind of things, I have settled on Appigo’s Todo, which has one of the most elegant interfaces on the iPad. Things is overpriced, and Todo supports cloud syncing via Toodledo.com, which is useful on your desktop, too.
Neither Papers nor iAnnotate is quite there yet — though I like and use them both — but I’m hoping that they work out a good round-trip solution for paper markup, and that Papers adds more of the desktop features for adding new papers.
Someone asked why not just use a laptop to read papers? Huh? Lug around a device that’s twice as large as it needs to be, and that forces you to interact with it as if it were a desktop? Some people really can’t imagine how much difference a better physical interface (posture, position, mode of interaction) can make: they seem to see the world as if it were a desktop, or a foldable desktop (laptop).
Not to mention, the iPad is a delightful form factor on a plane, and it’s note considered a laptop by TSA so you don’t have to remove it from your carryon luggage at security checkpoints.
Note that the VGA out is not a mirror of your desktop, so only apps that are VGA-aware will use it. Obviously, Keynote uses it, but quite a few other drawing/writing programs use it as well. Check app descriptions to be sure, if that’s what you’re looking for.
Another app I’m using a lot is iThoughts HD, a mind-mapping app. Great for mind mapping, but also for outlining as well. A very nice app. The only limitation is that mind mapping is strictly hierarchical, so for diagrams that don’t work that way, I am thinking of getting Instaviz.
Good overview, thanks for making it!
A couple more useful apps…
Wikipanion Plus is a browser for wikipedia that understands its layout, and also can queue up pages and also store pages locally so you can look at them when you don’t have a network connection.
Instapaper Pro. You are using the Instapaper service, and the app is very convenient and let’s you view articles without network connection.
Pcalc is a very nice calculator with all kinds of conversions and an RPN mode.
@Curt and keynote vs. powerpoint.
After producing a few thousand slides (lectures, talks, …) with keynote, I am pretty certain that whatever you want to do, you can do it in keynote, and it will take you a lot less time compared to power point. Just the amount of fiddling necessary to align to text parts in power point is maddening.
What feature in power point (not availabl in keynote) do you use? I am really interested!
Bill
Regarding highlighting and annotating PDFs, I know you can do both in Apple’s Preview: isn’t there a similar facility on an iPad? (I haven’t made the jump yet.)
As for Keynote, I also prefer it to PowerPoint. In fact, after using the whole iWork suite for a year, I cannot bear MS Office applications any more. Pages and Numbers have an elegance and flexibility that I far prefer.
This is the bit I don’t get;
“Let’s be honest: taking a laptop to experiments is not always practical. Your supervisor mocks and ridicules your Mac and calls you addicted”
How much more addicted that you have purchased and use yet another Apple product. Is it the supervisors who are juvenile in their mocking or you that are so sensitive to a jibe?