It’s finally here. Apple’s long awaited tablet device is now available online and in the company’s retail stores across the country. I headed on over to the Apple store on University Ave to check it out and was met with fairly large crowds eagerly awaiting a chance to mess around with the iPad. I didn’t have too much time to try it out but I did get some good first impressions.

Design

The iPad looks great in a very simple kind of way. Its large glossy screen displays images and videos beautifully and its smooth edges and matte silver backing are eye catchers. Apple followed its usual design schemes and so the iPad is pretty much combination of the designs of the iPhone and iMac. Weighing in at 1.5 pounds, it’s a bit uncomfortable to hold in one hand but is manageable with two. It has the same buttons as the iPhone, but the switch next to the volume rocker is now a screen orientation lock as opposed to a volume silencer. Aesthetically, it looks great, but I would have much preferred for Apple to put the headphone jack down by the dock connector. Also, the lack of a camera is a flaw in the design and, subsequently, one of my biggest qualms about the device.

Functionality

I was impressed by how fast the iPad was. Its 1GHz ARM processor did a great job of handling all of the tests I put it through and I was pleased with how easy it was to use. The standard apps have been redone to work with the iPad and I really liked the way they took advantage of the extra screen space the iPad provides. I especially liked the new drop down menus and list views that are part of the new iPad OS. I also checked out the iWork apps and I think Apple has done a great job with them. Typing is certainly a bit weird at first, though. While holding the iPad in portrait mode, it’s possible to type with both thumbs (like on the iPhone), while reaching the middle keys takes long thumbs. One-handing typing is better but will take some getting used to. The best way to type for me was to turn it to landscape mode and type using both hands with the iPad on a desk. I made a lot of errors at first, but I found that the best strategy is to just look at the screen and not at your fingers and then just imagine you’re typing on a regular keyboard. Overall, the iPad does what it says it does really well, but it is definitely lacking some key features, namely multitasking. There is a disheartening inability to run multiple applications at once. Although you can run the Apple apps in the background like the iPod, not being able to IM or Skype or load a website while typing up a document in Pages makes it too similar to the iPhone, which lacks in this regard. I’m hoping that multitasking gets enabled when OS 4.0 comes out, but with Apple it’s hard to guess when or if this will become possible.

Apps

The apps are going to be what makes this device a winner or a loser. Without apps that can change the world of computing, the iPad will just sit awkwardly between the realm of laptop and smartphone. That being said, I saw some great apps on the demo device. The iWork suite adds a lot of functionality to the device in creating documents and presentation and they’re fairly easy to use. One drawback though is that at times they are over simplified, especially in the way that files are saved and opened (the coverflow scrolling scheme will get annoying once you have a lot of documents). I was really impressed by the new Netflix and ABC apps that loaded videos almost instantaneously and played them at high quality without any interruption. Apple’s iBooks app also looked great and I found that I could stare at the screen reading the books without any eyestrain. There were only a couple of games to mess around with, but my favorite iPhone game, Flight Control, has been upgraded for the iPad and looked great on its much bigger screen.

Conclusions

Overall, I’m excited about the iPad. It’s fun, useful, and really cool. It works great for taking notes, creating documents and presentations, playing video games and putting all of your entertainment into one device, but it is not without its flaws. Hopefully we’ll see revisions in the future that will fix these issues but even now its still a great device. If you’ve got the $500 to spend, I say go out and buy one. It may seem unnecessary but I feel that as the apps get better and better, you’ll find more and more uses for it. It will take some getting used to, but the idea of plopping down on my couch to read for IHUM, watch a movie, surf the web or play games with an iPad just seems irresistible.

If you get a chance to go over to the Apple store, check it out and let us know what you think!