darklyteblog

I wanted to wait a little before posting my impressions of the iPad. Now that I’ve lived with it for about a week, I think I have a pretty good idea of how it’s integrated itself into my day-to-day routine.

Right off the bat, the iPad is completely a completely superfluous device. Everything it does can pretty much be achieved by another device, be it a smart-phone or a laptop and yes, whipping it out in public definitely shrouds you in a certain aura of douchebaggery but I’ve started to dismiss these things and now all I hear are the sounds of jealousy and women swooning.

The things that the iPad does best really need to be experienced. Getting a second-hand account of what it feels like to use it doesn’t really do it justice. Despite what the dude over at Information Architect says – which is justified to some extent – I don’t think that the average consumer’s experience will be lessened by the way that the device, or rather its apps, treat typography. Surfing the net, watching movies, playing games, reading magazines… everything just feels great. It’s definitely a luxury product but unlike expensive sunglasses or ballin’ watches, the added value to gives to your everyday life is, in my opinion, much more tangible. Reading Wired on that thing just feels like the future.

When out and about, I’ve found the iPad to be a much more practical device than my laptop. It allows me to quickly jot down notes, read the news, game, listen to my podcasts, tweet and check my e-mails without having to lug a heavy device around. And when I have an idea for a design, I just quickly sketch it out in Layers before going home and committing it to Photoshop.

All in all, I don’t think that the iPad should be thought in terms of a laptop replacement but a whole new experience unto itself. One that can’t be had anywhere else at the moment. The future is most definitely here, people.