iPad How I ended up NOT buying the iPad

[Sonist]

Originally Posted by scottjl

All this talk about having blurry vision after staring at an iPad, or eBook or TV or computer or whatever. I'd be concerned about my eyes and off to see an optimist pretty quickly. Especially if I had a sensitivity to only one device but not others. But that's just me, I've had my eyes a good number of years and try to take care of them.

If the iPad caused such vision problems with the masses I think we'd be hearing about it on the news, but I haven't seen any reports of half a million people going blind.

I appreciate the concern, but not sure it's relevant in this case.

I have regular checkups (not by an "optimist," but by a rather sour ophthalmologist), and my eyesight is perfect - I do not wear glasses. I also want to keep it this way, that's why I am careful about screens I use a lot and about good light.

As far as the "masses," they happily ruined their eyesight with the old green IBM monitors, old style fluorescent lights in libraries and offices, and cheap low-refresh CRTs. I doubt anyone but avid readers would worry too much about the iPad.

As I noted above, generally IPS is a particularly power-hungry technology. Here is a concise explanation from mobileread:

" * A TFT displays requires one transistor, which twists the crystal to create an image. With IPS, there are two transistors for every single pixel, one for each end. This doubles the power consumption of screen.
* Because more of the surface area of the screen is “covered” by images, a much more powerful backlight is required to shine through. And that means either more florescent tubes or much brighter ones."

Since Apple has been so focused on battery longevity, there is a good chance that the IPS technology used in the iPad is not the same as in Apple's 24" monitors. This may account for my different experience with the two screens.

It may also be that I hold the iPad closer than the normal distance from which I view a desktop monitor.

Whatever it is, it matters to me for long-term reading, and it was a negative for the iPad in my book.

And reading is the paramount reason for me to get a tablet. I'd love to be able to read full size PDFs of both magazines and books, in full color and with instant screen response. For this, I am willing and happy to spend the $$$.

The rest of the capabilities are gravy, but much less important - here is my reasoning:

-- Since I'd use a tablet mostly at home, I'd rather watch a movie on my 60" 16x9 plasma, with full surround sound, than on a 9" 4x3 screen with tinny speakers.

-- If I want to play a game, I'd rather play either on my Wii, or on a PC and a large screen.

-- If I want to browse the internet, I'd rather have a real browser, which can show me the real sites with Flash, rather than mobile versions, and I'd rather have a larger screen, so I don't have to zoom and scroll incessantly.

-- For travel, my Mac Book Pro fits my needs much better, and for a quick game or two on the plane, or to look up a restaurant, my iPhone is fine, and it fits in my pocket.

So, reading is the ONLY reason for me, personally, to get a tablet. And the slight eye strain I experienced, and the too small screen (for PDFs), pushed my scale to the "No" side, as far as the iPad.

Your mileage, of course, may vary.

[scottjl]

Hmm. Given your criteria, and other devices. I'm surprised you even considered the iPad. You knew the dimensions before you even saw it, it's not full letter or A4 size. And I guess I misunderstood the amount of eyestrain you said you had.

Everyone is different. I've been staring at green screens since the early 70's and still have 20/20. Since I'm on the road 5 days a week, having a portable device with good battery life is important to me. Light weight, instant on and a beautiful screen are great selling points on the iPad. I couldn't my home theater with me and I already have one laptop, that due to security restrictions can't contain any of my personal files. I did the two laptop thing for a few years then a netbook for a while. The iPad took a good weight off my shoulder and is honestly far more useful to me than my netbook ever was, mostly because of the boot time and slowness of a full fledged OS (I've tried Windows, Linux and Hackintosh on it). Regardless of the screen size, movies look great on it and it's larger Than my iPhone's screen. I even have a pair of MyVu glasses and while they work fine it was yet another thing to lug around, ugh.

Well anyway, as you said, everyones milage varies. My iPad already has some 15k miles in 2 weeks!

[dmaul1114]

Yeah, the reasons I'm still waiting are primarily:

1. Lack of an open file management system. I want something that's much simpler to get files on and off of.

2. Would prefer a screen an inch or two bigger. It handles PDFs of my research articles better than I thought it would, but the scrolling is still old in landscape mode for multi column articles.

3. Lack of flash. This isn't as big a deal as I thought it would be, but does still prevent using a few sites I occasionally use. I use the webcam on my laptop a lot and would like one

So the iPad came really close to fit my needs. But I doubt they'll ever fix all these, especially the first as they're just not an open, drag and drop company with their devices.

So I'll probably end up with some android tablet in a year or so when some second gen models come out.

But the iPad is a very slick device, and very good for people who just want a media consumption tablet. Just a bit lacking for those who want it for that AND productivity/work related tasks as it's just not aimed at the latter. It can do it, but it's just not ideal for reading big PDFs, editing documents etc.

[richman]

It will be interesting to see if some of the fonts on the IPAD are too small and cause more eye strain. ON an EYE CHART you know how it goes from BIG LETTERS to smaller and smaller. That could be factor, your ereader has all the fonts the same size, how about putting a smaller font on it and seeing how reading is after 30 minutes.
I know if I read something that is small , it causes eye strain. Also if my eyes are tired, looking into bright light can cause eye strain too. Many factors , it will be interesting to see if research is done on the IPAD and vision problems.

p.s. The day the IPAD came out I went to BEST BUY to try it out for a few minutes and then I tried 3D TV with 3D glasses. I did experience eye strain after using those glasses for 2 or 3 minutes. Walked out of the store with slight headache.

[dmaul1114]

Most of the reading programs have easily changeable font sizes, ability to easily zoom helps deal with small fonts on websites etc.

So I'd think if anything the font sizes would be less of a problem on the iPad than other devices.

[jharker]

The eye fatigue conversation reminded me of something I learned recently, which I thought I'd mention. As we get older, our eyes have a harder time adjusting quickly to changes in focus. That is, if you have good eyesight you can still see well after your eyes have focused at a particular distance. But the transition from one focal length to another can take longer for older eyes. This different from nearsightedness; it's called "presbyopia". Eventually it becomes a permanent farsightedness, requiring the use of bifocals.

Anyway, the resolutions of the iPad (132ppi) and the Kindle DX (150ppi) are fairly similar, but clearly they are different enough to have an effect. My iPad works fine for me, but I do think it's a bit more tiring than reading on my Kindle. Of course, everyone is different.

[leebase]

I love my iPad more and more. A short time with it will not tell the tale. Or rather, my second week with it is much better than my first 2 days.

Of course, if I already had a kindle dx, and I was only interested in reading, I wouldn't buy an iPad. For me it's been an excellent reader, but I wouldn't buy it just for that. I've watched movies and tv shows, played games, surfed th web, shared my photos with others. I have to fight my kids to get time on it. I'm writing this on the iPad now as I watch the County Music awards.

As I traveled to relatives this weekend, with my wife driving....I killed time watching cooking video podcasts that I had downloaded for free before we left.

I'm on my fourth ebook in two weeks. I've read for hours at a time, and my eyes are fine. I don't have super eyes or anything like that. I've never liked reading books on my laptop.

Lee

[volwrath]

I have not read any books on my iPad since I've gotten it. I've also thought about returning it. I've been wavering, then i fire the iPad up and fall in love again. Its an awesome experience. I cant wait ountil more apps come out however.

[iserian]

I can understand the "EYE Strain" comment - I had it myself.

For me it took nearly a week of using/reading on the PAD to get comfortable. I felt more eye strain due in part to the glare of the screen compared to my Sony and Kindle readers --- BUT -- after a week of light reading I do not plan on using my other readers. I found it to be the ideal companion to the beach this weekend - turn the brightness up to MAX and under partial shade I was all set.

IMO the PAD's killer App is I-Books and its ereader capabilities (it does other things but non of which I would buy the Pad for on its own).

[m-reader]

Originally Posted by Victoria

Interesting - I've been **really** looking forward to one - mostly to sketch on. I've dreamed of an electronic sketchbook for years.

Sorry to go off-topic, but I've been drooling over this gadget for the last few weeks. If you are after a sketching device have a look at this:

http://www.wacom.com/cintiq/cintiq-21ux.php

[Sonist]

Originally Posted by iserian

I can understand the "EYE Strain" comment - I had it myself.

For me it took nearly a week of using/reading on the PAD to get comfortable. I felt more eye strain due in part to the glare of the screen compared to my Sony and Kindle readers --- BUT -- after a week of light reading I do not plan on using my other readers. ...

So, did the eye-strain go away, or did you just decide you can always get a higher diopter glasses... ?

[iserian]

Sonist - To be honest after the first couple of days I was having doubts that I would be able to use this as my primary e-reader due to the eye strain. The Monday after it was released I had a two day air travel trip and was using the Ipad (mostly to address on-lookers questions) quite a bit and with out using much of the zoom features. I had considerable eye strain at the end of the day.

BUT - after that trip I took a day or so off and then picked up the Ipad again and my eye strain has for the most part gone away. I say most part because I still have some if there is a glare that can not be avoided. The screen is very glossy and it really becomes obvious when you take it with you around the city (In the apple store the glare was not as evident to me).

I just posted a topic about how many Novels/Pages read on Ipad and I will be nearing the 8K range shortly. I find that I carry one of my Ipad's with me pretty much everywhere I go -- I have the Verizon Mifi - perhaps that's part of it knowing that I will always have access.

In reading your initial post I agree/agreed with most of your points. IMO the killer app for this is the E-Reader - not anything else. I do not find browsing the web particularly enjoyable on the Ipad (I'd like a slightly larger screen for that - but it is growing on me now that I'm using zoom etc...)

For someone who likes new gadgets (I thought I read that you do...) I don't see how you can pass one of these up at $499

Originally Posted by Sonist

So, did the eye-strain go away, or did you just decide you can always get a higher diopter glasses... ?

[Sonist]

Originally Posted by iserian

Sonist - To be honest after the first couple of days I was having doubts that I would be able to use this as my primary e-reader due to the eye strain. The Monday after it was released I had a two day air travel trip and was using the Ipad (mostly to address on-lookers questions) quite a bit and with out using much of the zoom features. I had considerable eye strain at the end of the day.

BUT - after that trip I took a day or so off and then picked up the Ipad again and my eye strain has for the most part gone away. I say most part because I still have some if there is a glare that can not be avoided. The screen is very glossy and it really becomes obvious when you take it with you around the city (In the apple store the glare was not as evident to me).

I just posted a topic about how many Novels/Pages read on Ipad and I will be nearing the 8K range shortly. I find that I carry one of my Ipad's with me pretty much everywhere I go -- I have the Verizon Mifi - perhaps that's part of it knowing that I will always have access.

In reading your initial post I agree/agreed with most of your points. IMO the killer app for this is the E-Reader - not anything else. I do not find browsing the web particularly enjoyable on the Ipad (I'd like a slightly larger screen for that - but it is growing on me now that I'm using zoom etc...)

For someone who likes new gadgets (I thought I read that you do...) I don't see how you can pass one of these up at $499

Fair points

I was very tempted, until I played with it. I love the concept for reading, and if the screen was an inch larger (for PDFs) I would have bought it.

I still may get it, if nothing else good comes to market.

But I do want to see what Google/HTC bring out, as well as the Adam (I am a little skeptical about the visual quality of the Pixel Q screen, but would like to see it).

I have computer access pretty much all day and night, so really reading is the main reason. But I am hoping for something which is better, soon.

If not, I may not resist....

[wayner]

I have bought an iPad and I love it. I bought a Kindle 2 last fall (when they became available in Canada) but I haven't used it as much as I thought I would.

I find the iPad great for doing some casual web browsing and email reading while sitting on the couch watching TV. It is also good as a portable video player. My 8 year old daughter LOVES IT and plays games and watches videos. This means that daddy is allowed to watch his sports on the 60" TV. That is what I call a pareto optimal solution!

My daughter has a neurological disorder in the autism spectrum and is unable to talk for the most part. She uses a communication device called a Dynavox V5 that is essentially a portable touchscreen PC that is about 3 inches thick and about the length and width of an iPad. This device runs WinXP, takes about 5 minutes to boot up, has about a 3 hour battery life and weighs 5 pounds. Did I also mention that it costs about $8,000? This device is about to be made obsolete by the iPad. The iPad will be absolutely fabulous for this type of application.

[m-reader]

Originally Posted by wayner

My daughter has a neurological disorder in the autism spectrum and is unable to talk for the most part. She uses a communication device called a Dynavox V5 that is essentially a portable touchscreen PC that is about 3 inches thick and about the length and width of an iPad. This device runs WinXP, takes about 5 minutes to boot up, has about a 3 hour battery life and weighs 5 pounds. Did I also mention that it costs about $8,000? This device is about to be made obsolete by the iPad. The iPad will be absolutely fabulous for this type of application.

This is why I love the technology! I have read an article on The Age recently on an app for iPhone/iPad for autistic children. Apparently it is suppose to replace the cards used for communication and it is showing some great result with affected kids.
Kids bond with technology much better then us old foggies - they can probably get more use out of these gadget than we can even imagine!