I got my iPad 2 yesterday (a week earlier than I thought, but my vendor got a small shipment). There were some unexpected and unpleasant surprises, but it's a really neat device. I've only had it for one full day yet, but below are my spontaneous pros and cons based on the first and entirely subjective impressions:


Cons (most are Apple-political):

- No PayPal for the AppStore in Europe. I don't use credit cards and the one alternative offered here is "Click & Buy", whose security issues in the past don't invite me to tie my bank account to them. In the US, PayPal is apparently possible, but not here in Germany (or any other European country). This leaves me with gift cards, which is a hassle and will directly impact the money I'll spend on the store (fewer spontaneous purchases). I hope that'll change. It should be made as easy as possible for people to spend money with as little hassle as possible.

- You cannot gift apps to people in other shop regions, i.e. an American friend could not gift me an app, neither could someone with a UK account. I can receive and send gifts only from/to other people in Germany. Changing the store region requires a street address in the appropriate region. Not impossible, but I don't want to provide false information. Since buying English/etc. apps isn't a problem, it makes no sense gifts don't work internationally.

- iBooks. Quite apparently I can only buy German eBooks (SmartGo Books not included, they are not tied to iBooks). I would understand a limited selection because of distribution agreements, but I cannot buy *any* English eBook at all, even those that are not restricted by publishers. No money from me then for iBooks, which is just as well since if I can't pay with PayPal. I'll just get those from another source where they do want my money. [Edit May 8th: I found out that I can access/buy English titles by searching directly for titles or authors. I however cannot see the English categories, chart lists, reviews, etc.]

- iTunes gift cards must be purchased locally. I had one for the UK store in pounds, and it wasn't usable with the German store at all. I might understand continental restrictions, but being unable to use cards bought in another EU country is ridiculous. This is quite difference with gift cards for roughly similar services, in my experience.

- The included USB cable is ridiculously short. I just paid 579 Euro for a device that costs about 200 to make and that the wholesale discount is about 3-7% for (if some articles are to be believed), I wouldn't have minded a cable that's at least 2 meters long. Then again, because I paid 579, paying a bit more probably makes no difference.

- The number of out-of-the-box supported media formats is limited, considering it's a media device. For example, AVI isn't supported in spite of its relative omnnipresence. Well, maybe I should be glad for that because it led to the discovery of Air Video, which is pure awesomeness and improves the value of the device for me by far more than the 2 Euro the app costs.

- No syncing via wifi, really?

- The iTunes software is among the worst pieces of commercial software I have seen in the while (on Windows). It's slow, poorly designed, makes no attempt to try to fit in (I know it's Apple, but if 90% of the buyers of an iPad, iPhone, iPod are Windows users, put some effort into making the Windows version of iTunes look like a frelling Windows application). Considering how well designed Apple devices are, I expected more from the software. (I also cannot imagine many companies where they let you install iTunes on their machines.)

- Mono speakers, poor cameras (the .7 MP is as grainy and unspectacular like the camera I had on an old mobile phone years ago.)

- No USB port, no card reader, no way to access the file system and just add/remove files directly without DropBox/etc. Having to use iTunes for such basic tasks is cumbersome, especially in a professional environment (which I didn't get the device for, but if I had, not being able to stick an USB pen in the tablet and loading a document from it would be a severe shortcoming).

- Meager selection of built-in apps. I was surprised I had to manually download iBooks, and there wasn't even a calculator. Probably minor, but most phones come with more apps out of the box. I also didn't find the "multiple home screens" to be very intuitive, nor that iTunes claimed that the iPad had been synced when it really had not been (had to go to the device section in iTunes and do it manually -- possibly a setting, but if it is, it shouldn't claim it's been synced when it's not been).

- I read I can make folders on the home screens to group apps. If it's indeed possible, it's not intuitive. Probably have to use iTunes, though. Just struck me as something that I would take granted to work in an intuitive, obvious way, but that's probably my lack of experience with mobile "more than a phone" devices.


Pros:

- It's cool! The display offers brilliant quality, the device is pops instantly on, apps load near instantly, it's thin and feels light (unless you lay on your back and try to hold it like a paperback, then the 600g start to quickly feel like a few kilograms). This is all summarized in one "pro" item, but it does mean that the actual device is really well done, feels good, looks great, and is all around very usable for what it's meant to be. It's snappier than any netbook I ever looked at, and it's just really very nice to have.

- Awesome selection of software in the app store. I didn't necessarily plan on using the iPad for chiefly gaming, but there are so many really promising looking games that I completely understand now why such a large portion of iPad owners uses the device for mostly gaming (I think the Guardian article I saw recently claimed that surveys showed it to be more than 80%). I had fun going through numerous "lite" versions of games, and will buy some of them, though less as if I had if I could directly pay with PayPal. The Tygem iPad client is better than I expected, by the way -- great for watching games at least and better than what is offered for IGS (or KGS ... yeah) on the iPad. I, in fact, like the Tygem iPad client better than the Tygem Windows software.

- SmartGo Books. Brilliant. I have only looked at the sample chapters (would have bought all directly if I could have paid with PayPal....) and will pick one to read later, and this is such a step up from conventional paper books and especially PDFs that one almost has to experience it first hand in order to really appreciate it. I didn't realise how much of a difference (in terms of readability) just coloured diagrams can make (not to mention that they are interactive), and that's only one small aspect. I really hope this approach succeeds.

- Air Video. This app alone added so much extra value to the iPad. You see, most of the US shows I watch come in form of AVIs, since they are not broadcasted here, and while I usually buy DVD boxes with complete seasons when they come out, they are often only offered years after airing, so AVIs of TV shows it is. The iPad doesn't play AVI files, and I wasn't going to convert every and each file. So I found Air Video, which allows accessing and streaming of video files from the computer's hard drive to the iPad. It will optionally convert the files too (not tried, it wasn't necessary), and the load is on the computer, not the tablet. This is a fantastic app and very convenient. It was in fact the second app I bought, right after SmartGo Kifu.

- SmartGo Kifu. It's as awesome and usable as I hoped it would be. It's a great study tool and is quite likely to be the one app that I'll use the most. Without it, I might not have bought an iPad 2 just now.

- The SmartCover: I think at nearly 40 Euro this is ridiculously overpriced and probably costs a fraction of that to manufacture, but it's a stroke of design and usability genius. It's so simple that it's almost surprising that no one thought of it before. I had doubts (from pictures) that using it to position the iPad in a stable horizontal position (picture frame like) would be satisfying, but it does work wonderfully and it's perfectly stable (it isn't in any danger of toppling).

- The virtual keyboard is more usable than I expected. It's obviously not as capable at a netbook's keyboard, let a lone a properly sized one, but for what I type away from my desktop can be easily done on it and isn't much more hassle than doing the same on a netbook. Having to switch to a second view for numbers takes some time getting used to, but I don't need very many numbers when writing emails or work-related notes, so this isn't a big problem for me. In short, I can use the iPad for some productive tasks, and it's not just a fancy gadget (it partly is, of course, few people NEED an iPad) and it is entirely capable of replacing my netbook for a number of tasks that I didn't think it would be able to. That adds "can be used for work" value.


More thoughts

I realise that I listed more cons than pros here, and partly that is because pretty much every iPad related article is gushingly positive. I didn't know half of the "cons" that I mentioned, especially the "political" limitations that are among the worst type of regional locking and regional separation that I have experienced. It seems backwards in a world that has grown closer and more open. While this doesn't reflect on the quality of the hardware, or its potential, it does directly impact the user experience for possibly quite a few non-Americans.

But all in all, the iPad 2 is quite the pleasant surprise and I'm glad I purchased it. It's only the second day with it, so I'm sure I'm sure I'll discover more pros as well as cons as I continue using it. I still do believe that it's too expensive (and that all tablets are), and I feel that these devices have huge future potential if they become more affordable for a larger number of users. On various levels, it's a more natural way of interacting with a computer.

I would have gone with an Android tablet for their "openness" and better interaction with other devices and media outside of the Apple ecosystem, but the difference in software/app support is currently so large that the iPad was the logical choice for me. The iPad 2 also feels more "solid" in terms of design and usability (within Apple's ecosystem), which, considering it's the second generation, makes sense. While clashing with "openness" and "freedom" in the Linux-sense, the advantages of unified hardware and a matching OS lead to a much smoother user experience and is also more appealing to commercial developers and publishers. Companies like Square Enix embracing the iPad, and apparently ignoring Android devices for the time being, has been an aspect affecting the purchase decision.

There, my first impressions.

Cool review, I myself want to get one but the killer for me is the price tag =/.

Press and hold any app; it'll start to shake:
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/30 ... 0&tstart=0

[quote="Mivo"]- Meager selection of built-in apps.[quote] This has always bugged me. My not very informed guess was that it's because they couldn't just plug in the iPhone apps because of the big screen. But for whatever reason, it's a pain in the butt.

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Occupy Babel!

Regarding your "political" comments. These generally have nothing to do with Apple. Perhaps the PayPal thing does, but the issue about gifting, gift cards, books, etc, depend on VAT rules or publisher. Apple does allow you to buy products on their online store for people in other countries, but that's pretty recent.

As for the USB cable, I find it too long.

Regarding having to download iBooks: my guess is that is for antitrust reasons, the same as bundling a browser on Windows raised a number of issues.

To create folders, you could read the help files on the Apple web site: tap and hold an app, then drag it onto another. There are plenty of tutorials on the Apple site.

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My blog about Macs and more: Kirkville

Steam/Valve, whose store is probably the closest service to the app store, allows gifting regardless of a person's location, even if the gifted game isn't available in the receiver's country (it would be understandable if this wasn't possible, though it's a nice way to get 18+ games without having to fax my ID and then personally sign for the package). Among friends and colleagues it's pretty common to gift each other Steam/GamersGate/etc. games on birthdays or holidays (gaming/entertainment industry -- everyone's a gamer ). The receiver's VAT doesn't figure into this since it's a gift and the sender pays for it.

For the gift cards, they could offer a conversion based on a dynamic exchange rate. It'd be more of a convenience service, I guess. I'd probably prefer a "credits" system where apps cost X amount of "coins" and you can use real cash to buy these coins. Similar to what Microsoft and Sony use for XBL and the PSN Store. Or would this make it "too games like"?

The books, well, I can buy English eBooks from numerous places (not all books). Why would publishers single out Apple? I can't even get the English freebies in iBooks (this includes the ones with expired copyrights), so it seems a deliberate decision to only offer regional-language books.

But anyway, the biggest issue for me is the PayPal thing. They offer it in the US, so they have the ability, and there are no legal roadblocks in Europe. I would probably have spent a hundred bucks today in the app/movies store (actually, I now wonder if I am limited to just German movies too!), and another hundred over the next few months, if I could have paid with PayPal, instead of the two €15 cards. Well, hopefully they'll consider offering PayPal for customers outside of the US, too. PayPal has been gaining acceptance rapidly here and pretty much everyone is accepting it. (It works particularly well for me because it allows me to maintain different sub-accounts in Euro, pounds and dollars as I receive money in those currencies, and to convert them on-demand, so I much prefer it over a traditional bank account.)

I'm not sure I believe that. The iTunes store is built in, and it owns a far bigger part of its market than iBooks.

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Occupy Babel!

Because the iTunes Store existed long before other stores. As for iBooks, there was an antitrust question regarding the Kindle. Also, iBooks still isn't available in every country, and that might be another reason.

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My blog about Macs and more: Kirkville

Well, technically, even if it's a gift, the receiver _does_ have to pay the VAT. As to whether Steam is violating the types of things the EU is trying to impose on companies in the US, I don't know. If they don't have an EU presence, they can get away with it. Apple sells from the EU to EU customers (their base is in Luxembourg for digital sales.)

I would still think it's the same thing for gift cards; the VAT issues are actually quite sticky in the EU. They've put major pressure on Apple regarding them.

As for ebooks, you can't buy them from Amazon, unless you pay the additional VAT. You can't buy music from Amazon.com either. These are all decisions from the publishers. Why would you think a retailer would choose to not sell something that they could make money on unless they didn't have a choice? All due respect, but that's a pretty naive thing to think; that they're just doing it to bother you.

Regarding PayPal: I can tell you that the EU is looking closely at them, and has recently imposed "money-laundering" restrictions on them. My guess is that Apple would love to work with them, but that there are limits someplace. Again, thinking that all this is Apple's fault is naive.

What's the big deal with buying gift cards? If Germany is like France, you can buy them in most supermarkets, as well as online...

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My blog about Macs and more: Kirkville

Does predating other stores really remove antitrust questions? This makes sense. I'd think Apple would be even more averse than most companies to including a built in app that some users are blocked from using.

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Occupy Babel!

Perhaps the option of a pre-paid credit card (see post) might work for you.

gasp. Aaack pbbbth!

Bash it more!

= cool and 3rd party apps, some of which (smartgo books) are unavailable elsewhere?

Edit: for those of you that don't have an ipad but wish they did, here is a solution.

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Patience, grasshopper.

I got around some iBooks limitations on my iPod Touch by using the free Kindle app for it. Calibre (free eBook software) works wonders for converting between formats. I assume it will all work on the iPad too.

On the iPod Touch I use AVPlayer to play AVIs — it seems to play almost anything. It works on the iPad too.

Paul

Bit of an update, with random thoughts:

- I think I found a workaround for the English titles in iBooks: Searching for specific titles and authors often does yield results, and the "People who bought this book also bought..." list is useful to browse and find similar titles (well, that's the purpose). I can buy these, but I cannot directly view English book categories or charts. I also didn't find everything I checked on, but it's not as bad as I originally thought.

- The iPad works well as an e-book reader. I had some doubts (no retina display, LCD displays being inferior to e-ink), but with some brightness adjustments (within the reading application, not globally) it's pretty good. I use the device inside, though, so at the beach this would be different. Then again, I'd not take an iPad to the beach!

- The quality of some games is amazing. Order & Chaos is a full-fledged PC-style MMO that runs on the iDevices. I didn't think this could be done, but graphics, content and playability are all great. Nevermind that it's a complete WoW clone, I didn't think that mobile devices had been progressed this far. (It also only costs 99 cents per month, with the first three included in the app price -- around 5 bucks.)

- It's a fingerprint magnet and also seems to catch every dust particle floating through the air. It's definitely not suited for people with OCD.

- The SmartCover has qualities of a puzzle game.

- Zite is an awesome app, turned my iPad in a personalized magazine that adjusts to my interests and preferences. Would have paid for it, but it was free.

Greatly enjoying the iPad. I'm using it more for gaming, reading and browsing than for Go-related activities right now, but that's just the exploration phase where everything is new and shiny. The SmartGo Books and SmartGo Kifu make it a very capable study tool as well.