So a little while ago I was lucky enough to have won a competition at ’34sp.com’. All I had to do to enter was to refer a customer to their web hosting and I was entered into a random draw. Funnily enough I was making a website for a couple of nuns at the time (perhaps they put in a good word for me) and my referral was the one drawn. My prize? A shiny new Apple iTablet iPad.
When I first heard about the iPad I wasn’t sure what to think. It’s not a laptop and it’s not a mobile device, so what is it? Like just about everyone else, I asked myself “isn’t that just a big iPod touch?”. Having owned an iPod touch I asked myself if this new device was really worth that much money, considering the only major benefit was the larger screen and some new apps to play with. Luckily, of course, one landed into my lap and I didn’t have to worry about buying one.
Having used the iPad for over a month now I can begin to see why people go crazy over it. First of all, the web browsing experience is brilliant. Reading web articles has never been easier (unless Flash is involved). Thanks to the superb screen resolution the text is nice and sharp and the fact that it’s like holding a magazine (albeit a heavy one) makes it feel more natural than reading from a screen. For me, it makes keeping up-to-date with RSS feeds easy. Of course there are the other important selling points such as the e-mails, photo gallery, games and e-reader capability, but what makes the iPad so appealing is that it’s just so fun to use. As sad as it is, I found myself performing the most pointless tasks just so that I could have an excuse to use it. The way you interact with the device is so simple and intuitive; everyone knows how to poke, prod, swipe and pinch things. I still can’t quite put my finger on what makes these actions so fun, perhaps it’s the sense of power you get from manipulating the screen so easily. I can tell you, however, that it’s time to take a break when you try to scroll down a page of ordinary paper (yes, I actually did this).
What’s interesting about this new form of interaction is that it will influence the way websites (and apps) are designed. Certain aspects, such as being able to hover over a graphic or button, don’t quite work with touch screens and of course smaller targets are much harder to press with a finger. Despite this, designing for multiple devices and interaction methods is an exciting challenge.
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