Apple iPad Review… and Design Flaw?

I was planning a live broadcast on Ustream.tv today to demo my new Apple iPad. Unfortunately, late last night the iPad flew right out of my hand and did a nose-dive for the floor. See image above. Sickening, isn't it?

Needless to say, the live broadcast was canceled (for safety reasons).

Now that I've sufficiently crash-tested the device, I thought I would give you my promised Apple iPad Review. 😀

First, your questions about the Flying Apple iPad. I know you have them, so we'll just go ahead and get that out of the way. If you've ever held an iPad in your own hands, you know they have a super-slick feel to them.

I thought the Macbook Pro was smooth to the touch, but the Apple iPad is the smoothest slickest device I've ever touched.

While it's slick feel is part of the "cool factor" with the iPad, I see it as a definite design flaw. That along with the way that it's weighted. Let me explain...

I was walking through the house with the iPad in my left hand. I had pulled up a website and was heading to sit down, get comfy, and do some online shopping. I was shopping for a new TV stand by the way, which was on sale and in about the same price range as a replacement Apple iPad (which I did not know I might need at the time, of course).

I had the usual 5-finger grip on my beautiful iPad, but when I rounded the corner it slid right off my hand like I was holding a wet eel with baby oil on my palm. It did a flip mid-air, landed on it's glass face, and shattered - with tiny shards of glass flying everywhere.

Sure I'm a woman with smaller, softer hands than a male iPad user. But still! I've heard similar stories of easily broken or shattered glass with the Apple iPhone. My Motorola Droid on the other hand, recently survived a hard fall which left me painfully injured - and it with only a few small cosmetic scratches.

Side Note: the iPad is still operational - if you're brave enough to use a shattered touch screen. 😛

Yes I own an iPad Case, which I ordered from Apple.com when I ordered my iPad - along with the wireless bluetooth keyboard and VGA adapter. The case opens like a book, and is great for toting your iPad -not so great for everyday use.

My personal opinion is that if a skin or case is required to avoid easy slippage, it should be included with the product shipment. I'm also inclined to believe that the iPad screen would shatter even if dropped with a case or skin on...

(I don't recommend you test that theory with your own iPad)

The Apple warranty does not cover accidents, spills, etc. It only covers product defects. The same goes for the extended coverage you can purchase. So they've designed a slippery product that tends to fall flat on it's face, and shatter on impact.

You might consider getting personal insurance coverage for your devices if the thought of shattering a $699 product in the blink of an eye makes you queasy.

My thoughts? You'll be hearing a lot more of these stories. Much like the accidents and injuries we saw with the Wii controller. The iPad may just need to come with a wristband if they don't choose to give it a better texture with grip...

Now let's rewind to a sweeter space in time, when I first unboxed the shiny new iPad and started using it...

Being a brand new Apple customer, just having ordered a Macbook Pro earlier this year, it took me awhile to figure out that I had to connect the iPad to iTunes to get it to work. Once I did that, it was easy sailing from there on out.

I was able to sync my Google Gmail, Calendars, etc on the iPad and from there I was hooked. All of my mobile devices were synced, as well as my desktop system in the home office. Lovely!

The Apple iPad has incredible screen quality, beautiful for sharp video and images. It was perfect for watching Netflix movies through the Netflix App, setting up photo slideshows, etc.

The one thing I really got hooked on was the touch screen computing. Experiencing that with my smart phone was one thing, but on this larger clearer screen it was ideal. The iPad quickly became my device of choice for email, agenda, web browsing, voice dictation - and the majority of my daily work tasks.

The one thing I thought would be a negative in the beginning, turned out to be a positive. I'm referring to the iPad's lack of ability to multi-task. When you're doing email, you're doing email full screen. You have to go back to the home screen, and touch another icon to switch to a different program or application.

Let's say I'm using the Dragon Dictation app, for example. I talk, it records and transcribes. When I'm done, I copy the text, go back to the home screen, open another application, and paste in the text. Not so bad, and it all happens very quickly.

Once you get used it that, you realize how efficient you are with the lack of distraction. No toolbars, no start menu, no nothing but the actual program you're working within. I found it very efficient - especially compared to my usual setup of working across multiple screens and systems here at my desk.

All said and done, I fell completely in love with my Apple iPad. I have an appointment with the Genius Bar on Thursday where I'll be getting a replacement. They told me that they can't repair the shattered screen, but that they can get the entire unit replaced at less than the price of buying another new unit.

It'll be interesting to find out exactly what that price is 😉

To all the happy iPad users out there - I'd love to hear your thoughts! Here's hoping Apple comes up with a solution before too many others lose their grip on this butter-slick beauty...

Best,

Next: My Experience at the Nashville Apple Store

p.s. It's worth noting: I've been handling gadgets & electronics for 14+ years. I used to own an electronics shop in the city (my first business). I have NEVER dropped a gadget before now. The iPad was designed slick as a wet eel.