Don’s reactions

It’s May 4th and we’ve just received our iPad. Visually, it’s exactly what you’d expect from an Apple product…stylish, sleek, intriguing. Even the the packaging fits this description; don’t know what to do with it, but I don’t want to get rid of it.

Functionally, my knee jerk reaction is a little mixed. Yeah, it’s great for browsing, but if I want to enter text (e.g. This blog or an email) it’s taking some learning. I could sign on to Groupwise easy enough, but once there, I couldn’t do anything (read or write emails). If you’re in this predicament, you can do a couple of things. You can purchase a GW app that allows you to do what you need to do.  Or you can go to your GW web-based sign on and click the box that says “use the basic interface.”  What pops up is not ideal, but it allows you to access and manipulate (i.e. compose, delete, move) emails.

what your inbox looks like in BIM

GW sign on

basic interface mode (BIM)

Another thing I’d like to comment on right out of the box is the keyboard.  While it is much more accessible than the touch/phone keyboard, it is not the keyboard us baby boomers have become accustomed to.  It’s got two initial issues for me: size and sensitivity.  I still find myself hunting and pecking, and a mere glance upon a letter (while a finger moves from one target letter to the next) activates that letter; i.e. I’ve spent a lot of time correcting my spelling.  But don’t just take my word for it.  Here’s a good blog that I think gives a spot on description of using the keyboard.  I know that these are simply due to lack of familiarity.  And, like with anything else, it’ll take time getting used to.

Finally, I want to mention Google docs and WordPress.  I know that Apple has issues with Flash, and therefore there are quite a few sites that iphone/ipad users can’t view.  However, I was not aware of the fact that you can view, but not edit Google docs (except for spreadsheets?) on the iwhichever. Also, in order to edit WordPress blogs (of which this is one), you need to do so in HTML mode (and not Visual mode).  Not sure why it works that way (tipping my technical knowledge hand here).

I’ve had this in my hands for less than 24 hours, and I’m sure I’ll learn to like it and appreciate it.  However, I find some of these shortcomings a little confusing.