The Primary Device

On Wednesday I attended my third ONA Philly meetup. It was held at NBC Philadelphia, and we got to hear from a few of their on air anchors and social media producers about the changing news gathering and engagement process as social media swallows the world.

Afterward, I got to hang out with a few fellow 20-somethings, and we got on to the topic of tablets. One girl said something like, “They’re almost novelty items, aren’t they?” She told us about her parents using them at home, but about her own needs being satisfied by smartphone and laptop.

I think she’s correct that there’s a sense about iPads as being novel, but I’d disagree about tablets being novelty items. See: Apple’s most recent sales quarter.

I’m also biased. I’ve been using iPad since Aug. 2010, and am increasingly relying on it as my primary device. Outside of my work building and launching websites for Catholic parishes, I don’t really enjoy hanging around on my laptop.

A major benefit to iPad is that I’ve found I’m doing far less mindless browsing and reading. Focus is easier since you can only really work with an app at a time. Typing is less fluid, but it’s also surprising how quickly you acclimate. I’m writing this post from iPad, and have written 1,000+ word articles on it more than once.

The mobile data speed and extra few seconds it takes to type or load a webpage means I’m less frequently checking drudge or other sites compulsively in spare moments. Engaging on iPad doesn’t as frequently result in lost hours and gaps of time.

I do all long form reading on iPad at this point. Even the MacBook Air feels like a burden to bring along on travel comparatively.

I realize even having this conversation is uncomfortably close to excess and luxury, but this is where we are. Tim Cook told investors recently that he sees the tablet market eventually outstripping the PC market, and that definitely feels right.

The thing is, how much do you do on your laptop that you couldn’t do on a tablet?

http://twitter.com/chazzystarr @ChazzyStarr

Hey Tom, I have a MacBook Pro and an iPhone, and I guess I’d answer your question by saying that I really don’t know how much I could do on a tablet that I couldn’t do on my laptop. I use a Kindle for reading, so if I had an iPad, it just becomes another device that I’ll feel compelled to use, though I don’t yet know what I’d use it for.

I’m encouraged to hear that your iPad allows you more focus within a particular application, as I find myself darting hither and yon between apps and as a result, my thoughts are all over the place. I like the Kindle because I don’t get interrupted with texts or feel a compulsion to check twitter. I do have to turn my phone OFF while reading.

I work in education publishing, in sales, and am becoming more and more aware of the call for iPad friendly learning programs, which we are in the early stages of developing. I present periodically, with embedded videos, and I’m not that iPads yet have “apps for that”.

My personal goal right now is to write more, particularly comedy, and my laptop seems to be the best fit for it. Though I think I’ll look into the next generation of iPads as it becomes more relevant in my professional life.

http://www.tomshakely.com Thomas A. Shakely

I think device-minimalism is definitely needed if someone goes the tablet route. I don’t have a Kindle, for instance, and if I did it would probably be too many things to manage. I like having just phone, tablet, and laptop.

I’m curious: from your experience in education publishing do you see iPads/tablets finding a major place in the classroom in the next few years? Net positive/negative?

@ChazzyStarr

I believe so, yes. Already we see administrations jumping at the chance to get iPads, many times without even consulting the teachers. This doesn’t go over well with teachers who don’t know what to do with them as it regards their curriculum and also are not confident that they will be able to take advantage of the technology. The 2.0 teachers make a lot of noise on twitter, but they are few in number.

We’ll all have to see what kind of students we’re turning out with these new innovations; if they are capable of critical thinking and focus. But I think after the dust settles in the next few years, it’ll be a net positive. It will be very interesting to see how publishers respond.

The Primary Device

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