1 Year since iPad Announcement. Now How Is the Tablet World Doing?

Exactly one year ago, on January 27 last year Steve Jobs announced iPad at a press conference held for the device. The planned tablet was rumoured for years before that as people realized it should have been a logical step after success Apple had with iPhone. A year later and numerous gadget of the year awards, I thought it would be fun to discuss our initial expectations compared to actual user experience with the device.

So how is the tablet market these days? First of all, we should admit it: Apple has really transformed the gadget and computer market heavily with iPad – where no one thought a tablet computer would really take off, we now have a market where everyone suddenly seems to want one. And it is no wonder that this market is now heavily dominated by iPad – for example, in third quarter iPad accounted for 90% of all sales of tablet computers.

It is pretty obvious that this situation will change with time and Android-based tablets will eventually get a good share of the market as there are enough fans of Android operating system who will probably also want to own a tablet computer in addition to their phone. But let’s admit it: Apple has taught us that a tablet computer is actually something we might want and even need.

So I think that the most impressive thing about iPad is that all the critics (me included though I did not criticize it, only thought it was somewhat useless) liked the device much better after actually taking it in their hands and playing with it. We watched all the presentations and demos with understanding of how cool it is but without wanting to own it immediately. But honestly, it is incredibly difficult not to fall in love with the device once you put your hands on it and realize how smooth user experience is.

Let’s face it: initially we did not believe in many aspects when they claimed iPad was sooo good. For example, many of those of us who have already migrated to ebooks from paper thought that iPad will be a gorgeous reader but definitely not something to replace a Kindle, for example – we were all expected to have eye strain with the bright screen iPad has. But experience shows that iPad is not only gorgeous as a toy to play with magazines and books and then quickly return to E Ink – reading with E Ink under a lamp results in eye strain while I have never felt any discomfort reading on iPad though I have to admit I rarely get the luxury of reading for long hours without interruption. But to be fair, I never get that luxury, no matter what device I would want to use for reading.

Another important issue where we were sceptical was battery life: initially we did not really believe the claims of 10 hours on single charge – it just did not seem realistic. At the same time many hoped it would at least be somewhere close to the truth as it would turn iPad into a perfect Transatlantic flight companion finally giving the freedom of extra batteries for our laptops.

Over the years we have learned not to trust the battery life figures declared by computer manufacturers. We know that they use the least resource-hungry apps and modes to achieve their results but you will never really want to work in those modes – like, with the image on your screen barely visible to save battery on brightness. So when we see that a computer is promised to work for 5 hours, we rarely expect anything over 3 hours in normal conditions – and that would still be pretty good.

But to our surprise iPad battery generally tends to exceed not only our expectations but even Apple’s claims as well – on some apps in various situations it can work even beyond the promised 10 hours which is longer than any laptop you have probably ever used and definitely ideal for a mobile companion. Me personally, I don’t even take the charger with me for weekend getaways because the battery is more than enough for email checks, Saturday evening movie and occasional reading in a cosy chair if I’m lucky to get some time to myself.

But it would be far from fair to say that iPad only offered us numerous pleasant surprises. There has obviously been some disappointments as well. For example, I have already mentioned here that iPad itself is only the initial investment for users who choose to have one: even if they have already purchased a whole array of iPhone apps over time, they have quickly realized most apps will not simply be converted into both iPhone/iPod compatible – instead a new version will be introduced that will be either more expensive than the original paid version or paid if originally free.

Over the first couple of months of ownership I have purchased three office suites (I know this sounds crazy, I simply should have researched better before clicking Buy) for iPad, some extra utilities and entertainment apps (most of them I already had on iPhone so I paid to the developers of the tools I already liked). I don’t know exactly how much I’ve spent but I suspect it is a good portion of the device price, not to mention that I am buying even more books now, including from Apple via iBooks. So I think it won’t be too daring to say that every iPad user has somewhat contributed to the overall Apple revenue with some extra purchases from App Store because iPad can easily lure you into doing more than you can with the free apps.

Has iPad really revolutionized the entire computer market? Probably not as iPad has not turned into a real laptop killer for many – but this has never been the intention of the device (after all, Apple is pretty good in selling quality high-end laptops as well so they don’t compete with their own products here). But I can certainly see a whole crowd of people who could easily handle the majority of their job functions on an iPad instead of a laptop (let alone a desktop computer). All sorts of managers and marketing people who need to create text-based content or approve what is created by others can definitely find themselves pretty comfortable with an iPad at a conference without having to drag a laptop around for an impressive demo or a quick fix in a press release.

Of course there are things that can’t be replaced and standard office or home office working environment is definitely getting more comfortable with a full-sized device. But there are numerous situations where iPad has proven itself to be a huge winner with its long-lasting battery and instant-on capability.

For example, I now don’t use my laptop over weekends to simply check my email or weather forecast or news, find a local business or write a receipt down. In fact, I have found that shopping with iPad means that I don’t have to postpone actual buying decision to next day after reading reviews of the products I like online – I just visit a few stores, talk to consultants, choose a few preferences, get into a coffee shop and read all the reviews I want to – and the decision can be finalized immediately.

All in all, with iPad Apple did at least one thing impressively well: it popularized the notion of a tablet PC in general and even those who dislike iPad for any reason now consider having a tablet anyway – Android or Windows based but still a tablet. For example, when my niece enters school this year, a gift from her parents (my clever advice, of course) would be some Windows-based tablet computer for reading, internet and gaming (it would be strange to expect a 7-year-old girl to only use computer for serious things) as it certainly seems like a better idea than a whole laptop that is way more difficult to carry around than a tablet that can hold a whole bunch of textbooks in much less weight.

Conclusion? A year later we know that iPad is definitely a success despite of all the original doubts and criticism. And I can confirm that from day one to the day I got an iPad of my own I kept insisting I saw no real uses to it but now I actually see some improvements in my life thanks to the new gadget. True, these are not things I could not live without or do otherwise but they do make my life slightly better – and this is what I think technology is and should be about.