I have seen a lot of questions and comments on the iPad and I feel I need to write my responses to some of them down. So here goes.

Who is the iPad for?

The iPad is for casual computing. It is what many people said the iPhone would be for, before realising that the small screen isn't all that good for casual computing. The iPad really is a remarkable device, showing off the technology combination the iPhone introduced us to in a much better way.

But who is it for? Well it is for everyone. Some people are saying it is for their parents and that it isn't for geeks or professionals. I disagree. Yes it is ideal for those who don't want to learn how to use a computer, but that doesn't mean that it won't also be great for the computer literate. Hell, look at the popularity of the iPhone, that isn't just computer illiterate users. But just because it will work well for everyone, doesn't mean it will work well for every task.

What is its place?

Apple explicitly said that the iPad sits between the iPhone and the Mac. They have specced it out in that range, are marketing it in that range and priced it in that range. It sits in the middle ground, which is exactly the same place that many low end PCs sit. The exact sort of PCs that are bought for workers, schools or just by people who want a computer to get online but don't need anything powerful.

Think of all the people who have to travel around with bulky laptops just to fill out some forms when they see customers. The iPad is a much more portable way of providing that same functionality, for what would be a reasonably similar price.

In education the iPad would be invaluable. With the iBooks system, iTunes U, iWork all on this one lightweight device which costs only a bit more than a low powered laptop, it is the perfect education tool. It becomes the textbook, the educational video and the work machine all in one. With the ability to type but also sketch with your finger it could replace pen and paper for note taking for many people.

And finally think of the casual user. You don't need a bulky computer system any more, you can buy a sleek iPad that you can easily store in a drawer when you don't need it. It is powerful enough for everything a casual user could want, and then some. There is also something else significant I will get to in a bit.

Isn't it just a big iPhone?

From a technical point of view it pretty much is just a big iPhone. Sure it is faster and has different UIs on the apps, but it is running the same fundamental core. But it is very easy to underestimate how important the bigger screen is. There are many applications that work ok on the iPhone but would work so much better on an iPad

In the keynote video the developer of Brushes was brought on stage to show off the app. The extra screen space allows a much bigger canvas with more powerful tools. The iPhone lets you build a toy paint app, the iPad lets you build a real paint app.

The iPhone also doesn't really work for things such as office applications. Pages, Keynote, Numbers. Sure you could do them on the iPhone, but they wouldn't provide a good experience. The iPad offers a screen resolution that allows you to make these sorts of applications possible.

The other key thing is that there are some app concepts that work well on the iPhone but not on the Mac. There are also some that work well on the Mac but not on the iPhone. On the iPad the majority of these concepts from Mac and iPhone work equally well. You can build desktop calibre apps for the iPad, which you couldn't for the small screen of the iPhone.

Surely this means the Mac is dead?

The iPad replacing the Mac is as likely as it replacing the iPhone. The iPad is a 1GHz device with up to 64GB of storage and a 9.5" screen supporting a 1024x768 resolution. For casual computing that is fine. But for high performance tasks? No. For shared media system? No. For doing work that requires very large amounts of screen real estate? No.

For the iPad to replace the iMac for example it would need to have a 27" screen with 2560x1440 resolution, a 2.6GHz quad core processor and 1TB of storage. The fact is that such a machine would be both hugely expensive and incredibly impractical.

In the same way that an average laptop is always less powerful than an average desktop at any period in time, the iPad will always be less powerful than an average laptop. It is basic economics and physics. New high powered processors produce more heat and so need more cooling, over time processors of equivalent power will be made more efficient and smaller. The iPad is 1GHz, Macs reached 1GHz 8 years ago.

The iPad is also a much more personal device. I wouldn't expect to see many groups of people gathering round an iPad to watch a movie. The Mac provides a much better group media system due to the bigger screen size. Throw in the fact that you can add a remote and front row to the Mac and you have a home entertainment system, which the iPad is not.

So why not just chop the keyboard off a MacBook?

Some people wanted a touch screen Mac with no keyboard or mouse. Such a product would fail miserably. This is essentially what a Windows Tablet/Slate/Whatever-they're-calling-them-this-week is. It is a laptop with the keyboard chopped off. And they provide a terrible experience. Not because of the hardware, but because they're running Windows.

Now that isn't to take a jab at Windows. The issue is that Window is a desktop OS. It has been designed for use with keyboard and mouse and doesn't work too well with a touch screen. Like OS X it has some multi touch functionality hacked on, but you are still moving a mouse cursor about and clicking on a 1px point.

A user interface for a touch screen where the primary input method is your finger requires a hugely different user interface. You can't have a 1 pixel line you have to touch and drag as you do with split views. You need to fundamentally change how controls behave as they need larger target areas.

Many parts of a desktop OS are irrelevant as well. Scrollbars aren't needed on a touch screen. They would take up valuable screen space that can otherwise be done by stroking your finger along the screen. Scroll areas are also inverted. Drag a scroll bar down on a desktop and the page moves down, drag your finger down on an iPhone and the page moves up. This is because you no longer have the disconnect between screen and input device.

What about multi tasking?

There have been two large groups of people talking about multi tasking. Those who want it and those who think that casual users won't use it. Both groups are right and wrong. The iPad needs multi tasking, but it doesn't necessarily need to mean multiple apps running at once.

For those who don't think it is needed, I would ask whether you multi task in real life? Yes you do. Off the computer you listen to music while you work. On a computer you flip back and forth between a web page and a word processing document. You do multi task.

What you don't do is use 20+ applications all at once. Sure I have over 20 applications open but I don't use them all. As I'm writing this blog post I'm listening to music while flipping between typing up and researching on the web, with the occasional glance at twitter. Now on the iPad I could just exit to the home screen from Pages and open Safari, find what I want then copy and paste back into Pages. Then if I want to change my music I open up the iPod app and change it there.

The issue is that I am multi tasking whether the iPad allows me or not, but I'm having to go through the awkward process of quitting an app, opening another app, quitting that, opening the previous app. There needs to be a limited ability to switch quickly between a certain set of apps.

One way I have thought of is to use a 4 finger swipe. It would work much like 4 finger swiping on a MacBook Pro trackpad. Swipe horizontally and be presented a list of 'open' apps under your finger which you can choose from. Swipe vertically would bring up the home screen to open a new app. This makes the process much faster.

The best thing about this is that it can still be quitting the applications. I'm just not having to move my finger down to the bottom to press the home button, then back up to where I was on the screen to find the app I want (which may or may not be on a different page of apps). It removes the unnecessary movements of the hand as your switching appears under your finger and also reduces any sort of searching your brain has to do as what you want is in a line of a few choices.

Significance of the 3G networking?

What hasn't been talked about is the significance of the 3G networking deal. This is truly a revolution. No contract, you can sign up and cancel any time you want and it is a low monthly fee. If you only want the one device then this is the easiest way in the world to get on the internet in your own home. No installing filters and routers and modems. No phoning up an ISP to get them to connect you up in the next few weeks.

Sure it isn't the fastest internet, but it is fast enough for most basic uses. This is getting online the Apple way, except unlike the iMac adverts of the late 90s, there really is no step 3.

Final thoughts

The iPad truly is a revolutionary device to those who can see its potential. To those who can't it is just an expensive, large iPhone. At the same time, it won't replace the Mac or the iPhone, it just isn't in the same market as either of them. It does have a few flaws at the moment but these are easily fixed. What is important is that this is a glimpse of one of the future forms of mainstream computing.

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