All Propped Up and No Place To Go
I’ve never kept my iPad in a case. I used to put a case on everything, but I stopped a while ago. These iPads and iPhones are beautifully designed products, and I prefer them naked. The only time that I’m slightly jealous of the cased-people, is when they have it sitting on a counter with the back propped up, typing and swiping away.
I keep the iPad in a Hard Graft sleeve, which I love. More and more I bring the iPad with me to the coffee shop to do work, and I’ve found that it really wants its back propped up for a proper typing angle. I’ve taken to shoving my wallet or keys under the back to give it the right angle, but that never felt overly secure. I wanted the typing angle a case gives, without a case. I’ve been looking for something small and portable—something that can easily be thrown in a small bag—to act as a solution, and I think the Compass stand by Twelve South is it.
Twelve South products aren’t cheap, but from what I’ve seen in the past, they’re solid and well-built. When I saw the Compass Stand at the Apple Store a few days ago I grabbed it. The stand isn’t much bigger than a candy bar when it’s folded up (it easily fits in my pocket), and it has an impressive weight. It slips into a nice little travel case. The stand can unfolds two ways: as a more traditional easel, or as a flatter stand for typing. All the surfaces that come into contact with the iPad are covered in rubber, so there is no risk of the metal scratching the surface.
After a few days use, I’m really happy with the function, and it’s proved to be exactly what I was looking for. If I want to stumble out to the coffee shop half-asleep on a Sunday morning, I can just grab my iPad, throw the stand in my pocket, and spend an hour sitting there catching up.
iPad TV
You see, despite Apple clearly signalling, by orienting its logo in portrait mode, that the iPad is for holding like a book or a piece of paper, it’s meant the most to me turned to landscape mode, where its dimensions replicate the video screen I’ve known my whole life. Turned to landscape, the iPad offers me the most comfort, the most passive participation, the feeling of Home.
Excellent essay on the iPad, where it fits in, and where we may see video going across Apple platforms. The whole thing is very much worth a read.
The point raised above is one I have thought of many times myself. I use the iPad in landscape mode 95% of the time, yet the logo (which can only face one direction¹), is in portrait mode. I’ve been trying out some of the magazine apps (Vanity Fair, Wired), and while using them in portrait mode does sometimes feel closer to the experience of holding a print magazine in your hand (because of the size and orientation), I don’t think that matters. These are new experiences with media, and the goal isn’t—and shouldn’t be—to simply recreate the print experience.
And while we’re at it, can iPad apps stop with only running in one orientation? I’m looking at you Words With Friends HD, and to a lesser extent you MLB At Bat (sorry pal).
¹ One of my all-time favorite little UI features on Apple products is the way that the camera on the iPhone’s shutter release button rotates when you turn the phone from portrait to landscape mode. It’s absolutely perfect. It’s one of the things that struck me the first time I ever picked up an iPhone. It still brings a smile to my face every time I see it. Sure, it’s probably not possible technically (or should I say very hard), but imagine how kick-ass it would be if the logo on the back of the iPad could somehow rotate like that. I can dream.
Also, one of these days I’ll figure out how to make proper, clickable footnotes that can return to where you left off. Sorry about that.
lonelysandwich: Adaptation
Of course, I don’t know that and you can’t know that until we pick it up and play with it, but consider this: What if the iPad is a big iPhone? If you’re not still impressed every single time you take your iPhone from your pocket, by what the iPhone is able to achieve, then maybe you’ve just adapted too quickly.
I’m glad Gruber re-posted this, because it’s really a great piece from Adam. You should read the whole thing (again). The last line really nails it for me. Three years on, and I’m still awed by this little—almost perfect—device every time I hold it in my hand. It’s not just what it does, but what it can possibly do. As I’ve said before, I don’t think the iPad will be a “big iPhone,” but I do think that it will extend that feeling of what’s possible with technology. Not in a geeky, “but it’s a closed system and therefore evil way,” but in a real, human way. It will change how a lot of everyday people interact with, and share information. It will get out of your way when you don’t need it, but be there when you do. That’s what most people want—technology that helps them, then fades away, always to remain nearby. That’s what we saw in the movies.
The iPad is not just about the hardware, it’s about peeling away another layer that gets between people and information. Just like Wi-Fi got rid of cables, the iPad—this way of thinking—will get rid of the computer that’s between you and the world of information at your fingertips.
Read this whole piece. The line below may be my favorite single thing I have seen written about the iPad.
The iPad isn’t the future of computing; it’s a replacement for computing.
So imagine, say, an iPad Twitter client in horizontal mode. You could have a split view with a list of tweets running down the left. On the right, you could have a web view for reading web pages linked from tweets. Rather than sliding over and replacing the tweet list, they could exist side-by-side. And then a popover could provide an interface for switching between different accounts.
Drool.
