There are some who are calling the Apple iPad "just a bigger iPhone", because they merely see the iPad running the same simple iPhone apps. Many failed to see that the iPad is actually a quantum leap in mobile computing, because the iPad will enable a new class of applications that will rival the desktops!
The iPhone came out less than three years ago and introduced the world to a multitouch user interface that relies solely on fingers for input, no stylus, no physical keyboard. Today, there are around 80 million iPhone and iPod Touch devices in use worldwide, and growing rapidly. There are now over 140,000 iPhone apps. That is just astounding!
However, despite all that it can do, it is not a replacement for notebooks or desktops. The biggest barrier is the size of the screen. No matter how powerful the CPU and how much RAM you have, on a 3.5 inch screen, the applications that you can run on this device will always have to be inherently simple in order to be usable.
The iPad delivers a 10 inch screen and an even more powerful CPU. This combination will allow for desktop-class applications to run beautifully, and that is the quantum leap! By desktop-class applications, I am referring to apps that you would normally use on your desktop or notebook, but not on your phone.
Apple has already demonstrated the amazing possibilities with their iWorks office suite of products for the iPad, and I am sure there will be many more third party companies coming out with iPad optimised apps ready, when iPad becomes available in 60 days worldwide.
If you have not seen the iWorks demo, I highly recommend that you look at it now:
This is nothing short of a peek into the future of computing! And you can have it in your hands in just a few months.
So, in essence, you get a 10" multitouch computer, with an OS that is specifically designed and optimised to run blazingly fast on low power devices, and desktop-class applications that are specifically designed to work amazingly well on a multitouch interface. That's revolutionary!
And now, for those of you who think netbooks are great, please read on.
How About Netbooks ?
Yes, I hear many people saying "but netbooks are cheaper, and they can already run a "full OS" and all existing applications", like it's a good thing. Well, I will tell you why running your "full OS" and "all existing applications" is quite simply a bad idea.
I should note that I too have a netbook, a Dell Mini 10v. I bought it despite already having a PC, a Mac Mini, a Windows Notebook and two iPhones. Why ? Because I wanted a mobile device that is significantly smaller and lighter than a notebook, something that I can just bring out with me in a tiny sling bag when I go out to Starbucks to hangout with friends, or when I travel. My netbook weights in at around 1.2kg (with 6-cell batt), and slightly more than 1" thick (almost 2" thick if you count the 6-cell batt that pops out).
Why did I get a netbook ? Because there was no other device at that time, that filled a particular gap I had. I wanted a bigger screen than the iPhone when I am browsing or reading for longer periods of time, when I want to prepare some documents like spreadsheets, view and appreciate photos, or watch a full length movie on the go.
iPhone is great for a lot of things and Apple has done a phenomenal job here, but lets face it, the screen size limitations of a phone-type device basically means that there are things that you won't want to do on an iPhone, at least not for extended periods of time, or if you want to have a truly enjoyable experience, while still on the go. And there are things that are just not practical to do on a 3.5" screen.
So then, why do Netbooks suck ? One word ... SOFTWARE.
Your "Full OS"
Chances are, you run Windows on your netbook. What is the problem with that ? The problem is, Windows XP/Vista/7 were not designed specifically for devices with relatively weak CPU, limited RAM and limited battery capacity. When you run these versions of Windows on a netbook, you are practically running it on the most bare minimum hardware requirements to get it to even run.
In addition, with your "full OS", you also have to deal with all the problems that comes with it. How often are you updating the virus signatures of your antivirus software ? How often do you have to install security patches ? It's a problem that has plague Windows for such a long time, it's not even funny anymore.
People who use MSN Messenger on Windows are now a bunch of paranoid freaks. Whenever I send links to my friends, they will ask me first "What's that?" ... just to verify that it is really me sending them a link. Don't you think that's ridiculous ? It's like walking into a store and the security guard pulls out his gun, points it at you, and shouts "Freeze ! Put your hands up", and pats you down to make sure you are not carrying a weapon before letting you in. But that is now the accepted norm for Windows users, because they have come to accept that living in Windows land is like living in a bad neighbourhood. You never know when you're gonna get robbed, shot or run over.
Your "Existing desktop applications"
Now, on top of that, you have the problems of trying to run what is essentially desktop software on a 10" screen. Most software in the past decade or so, have been optimized to run on screens that are at least 14" in size, because everyone has had screens that are 14" or bigger for over a decade now, and today, I am typing this article on a 23" screen. When I say optimized for bigger screens, I mean you have software with many menus and submenus, toolbars, floating palettes, multiple window interfaces, etc. These are all great and efficient, if your screen is big enough. Now, when you throw that onto a 10" screen, things get pretty cramped very very quickly.
If you're thinking a 10" screen doesn't sound like it's a lot smaller than a 14" screen, think again. A 14" screen actually has double the display area compared to a 10" screen! Double! That's a huge difference.
Now, of course, for software with simpler interface like web browsers, it may not be that big a deal. But if you try to run more complex software, such as the Microsoft Office suite of products, you are going to feel claustrophobic. On top of that, most of these software were designed based on the assumption that you have a more powerful CPU and more RAM. When you run it on a netbook, sure, it will still run, but is it a pleasure to use them? Or are you getting irritated with the lag already?
And for those of you who enjoys gaming, how many of the latest desktop games are you playing on your netbook ? Oh, they don't run well on your netbook ? I wonder why ... *duhhhh* ... They were not designed for netbooks. Yes, that's right !
Conclusion
So you see, the problem with netbooks is, you're trying to shove a size 10 feet, into a size 8 shoe. Can you still walk? Sure, but it'll be mighty uncomfortable. Can you run? Sure, but heck, it's going to be one hell of a painful experience.
Many have questioned why Apple did not include this feature or that feature, in their products. Features that seemed obvious and effortless to include. The reason is really quite simply, more often than not, less is more.
I shall try to distill Apple's Design Philosophies into a set of rules, the 5 commandments of Apple design, if you will.
If there are 10 ways to do the same thing, pick the best one, and make everyone do it the same way.
End users don't need to know how it works, it should just work.
End users tend to make stupid mistakes, we must prevent it.
To make outstanding software, we must also make the hardware.
If we cannot find a really good way of implementing a feature, we would rather not include the feature.
Now, let us discuss each of the above rules in more detail.
Rule 1
If there are 10 ways to do the same thing, Apple will do the research, usability tests, etc to find what it considers to be the best way, and make that the only way to do that thing, and everyone will have to do it the same way. Essentially, it means choice is a bad thing.
Lets use a car for our analogy. Imagine if your car designer decides to give u many choices on how to perform any function.
To start a car, you can either put in the key and turn the ignition, or place your thumb on a scanner and press a button, or use a voice command with voice validation, or a retina scan. To turn on the headlights, you can either turn a knob on the dash, or move the stick behind your steering wheel, or flick a switch on your arm rest.To steer a car, you can either use the steering wheel in front, or a joystick beside you. To brake, you can either hit the brake pedal with your foot, or press a button, or pull your steering wheel, or just scream brake ! And imagine different cars will have different combination of these choices.
Now, imagine trying to teach someone how to use the above car. Not so simple, is it ? I shudder to think how thick the manual is going to be. And if you had to drive your friend's car, a model that you have not driven before, that's an accident waiting to happen.
The fact is, the more choices you offer, the more complicated it gets, exponentially so. And the more complicated things become, the more likely it is that users will make mistakes. Hitting the light switch when you are trying to brake would be very *not* funny.
Rule 2
End users should not have to know how something work inside in order to use it, it should just work. When you buy a blender, you don't have to learn how the motor inside turns the gears, and what gear ratios are available, then do your own calculation to select the best power to gear ratio so that you have enough torgue to slice your nuts into powder.
Now, an example from the Windows world. Notice sometimes when you install software on your Windows PC, you might get messages like "XXX.DLL on your computer is newer than the one in the installer ... bla bla bla". Okay, what the heck are DLLs ? Is it safe to click okay to replace ? What do I do now ? ... 95% of people out there are not going to know what the heck DLLs are, and they don't want to know. They just want to install the software and use it. This is just one of a mountain load of examples on why Windows is a nightmare for people who are not power users or geeks.
When you buy a car, do you learn how to repair your car ? Do you buy a technical manual for your car, and all the necessary equipment to do repairs yourself ? Probably only a few hardcore enthusiasts would do it. Everyone else would just send their car to the nearest workshop. So why is it that when it comes to Windows PCs, that end users are expected to be experts who can maintain, secure and repair their computer ?
Apple work very hard to hide all the complexities, and make the decisions for you wherever they can. Sure, it limits the choices, but overall, it makes life easier.
Rule 3
End users are a clumsy bunch more often than not, and mistakes happen.
When was the last time you hear someone scream because they accidentally deleted a file ? I know it happens, because many of them come running to me asking if there is a way to recover the deleted files.
Apple tries very hard to prevent mistakes, and that is why, in Mac OSX, there is no way to permanently delete a file in just one step, unlike the SHIFT-DEL in Windows. When you try to delete any file in Mac, it will always go to the Trash can first. You can then empty the trash can at your leisure.
There are many such examples, but you get the idea.
Rule 4
In order to make really really good software, you must also be the one who designed the hardware.
Apple makes the whole computer, hardware and software. This allows Apple to fine tune the hardware and software to work perfectly with each other.
If you look at Windows PCs, a lot of the problems encountered is due to the fact that Windows OS comes from Microsoft, while the hardware comes from thousands of manufacturers, who must also provide the necessary drivers that let them work with Windows. That is when problems creeps in.
Not every manufacturer makes drivers that works perfectly on Windows, and people in Microsoft working on Windows may also make errors that results in bugs that could affect hardware that plugs into a PC. So here, you have a communications barrier because they are all software engineers working in different companies, and working towards different goals.
In the 20 years that I have been using Windows PCs, and supporting friends who are using Windows PCs, hardware problems due to driver issues have been a constant pain. The worst kind is when the problem is random, and you start hunting high and low, trying to figure out what is wrong.
Also, you have a problem of conceptual integrity. Microsoft will have what they think is the best idea for what a PC should look like and how it works. The hardware manufacturers on the other hand, in order to compete and out do each other, will have different ideas on how a PC should look like and work. And we end up with many different PCs which are a little different from each other, merely for the sake of being different, but adds no value in functionaliy. Windows is compromised too, because it has to satisfy the needs of thousands of manufacturers.
Apple on the other hand, selects what it considers to be the best hardware that will meet the needs of the majority, and then fine tunes the Mac OSX to run perfectly on it. Also, because it controls the hardware, they can include new ground breaking hardware features much more quickly.
The new Apple iPad is using a brand new CPU that was custom build by their own team of some of the worlds best mobile chip designers. They included specific hardware optimizations in the CPU based on the software requirements of the iPhoneOS that powers the iPad. Therefore, no other general purpose mobile CPU in the market will be able to give the power/performance ratio that you get in this custom designed CPU.
Apple also designed the multitouch sensors used in the iPhone/iPad, which happens to be the best in its class. Tests have shown that no other touch screen phones currently available can achieve the accuracy of the iPhone screen.
If you have one person controlling your left leg, and another controlling your right leg, you are going to have a problem walking straight. Good luck trying to run.
And that is why, to make outstanding software, you must also make the hardware.
Rule 5
If Apple cannot find a really good way of implementing a feature, they would rather not include the feature.
This was probably most obvious in iPhoneOS and the lack of multiasking. The fact is, iPhoneOS is running on OSX, which is based on the Mach Kernel + BSD Unix. It is already an inherently multitasking OS since long before Windows 3.0 even appeared. Apple actually had to do work to disable the multitasking feature. Why ?
Think about it, the iPhone's screen is quite small, large by phone standards, but really small compared to your notebooks/PCs. On small devices like this, majority of people are essentially using it in single-tasking mode. How many windows can you squeeze into that small screen at the same time ?
Now, you might say, hey, but I want to run some apps in the background. Well, one should remember, a mobile device like the iPhone has limited battery life, limited CPU cycles and limited RAM. When you try to run a few apps at the same, each of those apps will be taking up some RAM and CPU capacity. So, you will sacrifice the speed of the app that you are currently using, to continue running an app that you are NOT using, but running in the background. Not really a good use your limited resources, is it ?
So what Apple has done is to make iPhoneOS single-tasking, while making switching between apps almost instant. To the majority of the people, and for most apps, they won't really see a difference. Like if I am running the mail app and typing an email, then I receive an MSN message, a dialog box pops up to tell me I received a message on MSN. If I click View, the IM+ app automatically pops up, and I can read and reply the MSN message. Later, I can exit IM+, reopen the Mail app, and I can continue typing the email where I left off. But in each of these apps, I get the full CPU and RAM resources to power the app I am using, so I get the fastest possible speed.
Anyone still remember using Windows Mobile ? And how slow it was ? And how unstable it gets if you multitask several apps ? And lots of people can't even figure out how to end background apps, because the command to do so is embedded several menus deep. Well, I certainly do not want to go back to that.
Apple will enable multitasking in iPhoneOS when the time is right, when the CPU and RAM is capable of giving users the speed needed to deliver a good user experience, when Apple has figured out how to make it easy for users to manage background apps.
Conclusion
Apple products are not targeted at the 5% of power users who likes to have choices, so that they can choose what they consider to be the best way to do something. It is targeted at the other 95% of the population, who just wants to get the job done.
Yes, power users will scream "I want freeeedoommmmmmmm". Well, you can always go back to your Windows, Linux, etc. But I do hope that this article can at least open your eyes to why Apple does what it does, and perhaps, appreciate the significance of it.
If you read the IT press after the iPad launch last night, you get a mix bag of reviews. Some thinks it's great, but it's no killer product. Some thinks it's just a bigger iPod Touch. Well, I think they are all missing the point. Let me tell you why ...
So far, all the people who are making comments about this product are mostly power users and geeks. We probably make up for 5% of the general population. The iPad's main target audience is actually the other 95% of the population. Out of this 95%, a vast majority of them only needs a device that allows them to:
Browse the Internet
Email
Office Productivity (Word, Excel, Powerpoint)
Multimedia - Music, Videos, Photos
Games
Communication - MSN, Skype, etc
And they want a device that JUST WORKS, and WORKS FAST. They don't care how it works, they don't want to care. They're not interested in having to install antivirus software, constantly updating the virus signature files, they're not interested in learning to to install new apps by downloading, running the setup.exe, clicking all the various options, before u can use it. They have no idea what security patches are. They have no idea how to install Windows, how to format, how to configure a firewall, how to setup the Wifi ... No, all they want is a device that JUST WORKS ! Press a button, it's instantly on. Click on an app, it pops up instantly.
The Apple iPad is exactly this device, and it meets this criteria amazingly well. For the tasks I listed above, there are NO other device that can do these tasks better, in the same price, at the same size and weight and battery life. And that's a fact !
All 140,000+ iPhone apps will run on the iPad. When it comes out 2 months from now, a big portion of these apps would have been optimized to run on the iPad's bigger screen and faster CPU. And because these apps were all designed to run on limited hardware resources of the iPhone, it will run blazingly fast on the iPad.
What about Netbooks ? Well, have you tried running Windows on a netbook, and try running Microsoft Office ? ... and how slow is that Firefox running on your netbook ? It's not instant on, is it ? How long did it take to boot your Windows ? Can you lie down in your couch, and use your netbook upside down ? And the smallest lightest netbook still don't come even close to the iPad.
The user experience you get on the iPad is just way beyond anything on ANY currently available netbook.
What about Notebooks Then ? Yes, I hear some people say, I can get a much higher spec notebook for the price of the iPad. Well, again, the same argument for the netbooks above still applies. In addition, Notebooks are significantly bulkier and heavier. How often do you carry your notebook out for fun ?
Where does the iPad Fit In ? The iPad is not meant to replace your primary computing device. The general scenario for the iPad is that a home would already have a Mac/PC at least. Then the family members can just get iPads for when they want to compute on the move.
Students can carry iPad to class, type some documents, reply some emails, chat with friends, refer to their textbooks, play some games.
Business people can use it to prepare some documents or presentations, reply emails, show videos to potential customers, etc.
Your parents and grandparents who has never touched a computer in their life would adapt to the iPad quite easily, because it's an intuitive touch interface. No stylus to fiddle around with.
So, again, 10 hours battery life, 680g, 0.5" thin, 10" screen, 140,000 apps, full office suite available, instant on ... There is NO competition. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the future =)
Christopher Tan is a software architect and all round geek, who is also a photographer. He spent over 20 years dabbling in the innards of Windows, UNIX, Mac OSX, iPhoneOS, Linux, etc. and codes in over a dozen languages.
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