Confessions Of A Reluctant IPad Owner

June 7, 2011

I write to you from San Francisco California, in the midst of the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference.

Yesterday, my trio performed at the Apple Store in downtown San Francisco. Tomorrow we perform at the Marriott, next to the Moscone convention center (HQ of the convention). Performing amidst the buzz of Steve Jobs’ keynote address earlier in the day, in which he announced a new operating system (OSX Lion) and a new music/data storage service (iCloud), it was exciting to be at the forefront of these emerging technological innovations.

We’ve been flown out here by Agile Partners, a software development firm specializing in products for the electric guitar, in order to demonstrate their fun, innovative iPad/iPhone product called AmpKit, using iPad II’s. Although never a computer wiz myself, my musicianship and layman’s enthusiasm for creative technology has resulted in a good collaboration with Agile, and indirectly, Apple (an appearance at the NYC Upper West Side Apple Store is planned for June 21st). In addition to some good gigs, a big result of this has been my indoctrination into the iPad.

For the year or so that the iPad has been on the market, I could never understand its purpose. Why would you need this thing, midway between a laptop and a smartphone, especially if you already have both of those, specifically a MacBook and and iPhone?

The answer is in the apps.

There is an indescribable feeling of having a large sized screen that is completely touch sensitive. Although Ampkit was the first app which demonstrated this for me,I’ve since downloaded other familiar apps, such as Pandora and Twitter, which I’ve found to be more enjoyable on the iPad. I’m now in the midst of an app spree, researching and downloading the best apps for wine, dining, travel and other passions and loading up my new iPad2. To say that Apple was brilliant in opening up the app market to third party developers is to understate the fact considerably. By doing so, a lot of creativity has been stimulated (not to mention the economy- how many jobs must have been created by the surge of app companies that have sprung up?).

The iPad may not have the pocket portability of a smart phone, or the capabilities of a Laptop (studio quality music programs, such as Pro Tools, are not available for iPad…yet). But if you don’t absolutely need your real computer, the iPad is well worth taking around with you. The on screen keyboard might not be as good for writing long projects as that of a laptop (I use the Macbook Pro), but if you stand it up (the iPad2 comes with this great screen cover that doubles as a stand) it’s not bad. In fact, as an experiment, I wrote this blog on my iPad. I can’t imagine writing on this thing full time, but it’s nice to have a portable digital writing tool that’s many levels up from typing into your phone.

In short, I’m happy to have been converted from a reluctant iPad owner into an enthusiastic user. The iPad most definitely does serves its purpose even though don’t see the iPad replacing the smartphone (it’s too big) or the PC (it’s too limited). But that leaves one point of contention, one which is more connected to my initial resistance than I care to admit:

Could the iPad replace the book?

I’ll explore this question in part II.

Elizabeth Masloff

Oh how i love my mac products let me count the ways...
music instantly and yes legally
Movies, television, and apps galore, i have many business related helps, credit card readers, pay pal, business card readers, bar code readers,
Id be still lost somewhere in south SF W/ O THE MAPS!
I moved i had all my email forwarded, all my internet, everything ....my ipad 2 takes beautiful high def movies that post instantly to the internet

Need i say more? Yes never forget pod casts, internet radio, and free University classes,,

The down side...um yea set back a few bills, worry it may get stolen, heart ache for others who cant afford such relevant and useful luxeries. But all in all, digital storage has found its mate, all things are possible ...and welcome 21st century face time.

And Alex if your up late, im up for a friendly chat :D

Write ON!!

Claudia J

For me the iPad us great to be on the go. It's lighter than a Laptop and requires less space on your bag. When iPad came out I could not see the use of it but a year or so later I realised it's purpose. I think portability is the key issue.

AlexSkolnick

Agreed. Once you carry it around, the size and weight becomes it's a serious selling point.

Joe Nagy

Hey Alex!

To answer your last question, I definitely believe print books are going the way of vinyl LPs. There will always be a nostalgia aspect for print, but tablets and e-readers are definitely the future (if not the present) of publishing.

I'll give you a personal experience: a new book that is an oral history of ESPN just came out by the same authors who wrote a similar book about Saturday Night Live a few years back. The media blitz reminded me I had been wanting to check out the SNL book. I turned on my Android phone (4" screen but surprisingly readable), opened the free Amazon Kindle app, found the book at a cheap paperback price, bought it and started reading it. I technically have the book with me constantly. It is over 700 pages, but I can hold it in the palm of one hand. I can read it in bed with the lights off.

Basically, I have started reading books again, and at a pace I could rarely pick up without the ease and accessibility of the app on my phone. Assuming books don't go the way of music file sharing (thievery!), I believe it could actually lead to more books being read with more efficient production and distribution than ever before.

Keep it up and can't wait to listen to the new Testament album while simultaneously reading your blog all on my phone!

AlexSkolnick

I read the SNL book a few years ago, it’s terrific and yes, weighty. More recently, I’ve been comparing the e-book with the real book in a similarly sized publication, and will discuss my findings in part II of this post.

For someone like yourself, e-reading seems to be working on the phone, as well as listening and websurfing.

But I’m not sure I want everything in one package. I already wrestle with this with my laptop. Do I want my writing canvas to be the same place I record music and check e-mail? Sometimes it’s tough to switch gears. It’s kind of like having a studio apartment- your kitchen, bedroom and living room all in one.

Its nice to have a little separation- the place you work, sleep and cook should be different (or should they?). But for people on the go, the convenience is priceless.

MR

My question is simple: is possible use this IPAD for shows, substituting the pedals, multieffects and etc, putting in direct with amp ? Or use the ipad and their apps as a true effect ?

AlexSkolnick

For the shows this past week, the guitar & bass were running through iPads which were then run through a PA system. We had no amps or any other pedals, and it still sounded good. As good as real amps? Not quite. But not bad, either.

I would never make the claim that you could replace a real amp and effect with it- that would be like the head of Gibson making that claim about their modelling guitar enabling you to get rid of all your vintage guitars and amps. So while I wouldn’t say it’s at the level where we’re ready to swap out our amps, I will say it's surprisingly good for just an iPad and very useful for certain situations, such as informal jams, very small gigs, etc...

And the on-board effects are good, even though there aren’t pedals you can step on. I’m told that in the near future, we’ll probably be seeing the option of footswitches for the AmpKit.

MR

Thankyou, this "portability" for a near future is very interesting. We have a lot of effects into a multi and the big part we dont use...is only to say "have 100 effects, have 150..." maybe 3 or 4 you use for personal sound, the rest maybe in a especific music or ambiance.

Phill

Could it be that Skolnick has been turned into an Apple fanboy?

Luckily, it's nothing at all to do with the music that you write. I'm glad that you get on with the iPad, even if I find Apple reprehensible. What works for one person doesn't necessarily work for everyone else, after all!

AlexSkolnick

I realize it appears a bit ‘fanboyish.’ I do, however, genuinely find Apple products enjoyable- they’ve been invaluable to how I create,
whether its writing or music.

However, I did go through a phase in the 90’s where I ditched Apple for a Dell PC. The computer I’d bought, the Macintosh ‘Performa’ was a machine that broke down just as the warranty expired. It cost almost as much to repair as purchasing a new machine. I would have done this, but it meant losing all my data. The customer service even worse- twenty something dollars an hr. It was so bad in fact, that I was one of thousands included in a class action lawsuit brought against the company.

But then, all of a sudden, Steve Jobs came back into the fold, rescued the company from extinction and saved the day. He brought about the phase of the iMacs, G3,4 &5s, MacBooks, Ipods. So by the time I switched back, it was a whole other world.

I can’t compare how much I like the Apple platforms better. It's a bit scary, as Jobs' health is so questionable (he's been on medical leave and only emerged for the press conference) and one wonders how the company will fare should it have to go forth without him. For those reasons, I'll stick to being a customer of Apple and not a shareholder.

I have some friends that swear by their PC’s, Androids and other non Apple products and can respect that, but Apple, with Jobs at the healm, just works for me.

Claudia J

Apple has great products. Way ahead of its contenders.