My #iPad Release Diary

Over the past week I have Tweeted about the iPad excessively (over 120 tweets in 4 days) and many were completely absurd. I have posted them in a diary format so I could see my impressions/feelings/thoughts about the release as time progressed. I also added some context to Tweets that might have seemed random. As a QA Manager, part time Product Manager and amateur marketing specialist I think it helps me to get this all down so that I can learn from it for our future products.

So here are my iPad related tweets since April 1st

April 1st

Why is my iPad still in China? Shouldn’t it be in the US by now?

8:47 AM Apr 1st via TweetDeck

Ok, by this point I am starting to think their is no way that my iPad will be delivered on time, and growing pissed I didn’t wait to pick one up at the Apple store on Day 1.

Trying to think of an analogy comparing watched pot not boiling and watched iPad shipment tracking not moving…
8:50 AM Apr 1st via TweetDeck

Seriously, my iPad hasn’t moved in Days.

So…my #iPad just left Hong Kong. Going to make the guess right now that it doesn’t arrive by 4/3…
6:56 PM Apr 1st via TweetDeck

RT @arlynasch: My friend @dmozealous tried to get Google directions from China to his house to estimate how long it would take to deliver his #iPad. || True
7:08 PM Apr 1st via TweetDeck

This is true. Unfortunately Google Maps won’t calculate travel time for this.

This is where my iPad is http://post.ly/XASM
7:12 PM Apr 1st via Posterous

Some remote island off the coast of Hong Kong…

April 2nd

My #iPad must have stumbled into a Hot Tub Time Machine. Left China today, arrived in Alaska yesterday: http://tweetphoto.com/16801797
6:41 AM Apr 2nd via TweetDeck

At this point I am not only growing impatient, I am also thinking I am really hilarious. Two topics I have tweeted about the most over the last 3 weeks combined into one really great tweet. I pat myself on the back and continue to work.

Hoping the iPad really increases my productivity to make up for the lost productivity tweeting about its arrival.
7:53 AM Apr 2nd via TweetDeck

I am on fire!

Contemplated building a Norad/Santa tracker style app last night via UPS API to track my iPad for my website. #Iamatool
8:22 AM Apr 2nd via TweetDeck

Yep, I sure did. Apparently UPS offers an API. Figured by the time I got this up and running though, my iPad would be here. I kinda suck at programming.

@dustinbrockman how come?
11:13 AM Apr 2nd via TweetDeck in reply to dustinbrockman

For some inexplicable reason I got a lot of @message spam from bots saying “@dmozealous got my #iPad and already sending it back”. Still not exactly sure what this is about…all the messages came via the Twitter API, so they were bots, but why spam me telling me this? I replied to the spam bot above before realizing it was a spam bot. I got about 4 of these messages from other spam bots over the weekend. I had some theories about why I was getting the spam:

1. A plot by Adobe to fill the Twitter stream with seemingly unhappy iPad owners over the absence of Flash. After thinking of this I quickly fashioned a tin foil hat to make sure the folks at Adobe couldn’t read my thoughts.
2. Someone just didn’t like the iPad fanboys and decided to crap all over their day…

Fairly certain I am going to have to visit the xanax fairy to get some sleep tonight…
11:47 AM Apr 2nd via TweetDeck

In case you don’t know what Xanax is, it is a prescription drug to help those cope with anxiety.

TweetDecks iPad app looks better than their desktop app: http://bit.ly/9eVqP8
11:49 AM Apr 2nd via TweetDeck

I view a video of the TweetDeck app, and sure enough, looks better than the desktop client. Seriously.

Sleeping on the couch tonight instead of upstairs in my room. Just in case the UPS guy comes really early. I don’t want to miss him.
3:00 PM Apr 2nd via TweetDeck

Again, I am hilarious…and if you are curious, did I sleep on the couch? No, I slept in my bed…with my door open

Anyone else leaving out milk and cookies for the UPS delivery guy?
3:00 PM Apr 2nd via TweetDeck

also going to leave out carrots for his reindeer…
3:02 PM Apr 2nd via TweetDeck

and finally, going to clean out my fireplace in case he decides to come down my chimney.
3:03 PM Apr 2nd via TweetDeck

True hilarity.

In between 3:00 PM and 9:00 PM I am actually on a blind date, and I see a couple of snarky tweets from Tom Kuhlmann and Jeff Holton who both bust my chops and tell me I need to get a life, and a wife and kids, in response to my excessive over the top tweeting. Takes me awhile to respond because hey, I am on a date, but as soon as I get in my car after the date I post this response:

@tomkuhlmann @JeffHolton reason i need a wife and kids is so that we can wait for my iPad in shifts. I want to go riding tomorrow too.
9:21 PM Apr 2nd via TweetDeck

At roughly 10:00 PM I get home, take my dog out, and lock my keys in my house. I get a little panicked that I might not be able to get in my house by the time the UPS guy shows up. Luckily my neighbor is a master lock picker with a credit card, so I am in my house around 10:30 PM.

April 3rd

My #iPad is in Boulder!!
5:35 AM Apr 3rd via Echofon

Wake up at 5:35 AM, can’t sleep, check the UPS status of my iPad, and great news, it is in Boulder. Looks like I am going to get my iPad!

I wonder if the UPS IT department is freaking out because of a potential F5 attack coming from Boulder right now.
6:21 AM Apr 3rd via Echofon

F5 is a way to refresh your browser. I keep refreshing to see if my iPad is out for delivery.

Use Twitter location search to see how close the iPad delivery is to your house…
6:22 AM Apr 3rd via Echofon

Think this is a cool idea. I do a location search in Boulder to see if others around me are getting their iPads. Unfortunately I don’t see much traffic.

RT @mrch0mp3rs: IT HAS ARRIVED http://twitpic.com/1cwd0v // Nice!!!
6:32 AM Apr 3rd via Echofon

Aaron Silvers gets his iPad pretty early. I am now officially jealous.

All quiet from me till 4:03 PM…why so quiet? I am really pissed that my iPad hasn’t arrived, been sitting on my couch all day napping. My butt is actually starting to get couch sore.

At 12:00 PM I take my dog out to hang out outside. I position myself to face the door to my building so that I don’t miss the UPS guy.

Around 12:30 PM I call UPS and ask if I can drive to the UPS distribution center and pick up the iPad. UPS says no go.

At 1:30 PM I am certain my iPad isn’t going to make it today. It is 1:30 PM and I really wanted to go for a bike ride, that probably won’t happen now as there is a 40 mph wind blowing. I am officially pissed at UPS for not giving me a delivery window and Apple for choosing a Saturday date.

And then, at 2:03 PM April 3rd:

Finally… http://post.ly/XaUk
2:03 PM Apr 3rd via Posterous

I try to film an unboxing experience via my iPhone. It turns out really lame as the box is impossible to open one handed. Scratch the idea to film the unboxing.

The iPad is heavier than I imagined.
2:07 PM Apr 3rd via Echofon

Initial thoughts:

• Box is cool and minimalistic…
• iPad is really heavy. Actually hard to hold with one hand.
• Glad they charge the iPad before delivery. Isn’t it lame when you buy something battery operated and you have to charge before using it? Props to Apple for paying attention to the details.
• Charger is lame. It is like the 1st gen iPhone charger but without the dock.
• Device is stunningly beautiful, but I already knew that.
• Headphones don’t have the built in microphone.
• After turning it on: Is my screen scratched?

Every time I see an iPhone, iPod, iPad box I can’t help but be reminded of this parody:

Tweeting from tweetdeck on my iPad.
2:24 PM Apr 3rd via TweetDeck

First app I install is TweetDeck, again it is a great app.

Just bought the book Drive for the iPad to replace the physical copy I left on the bus.
2:34 PM Apr 3rd via TweetDeck

iBook

First iBook I buy. Tried getting these, none of which are available:

• Anything by Michael Lewis
• Me 2.0 – by Dan Schawbel
• Catch me if you Can
• Catcher in the Rye
• Blow: How a Small-Town Boy Made $100 Million with the Medellin Cocaine Cartel and Lost It All

Finding it surprisingly difficult to find iBooks that I want to read.

Need to get to a coffee shop stat, and smugly sit reading a book on my iPad and make snide remarks about users using their laptops.
2:35 PM Apr 3rd via TweetDeck

Sometimes I can be an arrogant prick.

NetFlix

@GetAdam Blow via Netflix app is pretty sweet.
4:34 PM Apr 3rd via TweetDeck in reply to GetAdam

Figured out that NetFlix is awesome on the iPad.

Typing is harder than I thought on the iPad….hunt and peck.
4:42 PM Apr 3rd via TweetDeck

More love..

RT @mrch0mp3rs: If you had two iPads this Passover, you could really blow some minds with the Ten Commandments as the wallpaper.

So true…

So…when can I get the Wired magazine iPad app: http://bit.ly/9sEXlP
4:56 PM Apr 3rd via TweetDeck

Ok, the video on the Wired magazine iPad app is really important. Watch it below and then I’ll discuss.

After seeing this video for the first time I became ecstatic about the device. This video showed me what is going to be possible with the iPad. It has the potential to revolutionize a dying industry (the print industry). The magazine is sick. It is interactive, engaging, even the ads are compelling and as the guy that looks like Agent Smith from the Matrix points out, “It is going to enable us to view and consume media in an entirely different way…

I search for the Wired magazine app for a couple minutes and doesn’t look like it is out yet. More on this later.

The default iPad desktop wallpaper is horrible, the falling stars look like screen scratches.
6:04 PM Apr 3rd via TweetDeck

Technically they are time lapsed stars…point is they look like scratches
6:05 PM Apr 3rd via TweetDeck

I was not alone on this. Of the 6 other people I know with iPads 5 said “I thought the same thing” and even random folks were tweeting me about it.

Day 1 favorite #iPad features: internet browsing experience is awesome, battery life is incredible
7:54 PM Apr 3rd via TweetDeck

Still shocked by this. Browsing doesn’t feel as though I am browsing on a giant iPhone. It feels like an optimized internet experience. Everything looks stellar, typing a little goofy, but pages render fast. Awesomesauce. Also I am about 6 hours in and haven’t even made a dent in the battery, still cruising at 80-90%.

You know why everyone is sitting with #iPad in lap in the commercials? The thing is to damn heavy to hold and control one handed.
8:06 PM Apr 3rd via TweetDeck

Arms getting tired…

iPad commercial comes on TV, I am inspired to comment about everyone sitting down.

Update: Check this slideshow showing picks from the various iPad adds/promotional material. Everyone is sitting down with some sort of leg cross to prop up the device.

Lamest iPad app has to be the Wall Street Journal. The trick you into registering for free access then give you no content. #wsj
8:09 PM Apr 3rd via TweetDeck

Tip: if you heavily promote the app for the device launch, don’t make people register to view “free content” and then not give them any free content till day 3. No explanation from them in the app about this anywhere. Really broken feeling first experience.

Giant elephant in the room about Flash, or is it…

Anyone else notice that the blue no-Flash icon doesn’t appear on the #iPad for Flash controls?
8:37 PM Apr 3rd via TweetDeck

This is fairly significant. Apple kinda got crushed by some folks on the internet in the first couple weeks for showing someone browsing the New York Times paper and what appeared to be Flash video . So Apple quickly replaced the promo video with one that showed the familiar missing plugin icon in place of the Flash content. See screenshot below of my site and the missing Flash.

Why is this so significant? Well before, whenever you would see the blue missing plug-in icon the page would be glaringly broken. Any page you saw this on would give you pundits ammunition to criticize the device. How does Apple deal with it? Remove the blue icon and the missing Flash becomes less noticeable. Sure it is very noticeable on my site, but think of other sites that have tiny Flash control widgets in the sidebars. Those appearing as white spaces appear less broken than blue icons…

Mail felt goofy at first

Took me awhile to realize the #iPad mail app makes a lot more sense in landscape mode.
9:19 PM Apr 3rd via TweetDeck

I didn’t really dig the mail app when in portrait mode. The default portrait mode view doesn’t show you a list of your email. If you switch to landscape everything is glorious.

April 4th

Kindle App

The kindle’s iPad app has much better selection of books than Apples selection.
6:01 AM Apr 4th via TweetDeck

I finally discover the Kindle app after finding out that they offer many more book titles. Of the books I had previously searched for in the iBook store and not found most are available in Kindle App for iPad.

Browsing

Just bought a domain via iPad on GoDaddy. Complicated Internet task took 4:15. Now will compare tontime on laptop…6:38 AM Apr 4th via TweetDeck

I needed to buy two domains. I figured I would time how long it took to purchase on my iPad vs my fired up laptop. (Note the misspellings here “tontime” should have been “to time”, one thing I have been doing a lot is hitting “b” or “n” when trying to hit spacebar).

Domain purchase on already running laptop took 2:50 compared to #iPad 4:15. Further tests needed though #iPad didn’t seem that much slower.
6:51 AM Apr 4th via TweetDeck

Because typing is a little bit slower, doing complicated internet tasks is slower. In fairness though, I did test this on GoDaddy.com, which is a really complicated site to use, and I bought the domain on my iPad before trying on my laptop, so I knew how to navigate on my laptop. Also, firing up the laptop took well over 2 minutes, where iPad was instantaneous.

RT @arlynasch: Ok, now go back and take a look at your iPhone. Absolutely Lillyputian…
10:25 AM Apr 4th via TweetDeck

This is actually pretty significant as well. I was growing increasingly frustrated using the browser on my iPhone when on the couch or any place in the house really. Internet usage on the iPhone begins to falling drastically.

At the coffee shop, everyone reading physical newspapers but me. Everyone else seems soooo 2009.
10:30 AM Apr 4th via TweetDeck

Ha, all those suckers on their traditional media devices. Might as well have been stone carvings or cave art.

More Kindle love…

The Kindle #iPad app offers 5x (450k) the number of books that the Apple iBook does (90k).
about 20 hours ago via TweetDeck

Ok, beginning to think Kindle app might do well on the iPad. Apple will catch up, but right now, Kindle app is king.

Men’s Health iPad Magazine Sucks

The Men’s Health iPad app sux. Wanted to try out a magazine app. Very disappointed, text is unreadable.
about 16 hours ago via TweetDeck

Seriously Men’s Health charges you $5 for 80% ads, and JPEG’d copies of their print articles. Way to mail in your iPad support guys.
about 16 hours ago via TweetDeck

Sent an email to address listed on Men’s Health app website to complain, email address bounced…
about 16 hours ago via TweetDeck

Ok, remember above when I was talking about how great the iPad was going to be for magazine publishers and how it was going to allow us to consume media in an entirely new way? Well, Men’s health seemed to miss the point. They did nothing more than provide a PDF copy of their traditional print version, and somehow managed to make the text NON-vector, meaning it didn’t scale well, and can hardly be read.

Here are all things I hate about the Men’s Health Magazine

• It’s $5 for a PDF copy of their print magazine
• Text is unreadable (see image below)
• Content isn’t interactive at all
• Why did I pay $5 for this again?
• The email address for the iPad app support is broken, so if you complain your email bounces
• Of the first 6 pages, 5 are ads.

I might blog about this more later, specifically about how Men’s Health is sacrificing any credibility they had by charging so much for such a terrible experience. But I’ll spare you the rest of my Men’s Health rant for now.

Notice how poorly the text is rendered.

New wallpaper

My iPad wallpaper, morbid eh? (via @gizmodo) http://post.ly/XrHe
about 16 hours ago via Posterous

As I mentioned previously, the default Wallpaper on the iPad makes it seem like the iPad is scratched. I replaced the default wallpaper with a wallpaper that looks like the hand of someone being eaten by a zombie.

Overall impression

Ok, so now it is Monday and everyone is asking me what I think of the device. I got to say, I love this thing. Their are some missing things, but really this device does exactly what they promised. It fits someplace between a laptop and a smart phone, and it does. And although Men’s Health really sucks, when magazines actually start targeting the device as a unique delivery platform (like Wired) it is going to allow us to have really rich media experiences with the device.

My impressions in my Tweets might seem overwhelmingly negative, but hey, I am a Quality Assurance Manager for a software company where it is my job to find flaws.

The biggest reasons not to purchase I have heard from non-early adopters are:

• Lack of Flash support
• No USB/Firewire support
• No tethering
• No camera

I agree that the lack of Flash support sucks, and think this will eventually change once competitive devices add it (like Android). Right now Flash Player 10.1 is still in Beta, which is the first major release of the Flash Player that targets mobile devices. So even if Apple wanted to add it, they weren’t going to add it while it was still in beta right?

I also am going to love the camera addition on my 2nd generation iPad

The other stuff (tethering/USB) I could really care less about. I am not really sure what USB device I would hook up to it anyway, and as far as tethering…I am on the AT&T network so trying to do anything on that network that involves data is nearly impossible.