What iPads Did To My Family

This one is most definitely off-topic, but you might find it interesting.

Last Sunday, I broke down and bought a non-3G iPad.  I just was too damn curious.  Walked into the Apple Store, played with it for 5 minutes, gave them my credit card, and walked out 15 minutes later. 

Brought it home, set it up, downloaded some interesting stuff, and had a blast.  Big geek fun.

I then went off to work for the week, and left it home.  And that's when things got interesting ...

Some Context

I've been married for almost 25 years, and have three kids, the youngest of which is 14.  We have always had a lot of tech in the house. 

A lot.

As I think about it now, we've got a fleet of 6 PC desktops of various vintages and three Windows laptops -- two of them that actually work well.  On the Apple side, we've got an iMac and two MacBook Airs of different vintages.  We just updated the family NAS server to the most recent Iomega device.

We use Verizon FIOS 20Mb service and can keep it busy.  Add in 3 printers, three separate wireless domains to cover the house, a few thingies that connect between the TVs, stereos and the in-house tech, countless MP3 players and USBs, gaggles of cables, Harmony remotes and -- yes -- you could say that we have a decent amount of tech in my family.

Having all this stuff around is an indulgence of mine.  My 16 year old son is in charge of first-level tech support.  I get the really hard stuff, like fixing rootkit problems, or debugging dodgy hardware.

And then I brought home the iPad.

The Initial Reaction

My wife and kids summed it up in 30 seconds.  "Oh no, Dad bought another toy".  "Why do we need something else with a CPU in it?".  "What does it replace?".  And so on.

Within four hours, my wife was playing with the photo app, and sending pictures to people -- she'd be meaning to do so for a while.  Tap, tap, tap.  She was doing that from the back porch with a frosty adult beverage to complement the activity. 

She was smiling.

That fun was followed by an extended Facebook session (she's a big fan, I don't use it).  Tap, tap, tap.  This was lying on the couch with a tennis match on.  More smiles.

She left it on the table, and my 14 year old daughter (the artist in the family) started playing with an Autodesk illustrator app I had downloaded.  Tap, tap, tap. 

"Dad, this is cool".  Tap, tap, tap.  "Look at this!"  My email is now filling up with her drawings.

My college daughter is home from school.  Late that night, she grabbed it and ran up to her room.  Tap, tap, tap. "Dad, I want one".  "You do know, there's wi-fi everywhere on campus -- this would be perfect".

Are you starting to get the picture?

Later That Week

I get home from work, and there's always a certain level of chaos at that time. 

But there was a new theme this week. 

"Who forgot to charge the iPad?". 

"Hey, if you're going to eat pizza and use the iPad, at least wipe it!  How gross!" 

"You already used the iPad this afternoon, it's my turn!".

"How do I print from this thing?"  "Can we download some more games?".  "Check out this cool video".

Tap, tap, tap.

All the PCs and laptops are basically not being used.  All the Macs are not being used.  All have been powered off.

Everyone in the family is waiting for their turn at the iPad.

My wife asserted her rightful place in the hierarchy later that evening, and took it upstairs to the bedroom to relax while watching TV.  Tap, tap, tap.  Occasionally, she showed me something interesting she found online.  And smiling.

It All Flashed Through My Eyes

I don't think I'll be buying any more desktops going forward.  I don't think I'll even be buying any more laptops going forward. 

They've all been largely obsoleted (at least at my home) by a sleek $499 device that doesn't really have any right to be called a "computer" in the traditional sense. 

Sure, there's a handful of tasks that I still would prefer a real computer, but -- amazingly -- that list has now shrunk dramatically.  In less than a week.

The members of my family immediately gravitated to the new shiny thing -- no prompting, no encouragement, no migration, etc.  They are drawn to it like a moth to flame.

I now have this strange love/hate relationship with Apple.  And I think it won't be long before I'm forced to make another trip back to the Apple store.

Comments

[Bill]

Rainer - about using the iPad to run a business. There is an internet marketer (white hat) Named Paul Colligan who is testing running his entire business with just the iPad. The site is http://www.paulsipad.com/

Mostly successful with some hiccups...

[phatphoto]

Fantastic Post Chuck! This is also happening at my house as well. The device is just simply amazing and so useful.

[marireb]

Can anyone enlighten me? If I have a great Mac laptop why would I want an Ipad?
It must be great fun but why would I want it if the functionality is very limited?
My daughter just bought a Macbook ...didnt think tha Ipad was enough.
I LOVE my MAC and I love my Ipod!
but dont think I'll be spending on an Ipad anytime soon

[Niels Bom]

(offtopic and ranting, skip it if you hesitate :)

The problem I have with all these gadgets is: do I really need one, or if I had a family, do we all need one? If not then in my opinion it's just more of earth's resources uselessly squandered.

I pollute, actually quite a lot, as I live in a rich Western-European country (the Netherlands), but I try to be conscious about it and prevent it as much as possible. I think these new shiny gadgets with their new shiny OS and apps are really fascinating and powerful ways of distracting us with empty entertainment (anybody read Kim Kardashian's Twitter?) and not being in contact with the world around us, the people, nature.

I'm a programmer by profession and spend a lot of time online and at my computer, so I know tech, but I really doubt whether this hunt for the next shiny thing is effective in any way, except maybe to distract us and to pay companies to pollute our home, the Earth.

[Tobias W.]

Give it a couple of weeks and the amazement will wear off. Right now, it's a new toy. When it becomes an old toy, your folks will go back to use the useful devices where they are not limited like on the iPhone OS. Trust me.

[Chuck Hollis]

Tobias -- I'm hoping you're right, since I've got literally tens of thousands of dollars in legacy tech in my house, and the last thing I want to do it obsolete it.

However, based on what I'm seeing now, it doesn't look good ...

-- Chuck

[Ken Jackson]

I think it all depends on the household. I know people who have a Nintendo DS and that's all they need. I know other people who have server closets and use multiple cloud services and still want more.

The iPad could never work for me personally. Too heavy and the web browsing experience is not satisfactory for my browsing style (20+ tabs, lots of really fast CTRL+tab, and side-by-side browsing, with video usually playing in at least one window). But I'm sure for many people this will be the perfect device.

[Andreano Lanusse]

LOL, great post and I feel honest one that.

I can imagine your kids fighting to use the iPad.

--
Andreano Lanusse

[Nancy]

Light-hearted post and an enjoyable read. I'm a geek girl at heart and our household is a testimony to my geekiness and 'shopping-ness'. Bought the iPad while husband was out of town so when he returned I could say, 'What?!? This ole thing?' -- unfortunately the iPad couldn't really fall into the 'ole' timeframe, but you get the idea. Reluctantly (guess I was absent the day in Kindergarten where they taught us to share nicely), let him explore it. Needless to say, it's put to bed each night on HIS side of the bed so in the a.m. he can easily access it & read the latest news, etc. So it's NOT just the 'wives' out there, there's at least one 'hubby' in the bunch!

[Chuck Hollis]

Nancy -- I was hoping someone like you would come along to balance the equation! Thanks for sharing ...

-- Chuck

[dale thorn]

I was skeptical, then I caved in and bought in. I'm still amazed how few people including photo experts do not relate to the concept of "browsing" photos.

[Steven del Sol]

Okay, I had trouble buying this article... I have a home much like the one described in this story.. All the tech gadgets in the world. I brought home the iPad and everyone did like it but those "Techie, Geeky" people in my house all wished it was a laptop with no cover. I was unimpressed. A big IPOD Touch... Now having said that there is a few things I did like. The iPad is a consumer device. Perfect for my wife who I have bought a laptop or two for. She likes to Facebook and browse the web. Scrabble is fantastic on the device!

The best thing for me about the iPad was Facebook, USA Today and the local newspaper site which worked great. It was like having the Sunday paper in bed without the mess of the newspaper and no cords from the heavy laptop that required two hands on it. The reading on the iPad was harmonious.

Back to bashing the thing... For me I wanted to use google docs, not just word processing but spreadsheets and more. The iPad did not hold water to my PC Systems. Half of my favorite websites are flash so the fact that you can’t run flash just got me really mad. I used to work for the best RIA company in the world and I have seen Adobe Air Apps, silverlight, WPF, Flash and other technologies that Apple just could care less about supporting. Which really gets me angry because Adobe helped Apple get where they are today. Those graphic artist used Apple for the Adobe products.

[Chuck Hollis]

Steven del Sol --

Everyone in my household owns *at least* one laptop, in addition to the fleet of desktop-oriented workstations.

And I forgot to mention iPhones, Blackberrys, an Android, four or so gaming consoles, the Kindle .. well, you get the picture.

They're using the iPad for fun, not work. And, so far, everyone is having a lot of fun ...

YMMV

-- Chuck

[Michael Langham]

Great read Chuck. Made me Chuckle the whole way through. ;)

The company for whom I toil during the day is going to use 'win an iPad' for an Employee Referral Program for one of our clients.

We'll see what sort of a tech-bait it turns out to be for Hospital coders. ;)

Thanks again for your confession.

[Gregory]

I pre-ordered my iPad 3G and one for my wife as well. The day they came in the mail my sister walked into an Apple store and bought one. I then suggested to the rest of my siblings that we pitch in together and buy an iPad for our Mom & Dad, to which they agreed.

My wife no longer needs her laptop. And I'm thinking that my Mom and Dad will soon obsolete their DVD player, Kindle, and Net Book.

All because the iPad is awesome.

[Jen]

Speaking from a wife perspective in this instance, I have to say that I'm surprised by how many people are saying that the iPad has "replaced" their computers. The iPad is the perfect non-computer for people who can't or shouldn't use a computer. For people who only use facebook, ichat, take notes, play games, and watch tv on their computer this is a fantastic device. But I use my computer religiously (as an illustrator I'm running Adobe CS often, researching artist's websites which are often Flash, etc) and the husband's iPad is solely used for testing the app he's developing. I see the appeal for children, old people, and social networkers. But the iPad isn't going to change the way I compute.

[Niklaslohmann]

In ki-aikido you try to find the ki-flow channel - I think Apple found it again with the Ipad. Chuck your piece paints this story. Great stuff!

[Sunil Maulik]

One thing I haven't heard from anyone using an iPad - have you been successful using it with Google Docs/Apps? I hear a lot about consuming content on the iPad (I get that) and using it for "simple" tasks (email, Evernote, etc.) but what about docs and spreadsheets?

I know about Pages and Numbers on the iPad, but I am particularly interested in people's experience with Google docs since that strikes me as an easy way to move back and forth between laptop, desktop and iPad without losing anything.

Curious,
-Sunil

[Jerry Davis]

I'm a writer, so when I need to do some serious typing I do it on my trusty desktop. OTHERWISE, I'm on this darn iPad. I love it for email, especially, and I got this outliner program called "CarbonFin Outliner" and I freaking use the heck out of it -- I can do all the planning, anywhere, anytime (kind of like your wife, tap tap tap) and then when it's done I email it to myself and import it into my word processor, and BAM. Awesome.

My Microsoft Bluetooth keyboard does work great with the iPad and could make it into a serious all-around creation device, but, the last thing I want to do is carry two pieces of hardware around with me. In that arena, a laptop still wins, though I don't tend to use my laptop at all. For me it's either work at the desk or brainstorm on the porch (or coffee shop, or park, or doctor's office waiting room, etc.)

[Susan]

We love our 16GB wifi iPad! It's a good e-reader and is great for showing off my photos (love how the Photos slideshow interacts with iTunes), browsing the internet, checking e-mail, watching videos, and using apps. I see it becoming more and more useful. It's just so much easier to tote around the house than my MacBook. When my 18-year-old son takes this iPad to college, I'll probably get the 3G model.

[An Apple Fan]

"I work for Intel, and as you know, there is no Intel CPU inside the iPad. So please stop lending your support to what is obviously a proprietary device with proprietary software."

Well you better get ready for the future... and that future is without intel inside! My guess is in three years the macbook pro will be without intel inside as well.

[Josh Justice]

That was always my theory of what would happen. Nitpickers can always find reasons to say that Apple products are underfeatured. But that just doesn't stack up against how revolutionary it is to use one.

[Craig]

I've had my 3G iPad since they came out and find it my most used piece of technology. I bought the keyboard in anticipation of input problems, but really haven't any problems with the keyboard. It would be nice to have arrow keys on occasion....

I expect them to be scattered around my house very soon......

[Bill]

What a wonderful world we are weaving. 30 billion videos viewed per month. 400 million uninspiring people on Facebook looking at stupid YouTube videos..and finally, no more keyboards for the written word. No one needs to actually author anything, any more. Who on earth needs original thought?

Let's just stop using our legs, park on the couch, continue eating factory made meals, get fatter and keep watching crap from our ubiquitous ipad devices and smart phones.

I say yuck to all these advances we have made. They don't mean crap. We still burn oil and peak oil will hit this generation. Cancer is not beaten and the oceans are filling with garbage.

Get off your high-tech, high horse and solve some real problems. Rome continues to burn and we rave about high resolution, front row seats.

Groan.

[M. M. Comstock]

Note to Steven del Sol--

Apple was doing well years before Adobe came along. Adobe's early Photoshop and Illustrator worked well with Apple's forefront graphics. In fact the companies benefited each other, and continued to do so for many years.

I don't think this is the end of that relationship. Apparently Microsoft's Balmer is of similar mind to Jobs about Flash, for instance. Flash is great for already humongous (marvelously so and deep) programs like Adobe's Creative Suite; but then those programs are not expected to save space and move extremely fast. They are top of the line for people who need and use them. Unfortunately, a lot of folks who used to use them personally have been priced out of the market there.

Still, the point is, Adobe did not make Apple or cause Apple's success. There are many factors that did, but no other company can take the blame. At the time when some folks were saying that Apple wouldn't be around for long, the frequent response was, "Bill Gates won't let Apple go under--if it did, where would he get his ideas?"

Apple's forte is that it has always been in the forefront, pushing the envelope, moving technology that's usable and fun as well as useful ahead. Apple stuff is elegant, in the best sense of the word.

[sweetielamb]

I love this! This describes my marriage but with kids. My husband bought the iPad for me however it's his till we buy the 3G version for him. Tell your wife to check out gadgetwidows on Facebook. I have a feeling she is one. Really enjoyed the post.

[Lawrence]

I hate Apple. I blame Apple for the breakup between me and my girlfriend. The poor lady flew in from another town just to see me, but the timing was not right. She arrived the same day I bought this damn toy.

She left two days later disgusted and thought that I have an identity crises and she broke up with me. To make matters worse I did not even notice all that.

I hate Apple, what will they come up with next time? White unicorn horse to take us to Venus?

[Jonathan]

Bought my iPad the day they became available. Had to buy one for my wife 3 days later because she kept "borrowing" mine.

[Lawrence Peters]

Amazing. Just amazing.

Those who say "the iPad is just a toy!" "The iPad is an iFad!" "I am not going to get caught up in some lock-in scheme!" should read this story.

So amazing! Steve Jobs really is uniting people and making all of the respectable ones (the upper-crust thought leaders, that is!) empowered with the tools to casually just sort of, oh, I don't know, lay down the law while the others scramble!!!

Laptops? Netbooks? Please! Those are for the people who think that typing long blocks of text and filling out important documents does anything, what-so-whatever! Have I mentioned that my AAPL stock is bulletproof? Good luck trying to usurp the throne!

- Lawrence

[Tom A.]

Love the article. Well, here is my iPad story.

I bought the wi-fi for wife's birthday. It was in March so I printed out a picture
of iPad and put it in a card. And she looked at me with disbelief. Without knowing it's cost, she thought it would be too expensive. She was shocked at how cheap it was. By the end
of the day, she didn't think she had a use for it.

Well, it hasn't left her side since she saw the UPS truck deliver it on April 3rd.
It's at her bedside. It is at the kitchen table for breakfast, in the bathroom (need I say more), it's at work, and at the gym. She has made believers out those who see her at the gym. She puts it on the treadmill and bike and reads her favorite book and before she knows it she had flicked through five chapters and five miles.

With three kids (12,9,5) eventully we will all have one in the house.

Well, we brought it to my mom and dads house. He has never had a computer or e-mail.
And, he has macular degeneration. He tested my wife's and fell in love with it, not for it's use but because he can magnify it and see it perfectly. He is now the owner of an iPad.

[Jim H]

I enjoyed the article. I broke down and bought one a week ago (wondering if I'd lost my mind). We already have a Macbook Pro, Macbook, 2 iMacs, a Linux server, and a Windows box in the house. Most of those sit and sleep much of the time; I'm in a running battle with my 12-year-old son for the iPad. I do a lot of content creation at work and at home, but the iPad is great for lounging in the living room, carrying around, or reading. Obviously it can't replace a workstation for serious work, but it's not designed to.

I told my 85-year-old mother she'd have to try it when she visits. She wasn't so sure she could learn another technology (she's used to Windows). Ha! I'll bet she masters it in 5 minutes.

[Walt Sellers]

Hey Chuck

Gallon Ziplock bags work very well to guard the iPad against pizza, chocolate and water. I've used mine in ziplock bags outdoors in the rain, by a pool, and I make my kids use ziplocks with the iPads when food is around. (Use this tip at your own risk, of course.)

iPad works great while sealed inside regular ziplock bags. But they don't work while in those conductive anti-static bags.

[LM]

What kinds of tasks do you mean that you'll still need a computer for?

[Chuck Hollis]

Hi LM

Good question.

When I create or interact with content (docs, presentations, spreadsheets, etc.) I prefer a big screen, keyboard, mouse, etc. But that's usually associated with "work" and not "fun".

It's amazing how many things we do with computers that don't want or need a big screen, full keyboard, mouse, etc.

Traditional desktops and notebooks aren't going away for me and my family anytime soon, but I'm guessing we'll be using them a lot less going forward.

-- Chuck

[Marco Papa]

Bought two iPads: the WiFi for my wife and the 3G for myself. I also have a 17in MacBook Pro, that I use as my developer machine (I develop iPhone, iPad and Android apps), a Mac Pro ( my business server running OS X server) and my wife has a MacBook Air.

I use mine to do all my stock trades using Etrade, bloomberg, and read the NYT, WSJ, USA Today and the LA Times on the bus in the way to work, while at the same time listening to my iPod music. my wife stopped buying 'real' books and just uses iBook. Of course she uses Facebook and for the first time e-mail. I still just use the Macbook for Xcode and Android / Eclipse. The MacPro is used for Subversion and company email server.

the iPad makes everything so easy EVERYWHERE. Yes, I won't deny it, I take it to the bathroom too.

[M jones]

I got an iPod touch for Christmas and it transformed how I do email and check the news. I've read 7 novels for pleasure on the kindle and barnes&noble ereaders and am using my laptops less frequently or using the for serious work while keeping up w email and facebook Twitter etc on here... I went to the apple store and played w the ipad... I will be saving my pennies to get the 3g version. It is fabulous and inspirational... I am a woman and just took early retirement after being out of work for several years...

[Chetan]

OMG. This is so similar to what happened at our house. More interestingly, it prompted my wife to write her first ever blog - an iPad Affair - http://www.offthecuff.in/fashion/ipad-affair

Our 16 year old daughter, who we always thought was "arts challenged" has started creating some extremely interesting "art forms" using the Art Studio application.

Beyond the obvious browsing and game playing, I believe iPad is likely to unleash personal creativity that we have never seen before.

[alba revenga]

Yep, totally addictive.
I relax and have fun with the Ipad
produce content on my MacBook
and heavy-video-edit on my desktop MacPro...
the darn things are just FRIENDLY!

Only strange-non-Mac in the family is a sony X1 camcorder...but Sony is video´s Apple, so they get along well.

[marjo]

Let's hear what you think in a few months. A computer with no keyboard and no voice recognition is a one way-device. Like a TV - making people into consumers of information, not creators. For half the price you could have bought a netbook instead and had a two way-device. An ipad is a great entertainment device, but the true potential of the internet is to replace entertainment with interactivity. Before the ipad, the trend has been people watching less TV and using the web, facebook, email, more. The ipad is a backwards looking device, sold to you by a COMMERCIAL ENTERPRISE that wants to SELL you MUSIC, MOVIES and BOOKS. Break free. Stop being a CONSUMER, become a CREATOR.

[Dave]

First visit to your blog. My wife is getting her iPad for Mother's Day - it's the first piece of tech she called "cool" after playing with it. Whole thing started with her claiming "Your (10 year old) son needs a laptop", to which I replied "What do you use your laptop for?" SO...he will have less fettered access to the PC-based laptop, and she can watch LOST reruns to her heart's content.

[Sam]

Good post. Just a question for those who say they rarely use their desktops and/or laptops after buying the iPad. What were you doing primarily on them? Playing games, surfing the net and organizing pictures? Just curious because if you needed to create documents, powerpoints or any other typing intensive work then the iPad becomes laborious and inane in my opinion.

Great device for the "digital life" part of my world but it could never fully replace the "work" side of my digital life.

[Estevao]

Leiam ,tb, a história neste blog

[Changdoc]

I'm so Impressive!!!

at this-

"All the PCs and laptops are basically not being used. All the Macs are not being used. All have been powered off."

"Everyone in the family is waiting for their turn at the iPad."

Very funnny story.. ^-^ Thank you for share your family~

[rich]

Chuck, thanks for the perspective. I'm in the same boat, with way more technology for a family of 4 than could possibly be necessary, but still... I've been waffling on this for a while, but may go with it as a birthday present for me and the family. For a STORAGE guy, do you think 16GB is enough, or do you wish you had bought one with more storage?

[twitter.com/ChrisKubica]

Please remember to talk to each other and sometimes go outside and get sunlight on your skin.

[Daphne Kay]

I am a 70 year old woman and signed up for the iPad the first day it was available for pre-order. It is my new best friend. I love the bookshelf displaying bookcovers in color and the illustrations in color, and the way the pages turn is too cool. I play Scrabble and solitaire and check my mail. I carry it with me everywhere. I am having fun with apps and my real live friends are thinking about getting iPads, too.

[Steven Kopstein]

ditto ditto ditto.

didn't really want one (a giant ipod touch - big whoop!)

got it as a gift.

can't put it down.

yesterday a friend asked if I was worried about leaving it behind somewhere by mistake.

impossible - it's practically tethered to me - esp with 3g version because I am checking email or listening to NPR or playing a game or reading a book or....

AMAZING GAME CHANGER.

[Chuck Hollis]

Rich

Since we have a multi-TB NAS server in house, the thinking was to leverage it in various ways.

One example of this comes from my good friend Barry Burke, who did this:
http://thestorageanarchist.typepad.com/weblog/2010/05/3001-my-18tb-ipad-3g.html

Basically, he's got an 18 terabyte iPad ...

We wanted to have some movies on the plane, so we went with a 32GB wifi model.

-- Chuck

[twitter.com/ChrisKubica]

did my comment get deleted?

[Ford]

Tap tap tap too. 3 in my family. Words With Friends 24/7. MacBook stays in briefcase most of the time now. What fun.