In Spite of What I Said a Month Ago, I Think I Now Want an iPad
Tuesday, March 2, 2010 at 12:48AM 
I know you'll think I'm wishy washy, but after declaring last month that I wanted a Kindle in spite of the iPad, I've changed my mind. Maybe this was the genius of Apple. Rather than letting anyone order an iPad right away, we all had to wait and think about it for a bit. Perhaps others like me who were not completely sold have become so in the intervening weeks.
Last week over breakfast, I told a friend of mine that I thought I might want an iPad after all.
"Of course you do," he said, not surprised at all.
But wait, you people who think you know me so well—let me explain.
First, as you remember, I was not one of those folks who dissed the iPad. From the very beginning I've thought this would be a significant device. I think it's going to be huge for education. I also think it's going to be all the computer a lot of folks would need at all.
As for me, as I told you, I've been wanting an e-reader—specifically a Kindle—ever since I held one in my hand last year. And if this were just an issue of a Kindle vs. the iPad as an e-reader, I'd go with the Kindle. I still think the Kindle's e-ink is going to be easier on the eyes than the screen of an iPad if you actually use the thing for reading for hours at a time.
But that's not the issue. For me, the iPad has a killer app: Keynote.
It's the idea of Keynote on the iPad that's been working away at me for the past four weeks. I watched Steve Jobs' presentation of the iPad with interest, but not expecting to actually want one anytime soon. I felt the second generation device would be better to wait for.
But then it happened. Keynote and the rest of the iWork applications were a total surprise. They were an unexpected development.
I teach from Keynote every week. I use it at church, and I use it in the classroom at IWU. Now, hold that thought just for a second.
I love my 15" MacBook Pro. It's hands down the best Mac I've ever owned (and I've owned a few of them!). I have it with me nearly everywhere I go. And that is part of the problem. I know we're spoiled compared to the computers we used two decades ago (most of which were not portable at all). Yet, often my MacBook Pro is more computer than what I actually need. Often I wish for something smaller. Kathy has a MacBook air, the lightest and most portable Mac that Apple makes. But I didn't want to spend that much on a secondary computer.
So last November, after receiving a bit more birthday money from family than I expected (it doesn't hurt that I'm both an only child and an only son-in-law), I bought a netbook.
I know what you're thinking.
You're thinking, "Wait a minute, Apple doesn't make a netbook." Yes, you're right. For the first time since I bought that Dell Pentium Pro in 1996, I bought a Windows machine. I bought an Acer Aspire One which came with Windows XP Home. But the flavor of Windows didn't matter. I didn't plan to keep it. I planned to Hackintosh it.
I wanted a Hackintoshed netbook for two reasons: (1) to teach using Keynote, and (2) for those times when I don't need a full computer such as if I need to go to a meeting to take a few notes.
Acer Aspire One Hackintosh running Accordance, a Mac-only program
And I did. After a number of trial and error attempts, I managed to get Mac OS X Leopard running on that Acer. I installed iWork including Keynote and I was ready to go. It was really slick, working better than I thought. Because of MobileMe, my calendar, contacts, and email were synced perfectly between the Acer Hackintosh and my MacBook Pro. Accordance worked no different than it would on a Mac. I even put an Apple sticker on the back of the Acer which looked pretty funny.
I used it at church a couple of times teaching and everything was great. Great, that is until it all fell apart in early January. If karma was a Christian concept, I'd be tempted to believe that I was getting what I deserved for trying to teach the Bible from a computer with an OS installed in clear violation of the end user license agreement. You see, Apple does not allow it's operating system to be installed on non-Apple hardware. Evidently the sticker wasn't enough.
On one fateful morning, I plugged the Acer Hackintosh into a projector that was already receiving a video feed from another source. The screen on the Acer went white and I never could get it back to normal. In researching the issue, I discovered that there was a problem with the specific video driver being used in the Hackintoshed version of OS X. It didn't play well with projectors.
At that point I gave up on the Hackintosh idea. Having to reinstall wasn't the issue. I needed my computer to work when I needed it. I couldn't afford unreliable equipment. Heck, that was what made me a Mac user to begin with!
So I installed Windows 7 on the Acer thinking I could still use it for occasional note taking. Well, it just sat there. I have been using Macs too long and a Windows machine simply doesn't do much for me. And I even tried using OneNote which so many Windows users rave about. It just wasn't enough.
So my Acer netbook sat unused. And the iPad with Keynote kept weighing on me. So I made the decision and sold my Acer on eBay. Now I have more than half the cash for an iPad.
I can envision teaching from Keynote both at church and in the classroom using nothing but the iPad. Last night, I went to a deacons meeting in which we had about half a dozen different reports that had been emailed out before the meeting. Although I took my laptop to the meeting (I usually do this rather than printing out reports I would only throw away later), I thought to myself sitting there that really, I could do all of that on an iPad and carry much less around. And I think of all those times that I wish I could sit in church and take notes on a laptop, but I never do because somehow it feels overly conspicuous. I can't imagine that I'd have the same reservation with an iPad.
An iPad couldn't replace everything I do on my MacBook Pro, but I bet it could do more than half of it. So many times a computer is more than what I need.
So now I wait for the iPad. I mentioned this to a different friend of mine yesterday. "Why on earth would you want an iPad?" he asked with great incredulity. I simply replied "For all those times that I could do so much more with less."
Apple, Keynote, iPad in Technology
Reader Comments (16)
I use Windows. I use Open Office to create slides for my preaching. I've used PowerPoint. How different is Keynote? I'm not looking for an Apple-geek perspective, but a usability perspective from someone who has, presumably, used both.
Is it worth considering a purchase of iPad just to get Keynote?
Let me answer your second question, first, Jeremy. At the moment, it's a bit of an unknown as no one outside of a very small group has had a chance to get their hands on an iPad using Keynote. The question remains whether it will be a full fledged version of Keynote or something more scaled down. Notice that I still have the word "think" in my post's title :-)
To answer your first question and put a twist on the second, for anyone who uses presentation software regularly, I'd certainly say it would be "worth considering" a Mac just to run Keynote. Of course, I realize there are many other factors involved in that kind of decision as well.
I'll try not to give you an Apple geek perspective but a usability one instead. I am someone who has used both programs and I've used PowerPoint on both Windows and the Mac, starting with the version 4 for Windows in 1993. My first Mac version was v. 8 in 1998. I was using PowerPoint to teach going all the way back to the days before anyone could afford to use a projector. PowerPoint used to come with black and white versions of all it's theme templates so that users could print them to overhead transparencies. That's how I first began using PowerPoint. In fact, when I first started using it, it was only being marketed towards businesses, but I thought it was the perfect tool for educators. I sent Microsoft a number of letters (actual hardcopy letters) suggesting it should also be targeted towards teachers. Evidently other people had the same idea, too, because now PowerPoint is ubiquitous in the classroom.
Anyway, presentation software is presentation software, right? That's what I thought. I have thousands of PowerPoint files saved and only a few hundred Keynote files, but they're growing. I bought Keynote from v. 1 forward, but only started using it instead of PowerPoint around v. 3. It's always made better looking presentations than PowerPoint, but in terms of usability I didn't feel that it was mature enough to use on a regular basis until about v. 3.
For at least the first six months, for every Keynote presentation I made, I exported a PowerPoint version of it (Keynote does an excellent job of reading and exporting PowerPoint files). I did this just in case I changed my mind since I'd been using PowerPoint for over a decade. Now when I come across these PowerPoint duplicates, I simply delete them.
A lot of this is subjective, Jeremy, but a lot of people are experiencing the same subjectivity: Keynote presentations simply look better than PowerPoint presentations. PowerPoint has a particular look and feel to most slides that comes across no matter how much work is put into it.
Keynote templates in general look more professional (I know, that's subjective). Without a doubt the quicktime transitions are superior, looking more like something made from a high end video editing program than a presentation graphics application. These transitions don't convert, by the way, when exporting to PowerPoint.
The only place I'll give a nod to PowerPoint is that it has a superior presenter's screen that allows for editing slides while in the presentation. I'm hoping that capability will eventually be added to Keynote, but it's not enough to keep me from using Keynote.
Right now I'm reading a book, The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs by Carmine Gallo. The book is a very interesting read, not because I worship Steve Jobs like some do (I don't), but because most will agree that he gives very good presentations. A lot of the book is tied to what he does with Keynote (Gallo says the principles apply to PowerPoint, too). It's making me rethink a lot of what I do with Keynote and how I present a lesson or sermon in front of others in general. I will eventually write a review of the book when I'm through. I'm trying to see how much of the principles in the book can be applied to preaching and teaching. I think a lot of them can.
There's a phenomenon called "Death by PowerPoint" referring to how boring presentations can be when they have overloads of PowerPoint slides or if PowerPoint is poorly implemented. Of course a lot of it has to do with the presenter, too--maybe most of it. But I do think that Keynote is a step up over PowerPoint because most of the slides have a much different look and feel.
I know that often after teaching something using Keynote, I have people come up to me asking, "Did you create that in PowerPoint?" which gives me an opening to sharing Keynote with them. It's a high complement to the software nonetheless, and certainly a good move away from "Death by PowerPoint."
Thanks for the extensive comments. They were very useful. Could you provide an example of one of your presentations (Slideshare?)?
I don't think slideshare will take Keynote and exporting to PowerPoint would keep the slides, but not the transitions including Magicmove. Keynote will export to a user controlled Quicktime file. If I have time later tonight, I'll see about doing this and sending you a URL.
Interesting... and for some reason, I'm not surprised. I see a lot of folks interested in the iPad for the functional reasons that you describe. Will be interesting in seeing what happens.
That point you make about violating the end-user license agreement by going hackintosh needs to be said more often and louder. As much as we get liberty in the Body to use this tech, we don't get liberty to break our vows with others (or corporations) because we want more "perceived" freedom. Thanks for highlighting that point in this piece - I wish that others would hear about that and jailbreaking their iPhone and move away from that practice.
I was initially dissatisfied with the iPad as well, thinking of it as just a giant iPod Touch. However, all the pdfs I read, especially in classes and for research, and the ability to read other things on the iPad have really pushed me toward wanting one. I still will have to hold one in my hands and use it for a bit before making a final decision, but I am now leaning toward purchasing the 3G model since I don't have an iPhone.
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Yea, I'll be buying 2 just for the KEYNOTE thing.
Keynote is a great app - Powerpoint might have a few extra features but it's a renting a giant U-Haul - it's ungainly to drive around versus Keynote which is like a sports car. This review also sums up nicely the VAST DIFFERENCE in its design and templates, Keynote is classy and 21 century ...
http://www.acmeplex.com/2009/04/05/keynote-themes-vs-powerpoint-themes-differences-its-night-and-75-days-later/
Well, I've wanted an iPad before it was announced. Friends were incredulous when I told them that Pages and Keynote was available for the iPad. Looks like it's going to be great!
For $500 bucks, who's NOT going to buy one?
Unless you are a [deleted], netbook toting simpleton.
I'm buying at least 3, maybe more.
I might add that the Kindle ignores the Children's book category all together. My 8 year old daughter is very excited about the prospects of reading books on the iPad.
Think of the children. :o)
Rick, I'll be getting one for sure. This will be my first Apple product as I think that it will totally meet and hopefully exceed my expectations. I teach and preach weekly so I can see teaching/preaching right out of that. I don't like printing paper anymore. I can also use it to read PDF documents that I need to read at work. These are all tech docs, but my company won't print them anymore and they are usually 500-1000 pages, reading them on a laptop or workstation is a bit frustrating.
Plus I can also use it to manage my calendar, write my lessons/sermons, and all of the things you mentioned. Use it to following along at church as my bible, currently I am using my Android Eris to do that but I sure would love a bigger screen. Yeah I can find lots of use for it, and I will also read books. I am as you are concerned about how tired my eyes will get reading from the iPad, as one of the advantages to the Kindle is the eink for reading.
Does anyone know if the ipad e-reader will be able to do things similar to the kindle when it comes to taking notes in books, doing searches, or highlighting?
Also Mr. Mansfield, can you do more videos on Accordance? I have learned more from your short videos about how to use Accordance then from their own website. Thanks I like your blog and plan to follow it from now on.
Pete
Pete, call me Rick. "Mr. Mansfield" is my dad.
I don't think anyone knows for certain about whether one will be able to take notes in books bought from the iBook store. I'm hoping that we can get a few more details on Friday when they start taking orders.
Ii would like to do some more Accordance videos and have a few ideas in mind. I'd even like to do some more comparison videos between Accordance and Logos if I can do so in a way that's not overly divisive. But that's a bit difficult right now, too, with the Mac version of Logos in Alpha unless I were to compare Accordance with the Windows version of Logos. We'll see. Stay tuned.
I'm mildly curious about the battery apple put in these things. Because if it's anything like my Ipod's battery, which battery life is degrading quickly . I don't want one.
For your amusement:
http://www.geekculture.com/joyoftech/joyarchives/1365.html