Saturday, April 03, 2010

No One Here But Us Users

My iPad arrives today, after much hemming and hawing on whether or not to even buy one. I've read lots of press, both good and bad, about applicability for both the power user and the casual one. I'm hardly a power user (that'd be my husband, who's hoping to use it for presentations and on airplanes, skipping the hassle of cramming that clamshell laptop onto the tiny airplane tray table); I am, though, a longtime user of various "technologies" to keep my "life" "organized." I put all this in quotes, because it seems bloggers think Apple and Microsoft don't know quite what to do about the users that aren't "power users," as if there were such a thing as a “casual” user. At this point I’d say that we’re all just users, some more intense than others. Seems the same as people who watch TV or cycle or ski or listen to music or who do anything… some of us are waaaay into our gadgets, while others consider them to be more utilitarian. I mean, I could buy a $3000 bike to tote my kids around on slow Sunday bike rides if I wanted to, or I could use a $200 version – just depends on where my priorities are.

Just this morning I've been reading various blog posts about how the iPad is designed for "your mom" (http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2358599,00.asp), by which it appears the bloggers mean their mom, who is older than 55 and is just trying out this new Facebook thing. I'm curious to see how it works for this mom. My dad gave me my first pocket PC when my husband and I adopted our three nieces, bringing our family at that point for 4 kids and two adults. We've since added two more kids, as well as two iPhones, a family Mac Mini, an HP laptop for me and a work-issued laptop for my husband. I use those devices in all the ways people would expect: to manage calendars, shopping lists, to-do lists, photos, correspondence, music, research, word processing, etc. Why my use is considered different than my husband’s is interesting to me – he does all of the same tasks, with more word processing and powerpointing, but somehow my use is considered different. Is this because I don’t use my devices all day every day, because I actually have to converse with people face-to-face, cook, take care of kids, drive, etc.? Oh wait, my husband has meetings, cooks, takes a lunch break, drives to work… Or because no one has figured out if men and women actually do use these devices differently. Or does it have more to do with the fact that my husband has a job out of the house, while mine is home-based…

I’m unsure on all counts. But I am interested to see if, as one who is dependent on her laptop, iPhone, and GPS, if the iPad can fit in there somewhere. I’m pretty sure it will, and not in a “mom” way – but in a dominant-use kind of way.

And by the way, I don’t let my kids play games on my iPhone, and I’m not so sure they’ll be using my iPad, either.

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