Now that the “oohs” and the “ahhs” from the early adopter crowd has died down. Now that we can all admit that the mentruation-related jokes have stopped being funny (even if that MadTV skit predicted all this). Finally we can bring up the first question we SHOULD have asked about the iPad… How the heck am I supposed to use that thing?
As Business Insider reported “we’re still stumped about how we’re going to comfortably hold it for extended periods of time.” Admittedly, even just looking at the picture of the couple above watching a moving by holding the iPad together (how romantic!!) makes my arms ache.
Our experience architects here at Organic had an interesting back and forth on the subject.

“It’s certainly ergonomically incorrect if we apply conventional GUIs and interaction models from a desktop or laptop to the Ipad. But the affordance of the iPad allows us to explore new models previously unfeasible. It’s our job as designers to acknowledge the limits of conventional devices and start thinking about how these new forms can lead function. We’ll then see our way to creating entirely new interaction models and experiences.” – Charles Zicari

“True, but tablet PCs have been around for a while and the HCI challenges haven’t yet been overcome. I know the iPad is different. I am anxious to see what practical apps develop or how the apps we currently use will be modified.” – Anthony Viviano

Will the use of the iPad lead to the development of new utilities and interaction models previously unavailable? Will it unlock amazing AR applications like those industrial designers and technology geeks drool over (see future glass)? Or will it lead to developer pains and the clumsy porting of applications to a device they should never be used on?
Only time will tell… but one thing our team can agree on is that this issue will open up a huge aftermarket for products that will make the iPad a better fit for human use. Expect items like this to be at the top of the Apple fanboy Christmas list…

Thanks to Anthony Viviano for the link.
Marta Strickland