Ned Batchelder has a good question about iPad ergonomics: are we really going to want to use our iPads (…god I hate that name) for anything more complicated (gesture-wise) than watch movies and browse the web? Watching Apple’s keynote last week this was the exact reaction of a couple of our web developers had: “…I don’t understand why you’d want iWork on there.” Ned points out, Phil Shiller’s demo provides a hint of what we can expect when it comes to ergonomics/usability. Check out the clip below, however be sure to watch Phil’s hands, not what’s happening on the right-side of the screen.
Ned’s assessment:
He looks uncomfortable. He’s trying to hold the iPad in his left hand, and perform precise touching with his right. His non-touching fingers are being held stiffly up out of the way to avoid making an accidental multi-touch. He’s got nowhere to rest his right hand. And when he has to touch with both hands, they keep crossing over each other like some kind of crazy-advanced piano sonata.
I can see using the iPad to watch stuff, or any task that doesn’t require much input. But that demo showed me that it will be much too awkward to make the sort of gestures needed to do real work. People need to rest their hands on something. It’s hard to hold your arm up without something to help carry the weight. Keyboards have palm rests, mice let your wrist sit on the desk. Palm-sized devices like the iPhone are light enough to hold while tapping with your thumbs. Maybe it would be OK while sitting in a chair with arm rests?
Check out Ned’s complete assessment on his blog.
