HP TouchPad: First Thoughts
As if I needed a reminder to take lunch today, right when I was thinking about taking my lunch break, the doorbell went off, and waiting for me when I opened it was a short pile of boxes containing my new HP TouchPad and a few accessories to go with it. Here are my thoughts after my first couple of hours with the device
Some context first: I kind of knew what I was getting myself into. I am used to being on a minority platform and finding ways to devise a usable workflow.
Before my HP Mini 2133 burned up in the car (casualty of a sixth-grade science experiment not related to burning up electronics in cars on 90+ degree days), I had settled into a usable setup with JoliOS.
JoliOS's concept is based on packaging the web-based and cloud-based services you're already using so they appear as applications along side the few apps that are actually installed on a machine. Throw in some easy synchronization, and have the entire desktop experience available as a plugin to a few browsers, and you get the idea. If you have old equipment, and aren't looking for much more than a web-client toaster, JoliOS is good way to go.
After JoliOS, I thought I would be ready for a tablet OS.
Lunch was about getting the device and some of my accounts setup. The rest of the day with the HP TouchPad has been about finding out what is missing.
The first big thing I am missing is a native version of Evernote. There seems to be a problem with the web version of Evernote on the TouchPad. The note list doesn't render. And if the note list isn't rendering, then working with the notes in my account is somewhat difficult. I found the mobile version of Evernote is harder to work with after getting used to the latest version of the app on Windows. And using the Pre version of Evernote just doesn't satisfy my needs.
I am hoping that Evernote will be able release a tablet-ready version quickly. Part of the marketing of the TouchPad was the avilablity of Evernote. And I pretty much live out of my Evernote account.
Another thing missing is a social netowrking client like TweetDeck or Seesmic.
I have gotten used to dealing with most of the social networking tools I used using two things: ping.fm and a client that pulls together enough of the 20-or-so social networking sites I use to allow me to wasily monitor the illusion of a social life I pretend to maintain online.
During the day, I'll still have have easy access to a desktop to run another client, but it would be nice to have a single attractive client running on the TouchPad, monitoring all my social netowkring.
There are references to a client for ping.fm, but I believe given a nearly 10-inch screen, I think I can get away with sing the main web client, for now.
The most frustrating thing about the TouchPad is the number of apps that were part of the marketing that are merely placeholders for a future application. An example is the Amazon Kindle app. This is frustrating because there are some books I bought on Kindle, and have been reading via my Android phone. No, I don't actually have a Nook or a Kindle, but I do use both via PC and Android apps.
As I'm planning on moving to a Pre3 at some point, losing my always with me book reader is a concern.
Beyond the things that are missing, I actually like the TouchPad.
i have only extremely limited experience with the iPad, and none with Android tablets. This means that the comparisons between the TouchPad and other devices is just an accademic exercise. At this point, how can any tablet, including already in production units, be considered anything other than a moving target? There will be app updates, and OS updates. And by the time I'm ready to buy another tablet, even hardware differences will be more about innovative things in the package and less about whatever passes for a standard for the package.
I've written this post completely on the TouchPad, using the wireless keyboard. As I work though my workflow for new content, hopefully this will become less something worth mentioning and just something that happens.
