Will the iPad Replace the iPhone for Mobile Web Browsing?
Since the iPhone was released, not too long ago, the world of mobile computing has been turned on its head. Of course there were Smartphones that allowed you to get on to the web previously, but when the iPhone came along it was a revelation. Now there was an elegant way to view full-sized WebPages on a small screen, and then as the popularity of the iPhone exploded, more and more websites adapted to work well with the iPhone’s unique multi-touch interface. Now that the iPad, and lots of lovely iPad accessories has been launched, building very much on the success of the Apple phone – could the world of mobile computing change again?
Let’s take a look at the way that people use mobile phones. Prior to the Smartphone, the best mobile phones were the smallest ones. This meant that you could just slip them in to your pocket and you had a neat and most importantly compact way for people to get in touch with you. Smartphone’s need a larger processor, and screen for the very nature of them being miniature computers, so many people have just sacrificed having a small phone for these additional features. A lot of people complain that the iPhone has a screen that it too small. I think they are missing the point somewhat here, but perhaps the iPad could be the answer for this type of user.
There is no doubt that the larger the screen the better you photos will look and the easier it is to watch a movie and surf the web. For heavy web and gadget users, an iPad may be the perfect device as it offers a larger screen but it is still a very portable device. This means that if you are in a situation where you have the space to carry a larger item around with you, you’d probably rather have the iPad with you than the iPhone. However, if you are going on a night out and you don’t want the bulk in your pockets you might just revert back to carrying a suitably tiny mobile phone.
What we are saying here is that the iPad perhaps bridges the gap between portability due to its relatively small size, but it still has the usability of the larger screen. For those who are concerned that it doesn’t have a hard-wired keyboard there is no need to fear. With the iPad keyboard doc you can hook up a full-sized keyboard and type away until your fingers bleed. For many people this will mean that the iPad could be the ultimate computing gadget. It is portable when it needs to be, yet you can still use it almost like a conventional computer and expand it’s capabilities with the number of iPad accessories that are out there for it.