Apple launched the first TV spot for the iPad last night during the Oscars. For the most part, the video appears to show an oversized iPod that’s a bit zippier, and better suited to reading books and newspapers due to its large display.
But here’s one thing you may not notice unless you pay extra close attention: Almost every shot of a person actually using the iPad shows legs contorted into unusual positions. Because while you can hold an iPad in one hand and poke at the screen with the other, the iPad is really just too big to use this way. So Apple is suggesting you prop it up on your legs — and that makes it all but useless if you’re sitting in a normal position.
If you place a notebook computer on your lap, you can still see the screen because the keyboard rests on your legs and the screen extends upward. When you put a slate PC like the iPad on your lap, the screen is where the keyboard would normally be. You’d have to bend over awkwardly and incur neck and back pain to use it like this.
Instead, you’re going to have to get a foot stool, prop our feet up on it, bend your legs, and then slouch back in your chair while using the iPad.
OK, presumably there may be some other comfortable positions. This thing’s probably going to be great for reading books in bed, for instance. But it’s clearly not meant for setting on a table or on your lap the way you would with a laptop computer.
