What does Apple’s new iPad mean for travelers?

I’ve been following today’s announcement about Apple’s new iPad, and wondering what all of this means for travelers.

I should start with a disclaimer: Although the critics have declared the iPad the best computing device since the invention of the PC, it could be a dud (remember the Newton?). But chances are, it isn’t. Chances are, you’ll be seeing one in the lap of the guy sitting next to you on a plane in a few weeks. And yeah, you’ll want one.

Can we go paperless, finally? If the iPad really is a better e-reader — and I’ve tested a lot of them, and they’re pretty awful — then it could free travelers from the need to haul books, magazines and newspapers on their trips. That would be a welcome development.

How ’bout them photos? I haven’t seen any device handle photos the way the iPad does. Ever.

Better, more interactive maps. At the introduction of the iPad, Steve Jobs showed a variety of maps displayed on the iPad’s large screen and demonstrated how they could be more interactive. That’s great for travelers who have been constrained to the small maps displayed on their phones, and had to switch to a paper map when they needed more detail.

A superior communication device. It isn’t that any of the technology on this version of the iPad will be radically new. It’s that the packaging will enable people on the move to make better calls and send better emails and IMs. Oh, and there’s the battery life issue, which this device seems to have addressed in an elegant way.

What do you think the iPad will do for travel? Does it have any applications that we haven’t thought of yet?

(Photo: Incessant Flux/Flickr Creative Commons)

  • http://www.idreamintech.blogspot.com/ Cole Watts

    My initial reaction is that this is going to be a colossal failure.
    What can this do that our smart phone cannot?
    True it has a bigger screen but it’s only Wi-Fi available, I heard.

    Cole W.

  • http://everything-everywhere.com Gary Arndt

    I believe that the weight of the iPad will be less than a typical Lonely Planet.

  • Joshua Z.

    I have a Lenovo ThinkPad X61 Tablet PC, and it can do most of the stuff the iPad can. It also has a keyboard and an 8-hour battery life. This thing kept me busy the entire length of HNL-IAH, and then for the majority of IAH-LGA.

    Convertible tablets have so much more utility than this iPad, in my opinion. Just because it’s a Mac doesn’t automatically mean it’s better.

  • Megan B.

    The real question I have is how TSA will handle the iPad. I try not to travel with my laptop unless on business simply due to the checkpoint annoyances. If this device can slide through in any of my bags like my iPhone, that would be amazing.

  • http://www.soultravelers3.com soultravelers3

    Wow, you’re fast on the draw Elliott!

    I’m still just watching, even though we tend to be huge apple fans, we live a digital nomadic family life traveling the world non-stop (since 06), and we’re green, frugal travelers who want to get the most for our money.

    We have a MacPro & a Macbook, (plus PC laptop) but haven’t gotten or needed an ipod, iphone , wii, or nitendo ds or much else as a minimalist life grants us more freedom. We’ve lived a paperless digital life (except for a few kids books) but we also enjoy being unplugged a lot in nature.

    Still we have a voracious reader that we are educating via world schooling in 3 languages, so I’m always looking for more & better answers in that realm. We’ll probably eventually break down and by this, a kindle or other competitor.

    We tend to like to take our time on making these kinds of choices, although it looks promising for our needs. I’ll just watch and read for a while and wait for prices to come down. ;)

  • Di

    I have a few questions concerning the iPad. First, how much would it be? Most netbooks are around $350 and ereaders around $200. If it was priced around there, I would consider it. Second, how long is the battery life? 8 hours seems to be typical, but I would want it to last longer between charges. Setting it up to charge almost every night would be a drawback. Third, what about internet access? Would it be similar to the iPod Touch, or would you have to buy into a data plan? Would it run solely on WiFi?

    To me, this just looks like a iPhone on steroids. I would expect a lot from the iPad. As to some reports that it will be a Kindle Killer, that is comparing apples (no pun intended) to oranges. It would have to be an almost necessary device in order for me to spend the money on it.

  • Justin

    @ Cole,

    Anything with Apple’s name slapped on it is bound to sell. I-Junk… I-Crap.. doesn’t matter what it is or what you call it. Apple Fanboys will buy anything. I predict this will be a major money maker for Steve Jobs. Don’t get me wrong, he has had some good ideas. Yet, I’d take Microsoft over an Apple hardware device any day.

  • frostysnowman

    I don’t think I’ll be getting one:
    1. I mostly travel for business and don’t relish the idea of carrying a lap top and some type of e-reder. Plus, like Megan B. said, how will the TSA handle them?
    2. I guess I’m old fashioned, but I prefer actual books and magazines to reading off of a screen. I work on a computer and stare at a screen almost all day long, and don’t like the idea of recreational reading being done on yet another screen.

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  • y_p_w

    The specs say that they come in both WiFi capable and (more expensive) WiFi+3G versions. The data contract costs extra. The WiFi versions are from $499 to $699 depending on internal drive capacity.

    The TSA isn’t likely to treat this any differently than a cell phone or laptop computer. Just put it in the tray and have the x-ray machine scan it.

    I’ve seen the promotional video for it, and I think they’ve put a lot of effort into the “look and feel”. I don’t know if I’m going to get one, but I think a lot of people should put off their criticisms about it until they actually see one in person.

  • Jennifer

    I am a big Apple fan. I had an Apple IIc, for heaven’s sake! I have an iPod and iPhone. But this to me is an oversized iPod Touch. Jobs made fun of netbooks during his presentation so I was expecting something more. If it’s a tablet, and only a tablet, why no handwriting recognition? It’s got less memory than a Kindle, if I read correctly and a weak processor. It’s elegant as an e-reader but that alone isn’t enough to sustain its price point. It just seemed a big disappointment to me. I’ll read more about it and maybe I’m hasty in my conclusions.

    When I was watching and reading CES coverage, one product really got me excited and that was a new hybrid tablet/laptop. It’s got TWO OS’s!! :D You snap out the tablet and it runs Snapdragon and then when you pop it back into the case, it runs Windows 7. This looks good and appears to operate well, given Lenovo’s name. This appears to be a perfect computer for travelers. Here’s a link: http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/04/lenovo-ideapad-u1-hybrid-laptop-by-day-unhinged-tablet-by-nigh/

  • Sean

    “Can we go paperless, finally? If the iPad really is a better e-reader — and I’ve tested a lot of them, and they’re pretty awful — then it could free travelers from the need to haul books, magazines and newspapers on their trips. That would be a welcome development.”

    I’ve got to disagree with this statement, all e-readers still have a huge issue with traveling, you can’t use them for the first 15 and the last 30 minutes of a flight. Until the airlines get past the point where we can run electronic devices during take off and landing, e-readers have limited usefulness. I own a Kindle, and it drives me nuts that I basically have to haul a paper item to read in the gap, or god forbid, browse the Sky Mall for the 87th time.

  • EricR

    You can read all about the iPad at http://www.apple.com/ipad

    It weights 1.5 lbs, is 0.5 inches thick, has a 1GHz processor, can have as much as 64GB of solid-state storage, and can come with both WiFi and 3G vi AT&T (for $15 or $30 per month, with no contract). It will sell for as little as $500 and as much as $830, depending on how you’d like to configure it. It does everything the Kindle can do, plus everything your MacBook can do, plus it has a 132 pixels per inch for a very high-resolution screen and an estimated 10 hours of battery life.

    The only thing this device doesn’t seem to have is handwriting recognition (which, funny enough, is what helped sink the Newton). But who knows…maybe there’s an App for that too!

    I still think that the Skiff Reader (http://www.skiff.com/skiff-reader.html and http://www.skiff.com/images/reader_photos/shot05_enlg.jpg) will present some serious competition once it’s released.

    I agree with @Megan B. – I hope I can just throw this in my carry-on without having to put it through the Truth Systematically Avoided (TSA)’s conveyor belt separately.

    Or perhaps the Terrorism Support Association, Tyrannical Scam Artists, Thieving & Stealing Agency, or Transparently Senseless Aggravation!

  • Steve

    I’m personally having a hard time figuring out where this would fit in on a trip.

    I still need to take my phone, since the iPad doesn’t make phonecalls. I’ll still need to take my laptop, since although this runs many apps, it won’t replace a PC, especially for business apps, and especially since like the iPhone it can only one run app at a time. (No multi-tasking Apple? Really?)

    Ultimately, that means the iPad is probably a third stringer for my trips, and even though it’s light and thin, it’s kinda bulky in the two other dimensions, and so it’s probably one of the first things I’d pull out of my bag.

    So although it’s new and cool, and I may see one and think to myself that I want one, I’m gonna have a hard time convincing myself that it’s worth that ~$700.

  • http://flightwise.com.au Les Posen

    Apple has now posted the Keynote on its website to see how the unit can be made to work. Its battery life is a suggested 10 hours, but for watching movies I’d suggest 8. Its screen allegedly eats netbook screens for breakfast and its Apple developed CPU (A4) is superfast compared with netbook CPUs. I can see some airlines giving it out for 1st and Biz class passengers, with a collection of magazines and movies on them (edited for airline use) thus saving quite a few kilos. If more airlines pick up wifi and powered seats, its market further increases – I hav a 15″ Macbook Pro but reading pdfs on it would be less satisfying that the tablet and I do a lot of reading on planes given my average journey is 12 hours. That I can also work on my presentations compatible with me desktop software is a bonus feature. Above all, remember it’s a version 1.0 device, and like the first iPhone was somewhat crippled. Chris, ask the same question in a year’s time.

  • Evelyn

    One drawback for travelers; it doesn’t seem to accommodate spreadsheets; or allow users to work on spreadsheets. For some that would be a deal breaker.

    Having said that, like everything else from Apple it’s high on my “gotta have” list.

  • http://www.aspendew.com AspenDew

    As it stands, it’s not even going to be a decent e-reader for anyone living outside the USA. According to the Apple site, iBooks are only available in the US.

    It probably won’t affect this traveler at all, because I won’t be getting one any time soon. I’ll either get a netbook or keep hauling around my Tecra M4.

  • Brian Walters

    “I own a Kindle, and it drives me nuts that I basically have to haul a paper item to read in the gap, or god forbid, browse the Sky Mall for the 87th time”

    I feel the same way, but it’s a small price to pay for not having lug around multiple books while traveling AND for not being at the mercy of the Airport Overpriced Newstand. ;) (Though I do have a US only Generation 1, Kindle).

    Anyway, all of the reasons that made me buy a Kindle still stand: size, access to print, ease of use and easy to read. I don’t care how elegent it is, I don’t want backlighting when I read for pleasure.

  • Jeff Pruett

    I don’t have a e-reader because a lot of what I read is not available digitally. I went to Thailand, Cambodia and Hong Kong in December and took my Dell Latitude Z. It did everything I needed.
    Check out this funny editorial cartoon in today’s AJC: http://blogs.ajc.com/mike-luckovich/

  • Philip

    Mea Culpa! I had a TSA check my carry-on and as she put it on the counter, she knocked off another person’s laptop, onto the floor. I ‘should have’ yelled out, “Who owns a blue laptop?” to alert that person to put in a claim for possible damage. I will not be reticent next time. I heard 2000 laptops get damaged going thru the X-ray per year. I do not take my laptop with me, but I have just bought a Kindle eReader. As an alert to you all, put your L/T and eReader on your Home Policy as comprehensive and it is fully covered. Be sure to back up your data before your trip.
    I don’t check baggage anymore due to the extra charge and find I am very precise in taking only what I need, even for a week’s trip. I also carry a loaded briefcase (previously allowed) with cameras, books, and food, etc. and if I am restricted to one bag, I will have to put on a coat with deep pockets. This is now becoming a challenge between the traveler and the TSA and the airlines.
    The airlines are making billions with all those extra charges. Chris, tell us how we can fight back effectively?

  • http://rjtalestold.blogspot.com/ Dick Jordan

    I’m a travel writer who spent all of last September traveling around Europe with a netbook and iPhone. So when assessing the initial information that came out about the iPad yesterday, I tried to visualize how I might have used it during my trip.

    While lacking the processing power of a full-sized laptop, the netbook worked well during my trip for wordprocessing, e-mail, and Web surfing, especially when I had a Wi-Fi connection. Its built-in video camera let me do Skype video calls while I was in Europe. I used it in my hotel rooms, in airports, and aboard planes and trains. The keyboard is less than full-sized, but is built in, and was fairly easy to type on. And because of its size and portability (virtually the same as the iPad), I could have tossed the netbook into my day pack and carried it around with me when I was out and about in European cities, if I had been inclined to do so.

    My iPhone gave me access to the Web and e-mail nearly everywhere since it connects to the Internet via both Wi-Fi and phone company data networks. The location-service based applications helped me find my way around on foot and using public transportation. I could easily read the New York Times and my Rick Steves London guidebook on the iPhone. I could use the iPhone camera to shoot video or still photos if I didn’t want to use my point and shoot digital camera. I could jot down information in the Notes application instead of my Moleskine notebook. I had my complete itinerary available at all times, both in the Calendar and Documents to Go applications on my phone. And, of course, I could even use the iPhone to make phone calls. I could do all of these things while walking down the street or sitting in a cafe or on a bus by just slipping the iPhone out of my pocket; I couldn’t have done these things quite so easily with the larger iPad.

    Like Steve, I don’t see the iPad as a replacement for my netbook or iPhone. And so far, I can’t think of anything the iPad would allow me to do while traveling away from home that would justify the expense of buying it and the additional weight and bulk it would add to my already over-stuffed “traveling light” luggage.

    If I had to trudge off to an office everyday, I could see using an iPad to read the news or surf the Web if my trip was an hour or longer each way, and if the mode of transportation permitted Internet access via Wi-Fi or 3G networks. But, I could do the same thing with my iPhone, and save a few hundred dollars.

    So if Santa wants to bring me an iPad for Christmas in 2010, I’ll be happy to leave him a plate of cookies and a glass of milk, especially if the gift includes another $30/month for 3G network access.

  • Ames

    I agree that since the first and last 15 to 30 minutes of a flight are electronics free excluding even iPods a back up magazine is needed.

    The Apple website says the basic Works will run on the iPad, so there are word processing, spread sheet and power point functions.

    I can load books onto my iPhone now through iTunes. I buy them through Audible and add then to my computer and iTunes picks them up so I don’t see why that would not work for iPad.

    I see the biggest advantage for travelers over a laptop is being able to sit back with it and not struggle to use the drop down table. And it is far easier to get up to let the passenger next to you in and out. Eight to ten hours of batttery is a drawback but really, how long can one continue without a break? I charge my cell phone every night. When in a hotel, I charge my laptop and camera every night too just as I keep my car gas tank topped up in the winter, so if this is the device of choice, I’ll just add it to the cables.

    As for the TSA, they manage to lose or break a percentage of everything already so this is just one more thing to be careful about. Back up, Back up, back up, is the best thing one can do for a laptop or a phone. It does seem to me to be easier to slide into my bag – I often carry an unconventional bag rather than a formal briefcase. I will have one, it is just a question of how soon.

  • Sarah Di

    Call me crazy, but I like reading a real book. I like the feel of the pages and the smell of the ink. Reading an e-book or listening to audio book is okay on occassion, but having something like this or the kindle wouldn’t stop me from bringing a book or magazine with me because I like the experience. I do like reading news online, but I also love reading a real newspaper. My ipod nano, ds and LG cell phone will just have to be enough!

  • Kevin

    The iPad is a giant iPod touch. Nothing new or exciting there, except that this one will be cell data capable. Big deal. It is not like I am going to be a tourist carrying around a huge iPad like a map when I am walking around a strange location screaming “mug me I have no clue as to where I am at!” You can use the Kindle eReader, or the B&N Reader on your iPhone or iPod touch already. Yes the screen is smaller but works just the same… I say pass. Add phone and video conferencing (A forward facing camera) and you might have something I would use, but likely at home or in a hotel room to talk to home / loved ones with while traveling. For that matter use my laptop for the video confrencing as well… Otherwise I can watch my movies happily on my laptop or iPhone thank you very much.

  • Sebastian

    The iPad is an oversized iPod Touch with no better memory. Anyone who has used an iPod Touch can testify that if you actually use it with a brightness level that makes it usable, the battery isn’t much more than 3-4 hours. With the advertised battery life of 10 hours this equates to 5-6 hours maximum usage time. That is barely your flight from New York to California (considering you were not foolish enough to use it while you were waiting for your flight). The price is way to high for an oversized iPod Touch and matches the price of ultra-portable laptops (much more powerful than netbooks), which aren’t much heavier and are much more powerful. This is nothing revolutionary. As an e-reader it’s almost pointless. Anyone who has spent 6 hours reading a computer screen can testify that it strains the eyes. There is a reason why the other e-readers use a black and white screen (and it’s not to cut down the cost). Those screens are made specifically not to strain the eyes. Die-hard Apple fans will buy it, but we’ll soon see it go the way of the Newton and Apple TV.

  • http://www.brandlogic.com Emerson

    Apple comes out with a really slick Kindle killer, at a very attractive price, and everybody is ranting that it didn’t match their particular fantasies of what Apple would be announcing.

    As a media consumption device, this is a killer product, quite likely a game changer. As a computer replacement, not so much.

  • Aaron

    It’s an overgrown, overprice iPod Touch. What’s the big deal? The only thing it will do for travelers is give us something to talk about — it was the buzz of my TPA-DFW and DFW-BUR flights last night.

    Give me my Asus netbook, my iPod, and a novel, and I’m happy.

  • Jasper

    @ Aaron: Exactly. There’s nothing that an iPad has, that an iPod Touch doesn’t. In fact, there only difference is the screen size. At work here is the amazing marketing power of Apple. More boring companies like Microsoft or Philips would have called this device The iPod Touch XL. But that would not have created nearly the same senseless press exposure.

  • http://tek-tips.nethawk.net Rob

    Dear Elliot,

    Such an interesting perspective on technology from a pragmatist, though I am still laughing at comment from Soultraveler calling himself a minimalist and frugal traveler, with three computers. I can only imagine their packing sessions, as I find it hopeless to ever pack anything electronic without losing something along the way. Is there any hope for a peripatetic luddite who needs technology, but can’t seem to ever get it right?

  • Curmudgeon

    Make better calls??? Uh, no. It’s not a phone. If you’re referring to Skype, it’s not there yet. I have no clue where you got that one.

  • Curmudgeon

    Re: make better calls – if you mean the 3G option, that’s strictly for Web browsing and downloading new books, as an alternative to wi-fi. I still don’t get it.

  • Merryl

    There is no way I could ever use anything but the smallest netbook on an airplane. I could easily use the iPad. I think it will be a big hit… though as usual I try never to buy the first generation of ANYTHING from Apple. The 2nd or 3rd will be much much better and cheaper.

    I see myself carrying my smartphone everywhere always. But if I am planning to be away from home, or sitting around waiting at any point, I’d like to have my iPad along to amuse myself with, or to try and get something done. Which I would never do with my laptop since it’s too big, too heavy, and too awkward to use if you don’t have a table at the correct height.

    I suspect that many people won’t understand it until they touch it. Fortunately, they’ll eventually be able to go to their friendly local Apple store to do that.

  • http://www.olympus-tours.com/cancun-news Kevin

    Great tool for simple tax and maybe some work during a relaxing period, but won’t be very useful for working due to the keyboard style and non-multitasking.

  • http://twitter.com/lesposen lesposen

    How nice to return to this topic many months later, and watch you eat crow… tasty, isn’t it?

  • http://twitter.com/lesposen lesposen

    How nice to come back so many months later, and see what crystal balls I had at the time ;-)

  • http://twitter.com/lesposen lesposen

    Another doubter who got it oh so wrong… The internet is such a marvellous time machine for capturing such antics