I have great respect for Apple as an organization particularly because I use an iPhone and I think the iPhone has definitely become one of those game-changers in the smartphone world and by a large margin.
I was looking forward to the Apple iPad even more so as we have been doing good stuff on mobile learning and putting up applications and tools on iPhone as pilots and on a trial basis. The iPad was supposed to be better and bigger than the iPhone, closer to a computer and much more than just a phone.
However, from whatever I have been able to gather about it so far, including Apple’s own website I think the iPad is a big miss. To me it is just a big (physically speaking) iPhone clone (that too with something like a camera missing! Whoops!). Just this morning Amit Garg asked me about the iPad being a great tool for our sales meetings and I was excited too. However now I feel that’s not going to happen. Some reasons:
1. What would I carry an iPad for? I need to connect to my family back home, talk to my team and do video calls regularly – with the iPad there is just no way to do that. If I have to carry my iPhone and a laptop anyway; why would I carry another device?
2. How do I store regular files in it? Again, it is not meant for that. Without support for MS Office – I can’t even deliver good presentations. While I haven’t seen much about this; my experience with iPhone is a great indicator.
3. The missing camera. While demonstrating our Innovation and new projects team’s work on Augmented Reality the iPad is useless without the electronic eye.
4. And most importantly – Flash support (rather the absolute lack of it). The eLearning industry thrives on Flash and without it how do I even present the great stuff we create to prospects. I have failed to understand reasons behind Apple’s continued ignorance of Flash. I am sure it is not technically challenging to build support for Flash in an iPhone or an iPad but then what is it that is keeping Apple from supporting Flash?
I’d best not make any big statements against or for Apple or any other company. Personally I was really disappointed to read about iPad. I hope Apple is not being blinded by the iPhone’s success. To me it looks like that somewhere Apple lost its customer focus while building the iPad. And as a result, it looks like I just saved a few hundred dollars. And as with all things Apple, there isn’t going to be iPad V2 with the missing elements being built in any time soon.
I would love to hear comments from peers in eLearning industry on the iPad and what it could have been for the industry. Microsoft, HP, IBM – where are your tablets? We’re waiting…
January 29th, 2010 at 4:30 pm
I think you’re missing something.
You’re right, the lack of Flash support sucks. And the camera too (though I suspect this, unlike Flash, will be on the iPad 2.0)
But this is missing the point. It’s the first sit-roundable computer. You can sit round a laptop but, like the TV remote, only one person gets to be in charge.
The tablet is pass-roundable too, and has a touch screen so anybody can add stuff to whatever’s being looked at. And, crucially, it won’t just be text. It’ll be doodles and objects that you can drag around.
I don’t think the iPad will be very good at doing the stuff we already do. But it’ll be very good at doing stuff we haven’t thought of yet.
Here’s my thoughts on the iPad:
http://www.bfchirpy.com/2010/01/ipad-fever-part-1-chunky-and-clunky-are.html
And, just in case I come across as an Apple sycophant, here’s some more reasons why the Apple iPad might REALLY suck.
January 29th, 2010 at 4:31 pm
Whoops:
http://www.bfchirpy.com/2010/01/ipad-fever-part-2-apple-way-is-not.html
There’s the post on the dangers of the Apple way.
January 29th, 2010 at 5:46 pm
Simon, interesting posts you have shared.
As I mentioned in my post – I am a great fan of Apple and really expected iPad to be a WOW thing and sort of game-changer (also specially from someone in eLearning perspective). I feel disappointed by the things it misses and how they are critical to our industry as a whole both presently and in future.
I look forward to reviews on iPad from content publishers, end users, kids, etc. who I am sure will find a host of things exciting in the iPad.
Cheers!
January 29th, 2010 at 9:20 pm
The iPad is an impressive innovation. I’m just skeptical of claims that it is a great option for schools (e-learning or traditional) with limited budgets, especially given all of the educational Flash applications that are out there. If Apple really wants what is best for learners and teachers, then it seems to me that they would support the Flash plug-in. Here are more of my thoughts on the matter – http://etale.org/main/?p=453
January 29th, 2010 at 10:00 pm
Bernard, valid point! and precisely what I also found as a very big problem in iPad. Flash has made such strong inroads in elearning and education that it will be a tough task to imagine innovations and great work in eLearning without Flash. Development costs may be high in that case, as well. Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
January 29th, 2010 at 10:24 pm
Hey Amit,
Good post, but there are technical challenges to getting Flash on the device. This post covers many of them:
http://mobile.venturebeat.com/2010/01/26/flash-iphone-skyfire/
The fact that Adobe has known these limitations for years, and done nothing to address them till very recently is shockingly sad.
Anyway, I posted about this too on my blog why Flash on mobile doesn’t solve mlearning, might be worht checking out too.
http://www.mozealous.com/why-flash-on-the-iphoneipad-doesnt-solve-mlearning/#comments
January 29th, 2010 at 10:54 pm
You’ve probably seen my impressions of the iPad, but in case you haven’t, they are here: http://www.learningsolutionsmag.com/articles/370/apples-ipad-what-does-it-offer-for-e-learning
The second generation of the iPad will probably have that camera. It probably won’t have Flash; my impression is that Apple expects that HTML5 will provide an alternative (maybe, but there’s a ton of e-Learning content already in Flash and I don’t think there is much motivation to go back and convert it). It remains to be seen whether the Apple chip in the iPad can handle multi-tasking and multiple windows open (which we need in order to make this thing usable for synchronous e-Learning, and for that matter to make it more suitable for asynch).
The first generation iPad could support blended instructional designs that employ text (e-books), podcasts, and social media (wiki, weblog, microblogging, etc.). It could support web-based instruction as long as it isn’t done in Flash. It can handle some performance support tasks, although I have my doubts about whether it would stand up to use in the field by technicians. The limited storage makes me wonder whether it will be practical to think about having a lot of e-learning in video form will work.
Most of the analysts seem to think that Apple will sell about 4 million iPads the first year. Most of those are going to go to early adopters in niche markets. The cost of ownership per unit, at up to $360/year for a 3G data plan, will rule the iPad out for most e-Learning budgets — and if an organization doesn’t buy 3G data plans, what’s the point of providing employees with an iPad? It won’t do much good for mobile learning if the user always has to be in a hot spot.
It seems to me that e-Learning designers/developers/managers are probably going to wait for the second generation or longer.
January 29th, 2010 at 11:32 pm
Hi Amit,
You bring up a lot of valid points and common criticisms.  However,  I don’t think a lot of the features some were expecting to be present in the iPad were omitted by chance.  (i.e. video camera, sd card, usb, etc.).  I think Apple sort of  “forces” the user experience that they think is best.
While you can compose emails and create content via iWork (re: your “I can’t even deliver good presentations” comment – Keynote is superior to PowerPoint in my opinion -Â http://www.apple.com/iwork/keynote/), I see the iPad primarily as a “web appliance” and a way to “view” content. Â I think Apple wants users to consume content in a specific way (via iTunes) – i.e. surf the web, read e-books or e-mags, watch videos, play games, etc. Â In that context, the iPad isn’t meant to be a laptop. Â It’s your web on the go, portable video content, etc.
I am a huge fan of Adobe and as a designer and developer in the e-learning space, I use their tools every day.  While Flash certainly powers a majority of e-learning (especially because of great tools like Articulate Studio, Adobe Presenter, Captivate, etc.)  I don’t think e-learning is defined as Flash content.  This could be a whole different topic for discussion on its own but I think Flash needs some significant changes.  The next evolution of web markup, HTML 5 and CSS3, can accomplish a majority of the effects created in Flash without the need of a plug-in.  You can also do a lot of similar effects with JQuery.  YouTube and other video sites like Vimeo or also moving away from Flash players in favor of a HTML5 player.  With that said, there is a way to get Flash on the iPhone using Javascript.  You can view examples and get the source code from http://paulirish.com/work/gordon/demos/.
I think the biggest obstacle iPad has an as an e-learning device is that non-website content has to come in the form of an app from iTunes.  That practically eliminates any corporate use.  If e-learning content was arranged in a website fashion utilizing touch concepts, the iPad will work as an e-learning device.
Sorry for the long-winded comment! Â I think we are in the middle of some exciting times for e-learning. Â I just think we need to look at how we are creating and delivering and “consuming” content with a fresh perspective. Â I am looking forward to getting my iPad on day one, but I’ll be using mine primarily for entertainment.
January 30th, 2010 at 12:12 am
Dave, thanks for sharing insights on Flash support on mobile/handheld devices. It does give a perspective to our discussion. Maybe the onus is equally on Adobe to provide support to other players like Apple to support FLash on mobile devices. However, without the Flash support, iPad makes supporting eLearning (without new costly development efforts) a challenge.
January 30th, 2010 at 12:21 am
Bill, I agree that most eLearning designers/developers/service providers/managers will probably wait for iPad to evolve. When someone like Apple comes out with a new device it should be something that takes converging technologies a step further and produces something that makes devices easier to handle/carry, better looking, enhanced performance and most of all to ‘add’ to what devices are already doing. iPad is an innovative tool but it lacks that ‘wow’ factor and I really doubt the sales predictions (however thats for time to tell). iPad does have a great attraction for a variety of other consumer segments.
I admire Apple immensely. However there is a thin line for them between ‘being fantastic’ and ‘being fanatic’. I await v2 of iPad to be launched sooner than later.
January 30th, 2010 at 12:31 am
Michael, thanks for your detailed response.
As I just wrote in my response to Bill’s comments, I personally expect a new device (like iPad) to bring innovations together yet without losing a few essential things. I am really keen to understand that in the age of the video camera becoming as given as a mouse or a keyboard what thoughts Apple has behind omitting it in iPad.
With regards Keynote I agree its a great tool. My only challenge is the amount of inertia I have to counter at my and my team’s (and company’s level) to change to non-microsoft environment to use iPad. It would have been a little easier to use iPad if it supported a few basic software like Office.
I agree on the way future would be dynamic looking at Flash and HTML5. However, given the current state of affairs and looking at Flash prevalence and usage it still looks a big omit from the iPad.
But as you put it, iPad is not really an eLearning device and may not be even designed to be that. Well thats where my disappointment lies – it could have been such a great device but it does leave me wanting in more ways than one. This however, in no way whatsover, belittles the iPad’s benefits and utility as a whole.
January 30th, 2010 at 1:05 am
Dave, I just found this article on mashable – http://mashable.com/2010/01/28/flash-ipad/Â which actually mentions that Adobe is not happy with the lack of Flash support. Does it still imply that its really a technical challenge only at Apple’s end or is it something else behind the scenes?
What do you think?
Cheers!
January 30th, 2010 at 1:13 am
Hey Amit, thanks for the response.
I can only offer conjecture…but the fact that the Flash Player is not on any mobile device of any significance at this point makes me think it isn’t entirely Apples fault. Â I have honestly never seen a mobile device in person that supports the Flash Player, and I worked at the company.
January 30th, 2010 at 1:17 am
But I guess to go further…
I am sure there are many reasons other than just the technological challenges. Â Apple wanting to further push HTML5, no competitors on mobile devices support flash, etc. Â All these combined probably played a part.
I know Google Nexus One plans to support Flash, and really hoped that this would take off because it might help push Apple from a competitive standpoint to adopt it. Â But it doesn’t look like the Nexus One is going to be all that big of a competitor.
January 30th, 2010 at 1:24 am
On Flash, here’s three articles which, if taken together, shed a bit of light:
Wired says Flash is old, buggy and needs killing:
http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2010/01/ten-things-missing-from-the-ipad/
Fast Company says that iDevices lack decent memory managment:
http://www.fastcompany.com/blog/chris-dannen/techwatch/why-new-newton-will-be-more-just-giant-iphone
HTML5 makes Flash redundant and Adobe are behaving like spoilt teenagers rather than making a better product:
http://www.fastcompany.com/blog/kit-eaton/technomix/adobe-ipads-missing-flash-limits-users-web-surfing
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January 30th, 2010 at 1:44 am
While the iPhone and iPad may not be able to run Flash content in the way the Flash Player plug-in handles it, Flash content will still be able to be displayed via some workarounds (see the link in my other comment). Â It might be confined to limited interaction or only movie-like content though.
Also with the upcoming  Adobe CS5, the Flash “Packager for iPhone” will give Flash developers the ability to convert the Flash content they create into Apple’s app format for release through the app store. http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/flashcs5/appsfor_iphone/
That still leaves the challenge of corporate e-learning content (in app format) having to come from iTunes which in most cases is a project-killer due to time requirements and confidentiality. Â I agree with some of the ideas Simon brings up. Â Flash needs to evolve. Â While being on 98% of the worlds web enabled computers is awesome, plain old html is on 100% of them. Â I love Flash and AIR, but I think in the context of e-learning, things are much more accessible without plug-ins, software updates, etc.
January 30th, 2010 at 5:22 pm
One more thing: it’s all about apps .
Powerfull apps for iPad will solve most of the hardware shortcomings.
iPad in the schools is not strategical plan for Apple.
January 31st, 2010 at 5:18 am
hmmm. i don’t recall the eLearning industry getting together and voting on this topic. i work with some of the leaders of the eLearning industry and i can tell you they’re all buzzing over the potential of the iPad for education. you ought to retitle this piece to say “apple iPad disappoints the author of a rather small blog.”
January 31st, 2010 at 6:16 am
monstorofNone – Certainly there are different reviews, but the sentiment in this blog post is widespread in the educational blogosphere over the past several days. I just spent the last few hours reviewing educational bloggers who are writing about the iPad, and out of 50-60, I’ve only found a few that don’t mention many of the disappointments (especially the “no Flash support”) noted by Amit. Some bloggers focus upon the disappointments, while others mention them and move on to the positive attributes on the iPad. Whatever the case, Amit’s posts are definitely good food for thought for anyone who wants to keep teaching and learning in mind, and not simply fall into edtech fashion and letting e-learning be driven by brands and trends more than clear logic, research, and systematic planning.  With all due respect to whomever you are working with, the field of e-learning is not about submitting to what the “leaders” think (although you will find that plenty of “leaders” will agree with the criticisms in the blog post above. BTW – In many ways, the “follow the leaders” approach is counter to the entire spirit that has inspired the field of distance learning. E-learning is about doing what is supported by systematic study, clear logic, careful planning, and what will open learning.
January 31st, 2010 at 6:41 am
Bernard – Good luck with that. I, and others I know will be developing some incredible eLearning apps for the iPad… without the need for Flash or other web based technologies. Flash support (aka Adobe support) is not a deal breaker when a vibrant app store economy will allow developers of eLearning to skip the browser entirely and create applications with real teeth.
But I’m certain your poll of reviewers, analysts and pundits is more reliable. I would stick with them.
January 31st, 2010 at 6:59 am
monstorofNone wrote, “I, and others I know will be developing some incredible eLearning apps for the iPad” Great!  Now this is the spirit of elearning that I love.  It isn’t about what the leaders think, but about the systematic designs by people like yourself, and whether or not the designs hold water when it comes to actually solving a learning problem or improving student engagement and learning. I look forward to reviewing and potentially making use of those incredible apps that you mentioned. Do you have a blog or site where you will keep us posted about your app development projects?
January 31st, 2010 at 1:58 pm
@Dave : thanks for sharing useful info on Flash/HTML5 and also possible reasons of Apple not going for Flash in iPad. I am not sure if pushing HTML5 would be a ‘key’ objective as it has not really been mentioned in its release or info on website. HTML5 itself is still in nascent stages.
@Simon: thanks for sharing the useful links about Flash. HTML5 definitely holds potential. However as we shared in one of our earlier blog posts on HTML5 and eLearning Development its still a little far from being ‘there’ yet. So Flash is going to be there for quite some time and I am sure it will also keep evolving – they already have FlashLite for mobile devices and it would be optimized further. It would be interesting to see how HTML5 develops (and more importantly how fast). SilverLight also attempted but has not been successful yet in coming near to Flash. All eyes on future…
@Michael: thanks for sharing the link. It was very useful. Yes, people will find workarounds and it would be great!
@Zec: I agree with the potential of apps and the need as well. iPhone is a great phone made greater by ‘there is an app for everything’ approach. iPad is a great platform and will attract numerous apps, I am sure.
@monsterofNone: My post was from eLearning perspective (with more focus on corporate eLearning and not really education only). As I also mentioned in my post that iPad is a great device and has a high relevance for content publishers, etc. It has a great potential in the field of education where players like Kindle are already making a huge difference in children’s lives. However I still strongly feel, from corporate eLearning perspective, that there are things iPad misses which are needed. Also as @Bernard put it, we have still seen a good number of people in eLearning field echoing some of my thoughts and I put reasons for my disappointment as well. If these items are taken care of in iPad2/iPad3 or whenever I have no doubt about iPad being a great tool for eLearning as well. Also, I am really keen to know if you have a blog/website where we can get more info on the apps you mentioned.
@Bernard: thanks for your thoughts. As you mentioned that some bloggers focus on disappointments while others move on to look at the positives – we (at Upside) are doing the same. iPad is here to stay, I feel, and we would love to make use of its potential in whatever ways we can, to add value to what we bring to our customers.
Everyone, thanks for coming out and sharing your thoughts. I have learnt quite a few things from all responses on this post and I appreciate the same. I look forward to more comments about what other views are there for iPad in eLearning.
Cheers!
January 31st, 2010 at 8:05 pm
I think that “touch” is a key component of the future of computer interfaces in general and with that said, iPhones and iPads show great promise for e-learning, and particularly mobile learning. E-learning is a very small niche in the greater ecosystem of technology and will not be enough to save Flash if it doesn’t evolve to meet the current movement in web trends. Â I came across a few articles of interest on the future of Flash:
http://scobleizer.com/2010/01/30/can-flash-be-saved/
http://scobleizer.com/2010/01/30/google-will-save-flash-a-developer-who-uses-it-says/
Â
February 8th, 2010 at 11:24 pm
Apologies for being brief and perhaps not reading all of the comments above, but my two cents:
1. Flash is not a good thing for the web – proprietary code for a system that is entirely dependant on one company is not good. And is an example of why there is this discussion in the first place – using open techs stops this ridiculous dependancy.
2. As with all Apple products, mk2 is always far more impressive. Despite that, I reckon the current iteration with sell markedly well in the UK. The price point, although higher than a Netbook is not high enough to be considered a very high value item. The key uses apply to the average user much more than it does to an IT professional.
3. The Camera – Sorry, AR is getting a lot of press but it’s still not massively compelling outside of niche uses e.g. finding out the name of a building and related info.
AR on a 10″ platform is frankly silly as the technology stands as it’s simply not practical.
Saying that, I’d love to use it as a video conferencing platform – and suspect that will come with mk2 (and the next iPhone expected in June).
Â
February 15th, 2010 at 6:42 pm
Hey Buddy
I think if you can use the apple development kit to develop learning modules, it could be a very successful idea. Apple always has a thing for having propriety content and hence flash may never make it to apple. There are some nice educational applications you can have for apple but the IPAD can never be used as a generic learning device like the computer. It will always have to go through Apple and the training will have to be made for IPODs and IPADs.
Thats their business strategy and it seems to be working well if you look at the number of applications on the app store. Many prominent game companies have started making games for IPOD/PHONE/PAD and it may not be far when e-learning companies also have a small apple centric division. Companies like Sun have gifted IPODs to consultants and sales to push mobile learning on their PODs. Next step is to create apple specific content for them.
March 1st, 2010 at 10:50 am
Reasonable. However, iPad might provide a great help to many people especially learners. The way that many learners use their mobile devices or notebooks does a great job in their learning process from emails, forums, or blogs, iPad can do maybe a better job as well. People are attracted to any type of technology and iPad is one of the most attractive ones that many people are looking forward to get. Now, with the great technology that Gmail has for documents, learners can store their won text files there and access them from anywhere without the need of the MS to be installed in the iPad. Moreover, as the technology is getting sophisticated in the cloud, Drpbox has a great free service for public so that learners can store their own files in the cloud and access them later on, without the need of an extra capacity of the internal memory of the iPad. To sum up, I’m totally agree that the Flash support is something important to be available in such devices but, in my opinion, iPad is a nice bigger mobile device.
April 15th, 2010 at 5:57 am
I’m coming late to this party but at the same time, much is yet to be written about the topic of Apple and Flash, particularly as it impacts the learning community. And this article struck a real chord with me…
http://iansamuel.com/essays/progress-of-the-platform/
…for two reasons: 1) it’s deeply insightful about the reasons for the changes and 2) While I know that Apple is thinking about dollars and cents, they are also a company with a very long history of thinking of the users and of the user experience and that’s what I want to aspire to as a developer of e-learning, m-learning or any other kind of learning with a letter in front of it.
And while I’m thinking of it, for terrific insight into Apple and the decisions it makes, read nearly anything written by John Gruber at his exceptional site Daringfireball.net.
Finally, by now everyone will have heard of the new iPhone OS 4.0 SDK developer agreement which includes the very contentious section 3.1 which  prohibits the development of apps using “an intermediary translation or compatibility layer tool.” In other words, “No Flash, no way, no how.”
I am very much looking to join a community of learning developers who are willing to share their thoughts about what and how we will develop in a post-flash world, or at least a world in which we can only trust Flash to run successfully in the terrarium-like environments of corporate America.