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#65 : Tried to use an iPad - iPadを使ってみた

Submitted by sahya on Sun, 09/08/2013 - 09:56

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I traveled to Hokkaido at the beginning of this July.
As I thought it would be useful if I could use the Internet during the trip, I rented an iPad.
Another reason I rented it was that I wanted to try using a tablet PC.
As expected, it helped me a lot to find things like sightseeing areas and restaurants during the trip.
When I use my feature phone or my husband's smartphone to surf the Internet for a long time, I need to use them while worrying about their remaining battery levels all the time.
On the other hand, I didn't worry about such a thing when I used an iPad: I just needed to turn it on only when I wanted to use it.

The lending period of the iPad was a month, so I used it on the way to and from my office.
It was a great time killer though it was slightly too heavy for keeping holding for a long time.
It was also useful when I was riding the Shinkansen for several hours by way of a business trip.

 

My husband has a smartphone based on Android, but he often gets angry with its poor user interfaces.
That's why I chose an iPad and not the other tablet PCs.
As compared to my husband's Android smartphone, the iPad's response was quicker, but it was more difficult to input Japanese characters.
Also, an iPad's battery was less likely to run out.

Finally, I bought an iPad after the lending period had passed!
It costs about three thousand yen per month to use the Internet outside. However, the good thing was that my monthly mobile phone's communication fee got about three thousand yen cheaper since it got not to use for the Internet. :)


この7月の頭に北海道を旅行しました。
旅行中にインターネットができると便利だと思い、iPadをレンタルしました。
タブレット端末を使ってみたかったからというのもあります。
実際旅行中に観光地やレストランを探すのにとても役立ちました。
私のガラケーや主人のスマートフォンで長時間インターネットをする場合、電池残量を常に気にしないといけません。
一方iPadの場合は、使うときにだけ電源を入れればよいのでそんなことを気にする必要はありません。

iPadのレンタル期間は1ヶ月だったので、通勤中にも使用していました。
長い間手に持っているには少し重いのですが、とてもよい暇潰しになりました。
出張で数時間新幹線に乗っているときにも活用できました。

 

主人のスマートフォンはアンドロイドなのですが、その使い勝手の悪さにしょっちゅうイライラしています。
そのため私は他のタブレットではなくiPadをレンタルすることにしました。
主人のアンドロイド携帯と比べると、iPadの方がレスポンスが速いですが、日本語の文字入力はアンドロイドの方がしやすいです。
また、iPadの方が電池の持ちがいいです。

結局、レンタル期間終了後にiPadを買っちゃいました♪
外でインターネットをするのに月約3千円かかるのですが、携帯電話でインターネットをしなくなったために携帯の月額使用料が約3千円安くなったのでよかったです。

Comments

Hi Sahya,

I'm interested to hear you found it harder to input Japanese characters on the iPad. I've used a regular Japanese keitai and an iPhone for typing Japanese. The iPhone system seemed pretty good to me, but I think the regular keitai was faster because it has buttons instead of a touchscreen. That's true for typing English as well I think - buttons are faster than a touchscreen.

What is the interface for entering Japanese on an Android device? I have an iPhone now, but I'm thinking of going for an Android phone next time because they are much more open for software developers.

Thank you for the comment. :)
Yes, regular keitai is the fastest for character input.
Have you tried the flick input on your iPhone?
I tried it on an iPad and an Android smartphone.
Compared to the Android phone, I had to move my finger more when entering Japanese characters on the iPad.
That means if I want to input 「おはよう」, the characters I input are more likely to be 「あはやあ」.
So it's more difficult to input quickly.
By the way, my husband's smartphone often freezes. :(
 
I don't like current situation that the only two types of OSs exist for mobile phones.
(It's difficult to count Windows in for now...)
So I wish some other companies (hopefully companies in Japan!) would develop a new OS. 

Yes, I've tried flick input. I think it would be faster with practice, but I am a bit slow at it. I usually just press the hiragana multiple times, like on a regular keitai.

Does Android use flick input, or keitai style input, or both?

What features would you like to see in a new OS for mobile devices? I've only used Windows 8 on a PC so far, so I don't know much about the mobile version.

I'm still not used to writing with flick input as well.
But I think it's even faster than regular keitai style input on a smartphone, haha.
You can use flick input, keitai style input and PC style input on an Andoroid phone.

Another point that I think iPad is more difficult to input is it has no arrow keys.
It's annoying when I mistyped and have to get the cursor back. :(
I don't know if iPhone has the same feature but maybe it's the same.
(Andoroid has arrow keys.)
I've only used Windows 8 on a PC as well.
I don't like it. It's not appropriate for a PC.

The features I'd like to see on a new OS are...
 - Feel like pushing a button when touching the panel.
  (I've heard some smartphones have this feature, but I haven't tried yet.)
   I'd like to do touch typing like a regular keitai.
 - Can easily finish apps.
   On both Android and iOS, app windows haven't Close buttons like Windows. So closing an app is troublesome.
 - The battery is less likely to run out.
 - Doesn't have so much complex functions but have fewer defects and less likely to be in trouble!