iPad Launch Weekend: The Comics Pro Twitter Reactions
As much as I expected Easter-inspired marshmallow Peeps commentary (or reviews of the new "Doctor Who") to dominate my Twitter feed this past weekend, the release of Apple's new "magical and revolutionary" iPad definitely seemed to fill the most overall entries. I follow a lot of comic book folks, mind you, so their tech leanings - especially concerning a device expected to impact their industry of choice - definitely angled overall trending topics in the iPad's favor. So what's the first weekend verdict? So far it's a mostly positive set of discoveries coupled with reasonable critiques.
Jim Lee took his iPad's Sketchbook app for a spin and created a Catwoman and Joker via digital fingerpainting, proving that even a limited device can churn out impressive art in the right hands. App crashes lead to some frustration on his part, however.
"incredible Hulk" writer Greg Pak had an extensive and pretty realistic set of comments. He seemed to dig its overall functionality in terms of media consumption and work tasks, but pointed out the hindrance in being limited to using only one app at a time:
Brian Bendis really likes his iPad. Like, a lot:
R Stevens chronicled his favorite iPad features most of the weekend (including Web browsing features), even waking up with his new love for the first time yesterday morning. That's love.
Brian Reed shared his thoughts on the word processing pros and cons of the iPad's Pages app, which he found "mostly pleasurable," despite a few suggestions for improvement:
Ed Brubaker had a pretty conservative view of the iPad as a comics reader. He seemed to enjoy the experience, but noted that the experience wasn't as good as print in his opinion:
Responding to a question about the DRM restrictions on sharing the digital comics you buy, Brubaker responded: "If people can just buy n copy to "share" with friends that's not much better than pirating."
Skottie Young shared his enthusiasm for the iPad's device as a comic book reader and distributor while pointing out the device's strengths communicating content exactly the way digital artists create it:
It's important to take the early iPad praise with a grain (or two) of salt. Nobody wants to shell out $500 to feel underwhelmed and look like they've got metaphorical egg on their face. The most meaningful commentary is yet to come. But just like going to a friend's birthday party in elementary school, there's a little bit of joy (and jealously...and sometimes even resentment) that comes with watching early adopters tear open a new toy. Thankfully the comics set seems to be balanced in their collective assessment of the shiny new gizmo thus far.