For this assignment, I selected the iPod Touch and the Asus Eee Pad Transformer. In this post I would like to share with you my experiments with these two gadgets.
The First Device: iPod Touch
During the first 20 minutes of interaction with the iPod, I played some games like bowling and car racing. I enjoyed playing these games; however, the small screen made the control a little complex. In my opinion, designers should take size into consideration with their design and provide a larger icons, pictures, and font size.
In the second time, I used some eBook and PDF reader applications to read electronic files. Also, I installed some dictionary applications and used them to define some of the words. Honestly, I was not satisfied with the size of screen which diminishes the ease of reading and made the results of the dictionary unproductive. I tried to zoom in on the text but this led me to another problem. I found that moving the text and following lines is a very hard job. I sometimes had to read the text more than twice, and this really confused me.
Regarding buying this product for myself or for my children, I could reasonably say that I would not consider the iPod Touch a satisfying purchase to fit our needs. However, I discovered many good features, games, and educational applications. I agree that the small size has its pros and cons. For example, taking your iPod everywhere will definitely increase the level of interaction with new technology. A great number of applications are released every day within App store. They are specially designed to match different users’ needs. Therefore, using this app store will save time for iPod users when finding the right application to match their requirements. The new technology has changed reading habits for many people. Nowadays, we can obviously find thousands of eBooks, millions of electronic articles and journals, and I believe that by accessing these electronic resources users, learners, and readers will positively enrich their knowledge. Additionally, I believe that by using the big storage capacity users are able to load many eBooks which makes it possible for them to have a large number of resources that would be difficult to carry in hand and difficult to access them everywhere. Thus, the small physical size has its impact on accessibility to different information resources. Despite these good pedagogy means, the device has some drawbacks in design. From my experience in this assignment, I found it is very hard to read and use the eBook reader. I could not imagine myself spend hours to read PDF files or books on this small screen. It really irritated my eyes after a long time of reading, and this device is not design for writing a paper of any length in the text editor. It is very hard to write assignments on this device with its tiny touch keyboard.
The iPod device could be improved with some changes. I realized that it supports Wi-Fi connectivity, however, the limited access to Wi-Fi spots limit the use of the Internet and the online resources. I found that most of the applications require an internet connection. Therefore, designers should add the Third-Generation Internet (3G) connectivity, similar to the service in the iPhone, to the iPod devices. This would allow instant access to the Internet and to online resources, libraries, forums and online discussions in almost any location. Another point for improvement is the capacity. Since the device has a camera with a high resolution, and is mainly used for playing songs and movies, users always need a larger capability to save different kinds of files. This would not limit users who think about the size.
The Second Device: Asus eee Pad Transformer
The Asus eee Pad Transformer is an Android tablet computer. This gadget was designed with a 10 inch touch screen, built-in speakers, microphone, camera, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, an internal 64 GB hard disk, and an external 64 GB Secure Digital Memory (SD card) that can be connected via external slots. It has encompassed a 1 GB Random Access Memory (RAM). The device supports Universal Serial Bus (USB) ports, Ethernet Card for wired local networks, and Third-Generation Internet (3G) via external slots. Interestingly, the Asus Transformer got its name because it can be transformed from a tablet computer to a laptop by attaching the tablet unit to its standard keyboard. Moreover, there are two batteries: one is inside the tablet unit, and the other one is located inside the keyboard. These two long life batteries give a total of 16 hours of continuous work. Honeycomb is the name of the company that developed the Android operating system (OS) for Asus. This OS is one of many developed Android platforms. However, Google has taken great steps in supporting Android systems, and established the Android Market for Android tablets and smart phones. The Market is similar to Apple’s App store and provides free and paid applications for Google accounts. The Android OS is designed to support Internet java scripts and Adobe® Flash® components, which is still not possible for Apple products. This allows the option to open almost all types of websites. The device is designed for almost everyone, and it targets a large population. It is suitable for students, teachers, designers, engineers, physicians and almost every home user. It attracts all age groups including adults, adolescents, children, and even babies.
Honestly, I enjoyed spending time discovering the significant features in this apparatus. My first goal was to find a version of Microsoft® Word®. I used the Android market to search for a document editor. I was not able to find the Microsoft® Word®, however, I found the Polaris® Office® which contains most of the features in Microsoft® Word®. I used this editor and used the external keyboard with the mouse. It was very satisfying because I felt that I was using a real computer with features that almost every user needs. In my opinion, these physical features make the Asus Transformer the best Android tablet computer and even much better than the Apple iPad. My impression was very positive, and I enjoyed the great features. However, there are some drawbacks in the design that may discomfort users. This tablet has very sharp edges that I did not notice at first, but after using it for some time, my hands began to hurt. The device is not weighty; however, carrying the device for long time with these sharp edges makes long term use uncomfortable.
Given my experience with this device, I would like to buy it for me since it fits my needs well. To investigate whether the device will fit my children needs or not, I gave them the chance to experience the Asus Transformer for a short time. My son was very happy using the device. He used some educational applications that used familiar topics, such as alphabets, animals, fruit, and transportation eBooks. In these games he was able to look at different pictures and listen to the name of them, and in some games like the animals book he was able to listen to the sound of the animals. This was a fruitful educational experience, and I found that my children would certainly benefit from using these educational applications. I decided to buy one for my older son. For my younger son, 1 year old, he joyfully used this gadget. I loaded one of the applications for him called “Babysitter”. It was a very a simple application which allows the child to change the color of the screen, hear different sounds, draw colored lines, stars, hearts, and other shapes with every touch. I tested this application with my son, and it attracted his attention well. However, I would not buy a tablet for him because he is very young, but his brother can share the device with him.
Another great feature in this tablet is the High Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI). This tablet supports an HDMI port which allows the user to show the interface of the tablet on the TV screen. I connected this tablet to my TV via Mini HDMI cable, and I enjoyed the display from the device on a very big screen. This allowed me to have two interfaces; one was in my tablet and the other one was on my TV. Also, this allowed me to share the use of my tablet with my family. For example, I opened one of the children stories and we all read it from the TV screen.
Despite the great functions, the device should be redesigned to be more comfortable for long use. The sharp edges may hurt the hands, especially when the user interacts with the device for long time. I noticed my son was not able to carry the device and control the steering when he played one of the car racing games. Thus, edges should be redesigned to be healthy for users of all ages.
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