Last month Apple released its iPad, a $500 picture frame/clip board/report card/bubble scoring sheet/virtual world portal/music stand/easel/photo editor/browser/movie player/record collection/book shelf/carpenter’s level/subway map/chess board/night light…  I’ve already blogged about how it might become a child’s best friend for the New York Times (see http://bit.ly/cHxQG1), and that post has stirred up a good deal of additional questions.

Let’s first state the obvious. I’ve never touched an iPad, but I’m certain that it will be at least as important to children’s computing as the Wii. But reality—particularly when kids are involved, has been known to trip up more than a few great ideas. Here are some of the additional questions I’m eager to explore with our kid testers.
• Is it durable? Can that sheet of thin, rigid glass withstand the abuse of a child’s backpack, or a three foot drop onto a tile floor? Our dog chewed up our Nintendo DS and it still works. Will iPad do the same?
• Why is there no SD memory expansion slot? Wouldn’t it be great if a child could transfer photos or music from a desktop computer or Canon PowerShot 495A  (reviewed on page 10) to the iPad?
• Why is there no USB port? Here’s another missed opportunity to connect (literally) the iPad with computing reality. Flash drives are the new floppy disk. The lack of a USB port takes iPad off the sneaker network.
• How long until iPad 2.0?  Why spend $500 today, when the same $500 will get a more stable, more powerful device in 6 months, probably with a camera?
• Might  iPad really mean “iCatalog?”   Is iPad merely a sophisticated hardware extension of iTunes, designed to make it easier to buy books, songs and apps. From the looks of the demo, this is possible. Will kids be able to resist the EOS (Ease of Spending) that iPad might provide?
• What will Google (and Microsoft) do? Will iPad work with mainstream browser technologies from Adobe, Microsoft, Google and YouTube?
•  How important is Adobe Flash to iPad’s Success with Kids? Try to load any mainstream virtual world, like Club Penguin or Starfall.com on your current iPhone or iPod Touch, and you’ll get an error message that you need to “upgrade your brower.” The message should really say “corporate warfare is underway.” We don’t want our children to be held hostage by feuding pluggins, but so far, there’s no sign that this issue will be resolved.
• Will there be an iStylus, too? Writing with a finger just isn’t any fun, nor is filling out an SAT bubble sheet. Now that iPad has a page-sized screen, there’s a need for a Nintendo DS-sized #2 stylus.
Again, let me state that I’ve yet to touch an iPad. But I’m willing to bet a set of fresh AA batteries that one year from now, nobody will be laughing about iPad’s name. Remember all those Wii jokes?

Announcing AppCamp 2010

We’re pleased to announce the First Annual Children’s App Design Institute (aka AppCamp 2010) to be held at the Asilomar Conference center on the Monterey Peninsula on May 2-4. The three day meeting will bring together reviewers, researchers and designers for a closer look at the state-of-the-art in children’s apps. Besides the open source brainstorms and sessions on child development, we can now confirm that there will be an actual, analog marshmallow roast overlooking the Pacific. Registration is $1380 for one seat, or $990 for two or more, for up to 60 seats. Details at www.dustormagic.com.

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