I cannot find the research published online yet, but on the radio this morning there was mention of a study taking place with 18-month old to 3-year old children and their ability to understand the iPad with not ever seeing it before or being told anything about it.
After only 3 minutes all groups were able to navigate and essentially control the device, using touch, swipe, and even multi-touch gestures.
Companies like Disney and Nickelodeon will be scrambling to create next-gen product that runs exclusively on this platform, and this, to me at least, is a very strong statement to the notion that the iPad represents a true paradigm shift in the fundamental way we will work with tomorrow’s technology.
My 4-year-old son and 18-month-old daughter both play with ours. There was no noticeable learning curve; they just both “got it.” When we saw the initial announcement for the device, I made the comment that this will shape the way we view, interact with, and utilize computers in the future, and this just reinforces my opinion that this device is the gateway to a New World Order where technology truly begins to realize the ideal of a silent, unobtrusive companion that makes our lives simpler, easier, better.
That may seem like a weird thing to say in an age where delicate surgeries, once completely impossible, can now be performed by a doctor who is half-way around the world from his patient, but when you think about how technology in our home affects our lives, and I mean really scrutinize it, I think you will find that there is a 50/50 trade-off between the convenience and the headache.
Sure, having the Internet at your disposal on a whim is wonderful, but what did it take to get there? How many problems/annoyances/misconfigurations did you have to go through while procuring the equipment and services to get you there? How often does your cellular phone, the pinnacle of convenience, fail you (dropped calls, OS problems, pocket calls, etc.)? There is always a trade-off.
This is not to say that the iPad is a fool-proof, fail-safe device. Not in any way. But the paradigm of how it behaves, how it is used, and the simple philosophy behind Apple’s design guidelines (do not do anything on the device that does not have a firmly rooted concept in the real world), will, IMHO, set the standard for how humans and machines interact in the coming years.
What could be more intuitive than to read a digital book, flipping pages exactly as you would a real book, while being able to interact with any element in the text or imagery for further enjoyment or edification, all while keeping the “tomes” in a virtual bookshelf that looks and feels like something out of an aristocrats library?
It is simple, transparent, elegant, and intuitive. And I believe that THAT is the future of human-computer interaction, and it is finally within our grasp, with the iPad paving the way.