IPad Is First Computer 100-Year-Old Woman Bought

That was incredibly charming, and a well-composed limerick to boot.

I spent the better part of a day once trying (and failing) to explain the difference between files, folders, documents, email messages, mailboxes, pictures, icons, programs, docked programs, etc., to an 80+ year old friend of the family. The ipad's emphasis on task-oriented, direct manipulation of data make for a much more straightforward metaphor: there's no cognitive distinction between the Pages document as browsed for object and real live document, no explicit saving or "saving as" or filing, no hat trick of intermediary representations between any one task and any other.

When friends ask me what's so great about the iPad, I can never think of a good answer. Usually I just show them the smule magic piano, which keeps them busy for a few minutes; the savvier ones say, "what, so it's just a toy for like two year olds?" For them, I'll keep this video waiting in the wings.

For all the promise of multitouch, everywhere-connectivity, 10 hour computing, etc., the best parts of the iPad are the things you can't see because they no longer exist.