Take the BoomTown Vs. Zuckerberg Survey: Is the Apple iPad Mobile or Not?

November 6, 2010 at 1:09 am PT

Yesterday, BoomTown wrote a post titled “Dear Zuck: The Apple iPad Is Mobile (So Sorry!),” countering Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s statement at a press event earlier this week that the popular tablet device is not.

As I wrote about what the kingpin of the social networking giant said:

Ben Parr of Mashable asked a question everyone has been speculating about recently–whether and when there would be an iPad app for Facebook coming.

A fumbling “no comment” would have worked fine, but the real Zuckerberg seemed to have decided to channel the clever Aaron Sorkin-ish repartee of the fictional Zuckerberg in the movie “The Social Network.”

“It’s not mobile…it is a computer,” he said flatly.

“I think Apple would disagree with you,” noted Parr.

“Well, sorry,” Zuckerberg spat out, his voice dripping with the kind of sarcasm that only a super-nerdy Silicon Valley engineer can pull off properly.

I disagreed, noting:

The iPad is a computer, because that is technically true, even though that makes a smartphone a computer too. (And, now that I think of it, my car is a computer.)

But actual civilians don’t make these kinds of distinctions and, if one spends any time watching consumers use tablets, mobile is entirely how they think of it.

The post got a lot of comments, and tweets too, so I thought I would post a survey so that everyone can cast their own vote.

And I won’t blame the economy if I lose, so click away (and I will post the results later):

Create your free online surveys with SurveyMonkey, the world’s leading questionnaire tool.

Tagged with: Aaron Sorkin, app, Apple, Ben Parr, BoomTown, civilian, computer, device, digital, engineer, Facebook, hardware, Internet, iPad, Kara Swisher, Mark Zuckerberg, Mashable, nerd, post, question, result, Silicon Valley, smartphone, social networking, survey, tablet, telecom, The Social Network, tweet, Twitter

comments so far. Add yours.

http://www.twitter.com/davidafenton DavidAFenton

In the context of check-ins iPad is not that kind of mobile
Anonymous

I know it’s an unscientific survey but there is even more bias introduced when you tell people where you yourself stand….
faddah

i could give a hoot about the subject of the survey (it’s a mobile device! it’s a computer! reminds me of the classic first season SNL sketch — new shimmer is a floor wax! it’s a dessert topping! ladies, it’s both!). but methinks sorkin’s movie, while fudging on the facts a bit, may have hit closer to home as to the truth of character here than previously thought.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_LGTXBHOZJAM7KW5XPSKDB3635I Chris

Interesting…but unless he is actually a member of the Armed Forces, that would make him a “civilian” as well. Perhaps something like ” someone outside of the ‘industry’ might have been better phrasing, but “civilian” is actually someone who is not a member of a country’s Armed Forces.
Anonymous

Its mobile (if you use it that way), but the rest of the issue Mark was responding to was whether it needed special attention in terms of developing apps for it as other smaller mobile devices do. Presumably apps help to overcome limitations like screen size. But this brings up the topic of whether everything should be in a browser, even on a full size Intel powered computer. Apps are developed all the time to utilize Internet content and provide functionality without having to use a browser (e.g. iTunes, though you can’t get to iTunes in a browser (yet), weather widgets on your computer, etc.). I bought my big screen TV on my Palm Pre as I walked out of Best Buy after getting a competitive price check. I could have used a browser to access my Amazon account, but instead I used the Amazon app, which was much easier to navigate on my phone. Perhaps Mark is using more criteria to decide whether something (in this case the iPad) needs a native app, but on the spot used the generic description of “a computer, not a mobile device” to bottom line it.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_PAMG7525DAVMFWLMH2IJMNXG64 David Lemieux

Actually it does not make all that good of a non-mobile (ie desktop) device without a decent case a la Apple case.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Larry-Patterson/1419816050 Larry Patterson

My first computer was a Compaq portable, circa 1985. Portable in the sense that you could take it home or to a customer’s office. The iPad is certainly more mobile than that!

But no need for an app, just log into Facebook on the browser, as you would with a desktop computer
http://www.facebook.com/bobsentell Bob Sentell

No, the iPad is not mobile. Any device that only fits in the laptop slot of my briefcase is not mobile. Also, considering most of the iPads sold have been the WiFi variety, even the consumer doesn’t see this thing as mobile. I rarely take mine out of the house.
http://www.buberel.org/ Jason Buberel

My rules of thumb for a mobile device:

- It will fit into your front pants pocket.
- You do not need to carry any peripherals or AC adapters

The iPad fails the first test, but passes the second. Meaning you have to have a bag/tote/carrier of some sort in order to transport it safely.
http://bottomlinelawgroup.com/ Antone Johnson

I’ll be interested to see how the survey comes out. In my opinion, it is unambiguously mobile — at least the way I use it — because it represents a significant compromise vs. using a real computer, made solely for the purpose of extreme portability. Consider the following factors:

- 3G connectivity
- Touch-screen interface
- 10+ hour battery life, under realistic operating conditions
- Smaller, thinner, lighter than the vast majority of laptops
- Passes the “restaurant test,” meaning I can bring and use it when dining alone without feeling like an uber-nerd
- Stripped down, app-centric OS (like the iPhone) without a real filesystem
- Peripherals rarely needed or used
- Doesn’t remotely approach the range of capabilities of even the humblest computer these days. Talk to me when you can run Final Cut Pro, Photoshop and Pro Tools on an iPad.
- Above all, represents a handy compromise when I need something quick, convenient and highly portable, but don’t need to be seriously productive.

In essence, it’s just a larger iPod Touch on steroids — in the best possible way. It fills a handy niche between my Droid X and MacBook Pro, and I love it.
http://www.gadgetx.com Anthony Blow

I guess one test to distinguish one kind of mobile from another is: can you use the device with one hand? Just as tablets are more intimate than laptops so are phones than tablets. A BT connected watch or smart ring would lie somewhere further down the spectrum(you wouldn’t remove the ring while sleeping) . At last weeks Massive Attack show, I could have carried an iPad, but even if it had a camera would have been obnoxious taking a few pics like a phone. Bit.ly/bDP15s
http://ipadcasereview.org Danny – iPad Case Review

Yes it’s a computer but the iPad is also totally mobile. I really find it hard to find the differences between the ipad and iphone 4. Maybe Mr Zuckerberg can “educate” me on why it’s not mobile
http://www.facebook.com/people/Brad-Crystal/554817726 Brad Crystal

I think Kara Swisher misses the larger point. In the case of the iPhone and other smartphones, Facebook needed to create a special mobile version because of their dramatically smaller screen sizes relative to a computer. The iPad, by contrast, boasts a screen only slightly smaller than most laptops, and the browser version of Facebook works beautifully on the iPad. So there’s really no compelling need for an iPad-optimized version of Facebook – whether or not you consider the iPad a mobile device.
http://www.iphoneipadproducts.com/ iPad case

In our generation today, almost everything connected in technology is possible.

Take the BoomTown Vs. Zuckerberg Survey: Is the Apple iPad Mobile or Not?

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