1. A review of a reviewer’s review - the iPad smart cover

    If you’ve lived under a rock for roughly the past 4 years, you may not know who Marco Arment is; to brief you, he was lead developer at the ever-growing micro-social blogging platform Tumblr until 2010, and now uses his entrepreneurial flare as the sole creator & developer of the essential service, Instapaper. To sum it up, Marco has well earned his rock star status of the geek world[1. Yes, I do refer to something like this Intel advert that makes me chuckle]. He also fills his time as an hobbyist tech writer and co-hosts the amazing podcast, Build & Analyse.

    It was in one of Marco’s latest pieces “The Smart Cover, a few months in” (which I recommend you read first) that got me thinking about what comments I agree or disagree with.

    I’ve broken Marcos article down into the various sections on what we both think about the iPad Smart Cover.

    1. Price

    I opted for the light blue Polyurethane cover priced at £35. I can’t fully comment on the leather cover, except that it’s priced pretty steep at £59 which works out about $95[1. That should stop any any friends across the Atlantic complaining about the price they have to pay :)]. The Polyurethane wipes clean, doesn’t mark easy and does everything I would expect; I do doubt if the micro-fibre on the underside actually does clean the screen at all, but that isn’t a concern since I’d expect to wipe it anyway.

    2. On the unprotected back, Marco makes comment;

    I knew going into it that the back of the iPad 2 would be unprotected by the Smart Cover. In practice, I find that I’m overly paranoid about it getting scratched by grit on flat surfaces, such as a grain of sand on a table, so I don’t feel comfortable setting it down on most such surfaces.

    I believe this is purely down to each individual, how they think about their device and what type of person they are. I take the stance that I’m not going to go mad[2. A little over exaggeration] and start rubbing it against pebble-dashed walls[3. If you don’t know what it is, here’s a picture; on an unrelated side note, having this done can reduce your house value by up to 5%] or grit floors, but I don’t want to let paranoia get in the way of enjoying my device. The other alternative is to place it face down but Marco has the concern with this method.

    I can’t put it face-down, because then I’d scratch the Smart Cover much more easily and noticeably

    Maybe this is the case with the leather cover but with the Polyurethane, it really doesn’t scratch easy and once again comes down to being sensible where you place it.

    3. What protection does it provide

    I can’t think of many situations in which a Smart Cover provides enough protection to be worth carrying and using for people who care about the aesthetic condition of their iPad. I thought I’d be able to ignore my gadget-preservation instincts in this regard, since it’s “only the back”, but I can’t. (There are other reasons to use it, like the prop-up features, but general protection isn’t one.)

    I do feel what Marco states here is the harshest critique purely because Apple make the differentiation between their iPad 1 Case & the iPad 2 Smart Cover in the product name. A case is something you put a device in, which would give front & back protection. To critique a cover for not doing something it isn’t sold to do, I feel is unfair. To look at the Smart Cover as it is sold and designed, it does the job better than I’d expect. It covers the screen well with more than sufficient protection, gives easy access and is designed in a way to use as a stand at 2 angles. Marco goes on to point out what “minimal bulk” it adds to the iPad; I believe this this is why I like the cover so much. When my iPad is laying about the house, it adds enough protection from anything minor that could happen, while not distracting you from the design and beauty[4. It’s at this point I’d worry if I knew my fiancé didn’t know me enough] of the device. As Apple says [the] “iPad 2 is thin, sleek, and flat-out amazing. So why hide it in a bulky case?”

    4. How to hold it

    I can’t find a comfortable way to hold and use the iPad with the Smart Cover attached. It flops and slides around far too much. Maybe Apple intended for us to detach it from the iPad while we’re using it, since the magnets make it so easy, and re-attach it when we’re done. But that’s a bit tedious.

    I guess like most of the above, this comes down to personal taste. I fold it in half and hold it against the back while it’s still attached, just like I would hold my iPad if it wasn’t attached. Marco rightfully states that Apple never shows us how to hold the cover when we aren’t using it as a stand; maybe I shouldn’t be some comfortable holding it the way I do then I would benefit from his theory.

    If that’s the intention, though, it’s subtly genius: holding the iPad 2 “naked”, without a case at all, is great. You truly appreciate the lightweight, thin form factor, and it’s less fatiguing to hold for long periods (such as when reading in bed). So it’s plausible that Apple wants to encourage naked use.

    Maybe because I’m too comfortable with the cover I lose touch with the iPad as a single unit; however I can not dispute when I show someone an iPad 2 for the first time, the initial aww is caused by the Smart Cover and how it’s built into the iPad. I think it’s an opening point that is amazingly designed, greatly formed and sets the scene perfectly before you even see the homescreen.