During yesterday's iPad event, which largely played out just as the rumors foretold, Apple did do something unexpected: they unveiled a version of the word processing, spreadsheet and presentation suite iWork redesigned for the iPad's 9.7-inch touchscreen. It's easy to write off iWork's inclusion as a minor perk only for business types only, but don't. The suite's fully-redesigned touch interfaces actually reveal more about Apple's vision of the future of computing than any other element of their new tablet. Here's why.I used each iWork app yesterday, and while I couldn't spend enough time with them to come to a definitive conclusion, they definitely surprised me. Text-input issues aside (we'll get to that in a minute), each appeared more than capable of offering a similar, if not much improved experience, over their desktop counterparts. And for that, all credit is due to multitouch.
In Pages, one of word processing's most arduous tasks--formatting text cleanly and easily around graphical elements--has been made orders of magnitude easier with touch. Once tapped, pictures and charts can be moved, resized, rotated and masked with finger swipes, pinches and twists, as the text instantly and naturally wraps around them. Once a graphical element is touched, a contextual box can be summoned to the surface with another tap offering options unique to that element, such as its layering position, size, and the like. Again, my time with the app was brief, but the potential available once clicks and drags are replaced by our natural inclination to touch and interact with our fingers was immediately apparent.
I love the iWork apps for the desktop and can't wait to see them on the iPad. At $10 each, you can't complain about the price either!