Using The Apple Pencil And My Opinions : Not quite there yet

Since was sister was coming back from the US, we shipped an Apple Pencil and an iPad Pro 9.7inch to her and I got to use them both from the 15th of August, 2016, our 70th Independence Day.

Unboxed : So, this is what the box looks like. This is the first generation Apple Pencil and retails for $99 with no student offers and discounts whatsoever. And no, it's not included with any of the pricey iPad Pro Models. The box  is rather heavy and includes a layer of documents, the pencil itself and an adapter to charge the pencil via your standard Apple Lightning Cable. Apple also includes an extra pencil tip and I wonder when I'd have to use it.

Look And In-Hand Feel : The pencil is an all white product and is a single piece of hardware with no buttons at all. The end of the pencil features the Apple Pencil branding in metal and that end detaches to reveal the Apple Lightning Port for charging purposes.

The cap features a small magnet that keeps the end well adhered though there is a small movement and play while twisting the pencil end at times. However, the pencil is build really well.

The Apple pencil is nearly as long as a standard Indian pencil. Except, it might be nearly 3 times as heavy. It could get very slippery due to the glossy construction.

Setting Up The Pencil : The Apple Pencil is really easy to set up the first time. All I had to do, was remove the end cap of the pencil and plug it into the lightning port on the iPad and the iPad on screen instructions take care of the rest.

It first enables bluetooth and then the pencil is connected. Your iPad is still an iPad after the pencil is connected. For the few seconds it needs to be there, the Pencil looks really bad. There's a fear that somebody will knock off the pencil sideways when kept on the edge of  a table. There are no special software suites for the pencil. The pencil can be used to touch and swipe across homescreens and be used to enhance performance and usability in creative drawing apps.

The only preinstalled app where the Apple Pencil can be used effectively is the Apple Notes app.






Apple Notes is a very simple interface. It has the ability to select a couple of colours. There's three instruments for typing. There's a scale for drawing straight lines. That's about it. It's pretty basic that way. I managed to compose a mathematical problem using the Notes app and this is what it looked like. There's no sketch to shape like the Samsung Galaxy Note or even Evernote style features built in. However, tilting the pencil shades very much like a pencil and that is remarkable.

The Apple Pencil, is INCOMPLETE or USELESS without a couple of great drawing apps and the product would never be recommended to anyone by me if there wasn't a comprehensive set of apps available.

Since I'm not a drawing kind of guy, I only used the Pencil to test it's ability with handwriting and basic notes.

My father tested the Apple Pencil briefly to try out the overall Notes app. He shall be using it full time in his clinic and I'll upload the details briefly.

I'll be giving the Pencil to other users who primarily draw to test the quality of the same.

I'll wind up my review very quickly now.

PROS : The pencil is a step in the right direction to convert traditional writing to digital writing. It does its job fairly well I'd say.

It is a 10X leap compared to other styluses that the market offers currently. Most of them feature no pressure sensitivity and rubberized inaccurate tips.

Palm rejection is INSANELY GREAT  on this Apple Pencil across a variety of apps. You can finally rest your wrist in a normal way on the iPad screen.

The Pencil responds to our angular dip and pressure too. The Apple app community is ever growing and that means better and better apps every day.

The pencil battery life is great provided you pair and unpair it from time to  time. Battery life is indicated on the iPad itself.

CONS : Apple does not do much to improve the productivity of the pencil. Without apps from the Apple Store, the Pencil is an Accessory you wouldn't need or would ever use.

Samsung has done their Note lineup a lot of good with great software and intuitive features.

Writing on the pencil, STILL feels Unnatural. Sure, it's a lot better than ever before, but no, it still feels digitized. The Pencil glides on the smooth iPad Pro glass and there's no friction like the conventional writing experience.

The iPad Pro does not feature Force Touch. There's no haptic feedback or feel as if we are writing on paper. It could have been done. Force Touch is clearly missed on this device. 

The pencil, is NOT very convenient to carry. It does not feature a clip. Carrying it is a bother. There's no magnetic attachment to it. No Apple official accessory actually helps own and carry a pencil. It's heavier than a traditional pencil and it's too smooth to be held for prolonged periods of time. It lacks the texture of a traditional pencil.

It lacks the ability of erasing by tilting the pencil towards the end. Pressure sensitivity is supported but FEELS unnatural thanks to the smooth iPad display, near 0 friction and the lack of a Force Touch Display.

COULD DO BETTER :

The Pencil could be a great tool in the years to come. It needs a few refinements.

1. Better Software and Intuitive Features by Apple to enhance productivity and show developers the way.
2. The design could be lighter and feature better grip and also a clip.
3. The Pencil should feature a Smart Connector pin next time so pairing via bluetooth would be a thing of the past. Currently, the easiest way to pair is plug it in 5seconds.
4. Pencil should charge via the smart connector or be made so that it never needs charging. It should become a part of the iPad Pro in a way you never imagined it to be. Just pick it up and draw and write. Never worry again.
5. The iPad should feature serious advancements to accept and respond to pressure sensitivity.
6. Apple should bundle the iPad Pro and the Pencil in one box to show customers their commitment to the pencil.
7. The price should be nearly $49, half of what it retails for.

On a concluding note, I'd say, it's a great device, but it's NOT QUITE there yet. 

Two Feedbacks Gone Down The Drain

Asking for feedbacks has become an important trend in the wellness, hospitality and service sector as a whole. Through feedbacks, companies endeavour to improve their offerings to maintain and improve their reputation.

Being very fortunate to have tried a lot of food of a variety of cuisines in my city, I make it a point to give an honest feedback to hotels and restaurants that ask for it. However, I never ever had to give a negative or sour feedback before.

And when I happened to give two in a row, I was shocked to see the way managements respond to our feedbacks in our country, India. At first, I thought feedbacks were asked just for the sake of it. I thought they were ways the company/brand was trying to show customers their opinion matters and unsurprisingly, in majority of places, this is exactly what it is. A feedback form is typically a paper placed for show.

But, exercising our right is an important duty of a citizen and a customer. So, I make it a point to give feedbacks and never wondered where my words would go or would they matter. Here's two incidences : -

A) Nawab Pan Asia, Pune
The attendant was really helpful and helped me pick a starter for myself. He helped my parents pick the right dish in the right amount. And we were set. The restaurant was moderately crowded. The service at first was great. Food was rushing in hot. Water was poured regularly. He was paying close attention to us. Asking us if we liked the food etc.

He wasn't a Maharashtrian. He was probably a North Indian (no offense or praise). We were shortly done with our main course and waiting for the dessert menu. We waited a good 15 minutes patiently but he was too busy. I really don't blame him. Then, we waved a few times and he came another 10 minutes later. We asked for the dessert. And then had to wait another 15 minutes for the bill and this was annoying.

The restaurant was busy. People were waiting. We were wanting to leave. All set to settle the bill and leave. However, we were kept waiting, for no good reason. And finally, came the bill and the feedback form. As usual, my parents settled the bill and I took charge of the feedback form.

I marked the food and ambience as a 4/5 each. I was considering the Service Section before giving it a review. I marked Attendant Helpfulness a 4/5 for his excellent suggestions. However, I marked Attentiveness a 3/5 and justified it with a comment. "Slightly slow and delayed service over the end." and gave it in.

We were almost out the door and about to call the elevator until our attendant for the night came running to me and said, "Sir, ye kya likha hai aapne? Sir, main aapko full attention diya na. Sir, sab food hot leka aaya na mai. Repeat chahiye kya poocha. Sir maine kidhar neglect kiya. " and I calmly told him that we were waiting for a real long time post our main course for some water, our bill and even merely ordering a desert.

However, he insisted I change the feedback. I was taken aback. I wasn't used to changing a feedback. I didn't want to do it because I was highly truthful. I don't know why, but I grabbed the pen and slashed the comment and rated him 5/5 and he said "Thank you Sir!" and left into the hustling restaurant.

B) Sigree, Global Grill, Pune - by Speciality Restaurants India
We regularly visit this place and have never been disappointed with food and service. However, the last visit, was rather unpleasant.

Sigree, during evenings, has a starter on table buffet system. I opted for the Non-Veg buffet while my parents chose Veg. We walked and started with soups and the starters started shortly. Food was great and I was starving. We were supposed to be served 5 Types Of Starters each. So, I was expecting 5 Non-Veg starters.

When we entered the restaurant at 7:30 PM, the place had just 10 odd people out of a maximum of 60 guests in the indoor space. We expected fast and courteous service that day but we were wrong to expect so.

The starters started coming but the first morsel of Chicken Tikka I had was cold. As cold as Tandoor Grilled Chicken could get if kept in a cold room for an hour. I was disappointed, yet I asked for a new lot. The mutton starter was piping hot and tasty. Prawns came in a few minutes later only to be untouched by me since they were very cold to eat again. Despite these initial setbacks, we ate 4 starters each. My parents were expecting a vegetable while I was expecting Fish. We waited for a while and my eyes were eying every dish that was coming out of the live grill which I could see through the glass.

I was still waiting for Fish. Not every starter came back to me again. Theoretically, the starters are supposed to keep on coming till you ask them to stop. However, nobody was really attentive towards our table as a lot of new guests quickly poured in and the restaurant was half full in the next 30 minutes.

We shifted gears to the main course and I don't do Mains a lot. So, I had the Fish when it came. It was really nice. Now, I had to wait for the other starters to show up again. Our attendant was prompt to ask for a repeat for a few starters but not uniformly. But, the starters as a whole just wouldn't showup.

I kept asking for them and got to a stage where I thought we deserved some more attention. We topped ourselves with desserts. Lots of sweet and sour things. Can't remember what. And asked for the bill.

And, in came another feedback form which I took charge off. Rated the food quality as 3/5 and specified (food was cold on a lot of occasions today). Rated service as 3/5 and specified (cold starters and lack of attention). Rated the ambience as a 4/5 as usual and submitted it. However, this time, we actually got to saw the advent of our feedback. My feedback was being read by the attendant whilst he was carrying it to the manager. Then, a colleague read it. Then, the manager read it too.

And history nearly repeated itself. The attendant came to talk to me and reiterated that he was serving us with attention. He highlighted that he was asking me for repeats. He seemed really alarmed by my feedback and strongly insisted he was serving us well. He asked me to CHANGE my feedback. And, I thought of the consequences of doing that. Did it matter to me? No. But maybe he would love out on some spare bonus that would change his week. So, I altered the feedback. Yes. I was made to alter the feedback and it was back to the managers desk.

We were waiting for our change and my parents were silent at first. Then, father said, "Guess there's no way you can tell them the truth without them coming and hiding it." and on hearing that, I asked another attendant to call the manager on duty for a small chat.

A fat man came and stood besides me. And I told him what had just happened. In the end, I just asked him "Why do you ask us for feedback if you're going to make us manipulate it? I don't think it is right that I change my honest opinion about today's dinner so that a fellow colleague in your restaurant doesn't get a hit on his salary. " and all the fat manager did was  say, "Customer is most important to us sir. Extremely sorry for this event. Your feedback is very valuable to us. " and I was like "WHAT EVEN!"

In the end, he showed off his management training by saying, "I take this opportunity to introduce our new menu. Sir, do come in afternoon also since we have our new food menu. Do visit again."

So, the manager diffused the situation by diverting it and showing off his management skills. The conclusion I drew is some places, institutions, would never change. It is the attitude of people that needs to change for improvement in lots of sectors like wellness and hospitality.

People need to develop the habit of accepting criticism and working to improvise on that fronts. I wonder why feedbacks aren't read by the manager at the end of a particular session to assess performance of attendants. Maybe a little anonymity shall help them judge performance better.

Cheers.

Meeting Another Set Of Shivdes, Oops Shivades!

Our surname, Shivde, is certainly uncommon to most Maharashtrians. People in my city, Pune, call us Shinde at times because that's what they easily expect.

Our family background lies in Nashik, a moderately sized city in Maharashtra. My grandfathers and forefathers grew up there.

As we go about with our routine lives aka, my parents work at the hospital, I attend college, we get an odd ball quite often. In my case, I usually got two. A few people would ask (in an attempt to be highly modest) me who Dr. Shivde is to me and I would tell them he is my father. However, the odd ball confused me all the time.

However, we have often been asked by friends, acquaintances and common people we bump into, this very peculiar one question. "How is Advocate Shivde related to you?"

Take me back to 2009 and I really wouldn't know how to answer that question. I was just 12 then and I didn't know a lot about a lot of people that I know today, and this is but obvious.

Back then, I would humbly tell people that I had no idea who he has. My parents, who were asked the same question, would tell people we weren't related. We had never seen this man, who apparently everyone had heard off.

In 2013, we found a couple of close friends who knew Mr. Advocate Shivde and that is when I found out about him thanks to Google the great. It took me 15 seconds to realize, Mr. Advocate Shivde was a famous and reputed lawyer committed to the defense of a lot of big names and celebrities in India. However, thanks to family friends, the impression was he was an elderly main in his 60s maybe (as of 2013).

After literally being asked "WHO IS ADV.SHIVDE?", "IS HE YOUR UNCLE?" for over 200 times , I began answering that he is my grandfather. I had never met him. Never wondered how old he actually could be, but yes, that was my answer.

Until, 31st July 2016, when both of our families bumped into each other at a party. It was purely coincidental. My mother was asked the same question, "Is Advocate Shivde related to you? He is here tonight too."

My mother was curious too. The kind doctor who asked her that question happened to know the advocate's wife and introduced my mother to her. Mrs. Advocate Shivde was accompanied by her daughter Miss Shivde and that is how my mother Dr. Mrs. Shivde came to meet the set of Shivdes we were always asked about every now and then.

It was then, that we found out they were Shivdes who spelled their surname as Shivade. The two names are pronounced and written the same in Devnagari script. Shortly, my father was introduced to the two Shivades and soon, the advocate walked in too.

I was watching this scene from a distance and was surprised at the calm yet happy look on all their faces. It turned out that they were plagued by similar questions too. Mrs. Shivade told us she had answered easily over a 100 calls asking for Dr. Shivde's clinic and appointment times. I knew my father had made a name with his expertise and patient care. Except, I didn't expect them to have heard about us. My mother was pleased to hear that.

Mr. Shivade, seemed to be a man aged near my father and nowhere near a grandfather. And we shook hands too. A couple of other guests I knew at the party were my college principals at Fergusson College. Our principal again thought I was related to the advocate and began giving me a reference about their cousins who were related.

I introduced him to Mr. Shivde and Mr. Shivade.

In the end, the two Shivdes, oops, Shivdes and Shivades casually spoke about a cup of coffee sometime, to mark a new beginning to a probably new friendship.

A decade long darkness finally came to an end.