The fact that the iPad only lets me see one app at a time often does not help me focus. Instead, it forces me to switch between apps constantly, thus preventing me from focusing on my task. Every time I have to deal with the iPad’s task switching, I’m interrupted.
For some tasks, letting applications take up the whole screen is useful. Applications like Garage Band or Writer make good use of the screen. But a lot of the time, allowing more than one app to occupy the screen can actually help people focus, because human tasks are often not as simple as computer tasks, and may require people to be able to see more than just a single application.
I found this to be especially irritating on the iPad while trying to write. Right now, for this article, I’ve got Safari (with Instapaper, Lukas’ site and Justin’s site all in separate tabs) and MarsEdit open (again, with several windows going).
Messy? Yes. Efficient? Yes.
[via Justin Blanton]