Ink & Slide
If you have an iPad iPad mini, chances are you’ve had fantasies about being able to draw and create beautiful artwork using your device. While there are plenty of drawing apps out there, Adobe has decided to introduce their own product called Ink & Slide. Usually I’m excited when Adobe comes out new products because that means that they are coming out with something interesting and innovative. However, after you read what I have to say, you’ll realize that they definitely fell short this time. Let’s take a look at the most ridiculous drawing toy I’ve ever seen.
The Price
First of all, I’m going to create some kind of digital artwork I’m not going to limit myself to what I can draw and sketch on iPad. Second of all this I’m going to drop $200 on something that enables me to create digital drawings, you can bet your bottom dollar that it’s going to be a Wacom tablet. When you do a side by side comparison, you get more bang for your buck if you get a drawing tablet, instead of trying to rig your iPad into being one. $200 is kind of steep, even if this application had more features.
The Complications
I have never seen a more complicated tool to use in my entire life. Why the hell would I pay $200 for something that is so obscure to use? I watched the second video showing how to use the Ink & Slide, and the whole process is counter-intuitive. You pretty much have to watch the video in order to build a set this thing up. Then, to use simple features to create your artwork you have to do counter-intuitive actions. For example to bring up a menu or to copy and paste, you have to press the button and then tap a certain way on your iPad. Who’s going to remember all that? Cheaper drawing and sketching apps on the iPad, Like Paper by 53, seem to get these features right the first time, while being intuitive to use. You can use a simple stylus, and you can sketch and drawn your iPad without having to watch 30 minutes of videos to figure out how to do it. See this video for a super-in-depth review of real people trying to use this.
It Feels Like a Snow Job
Now, considering I’ve always been an advocate for Adobe, this pains me to say this. However even I can’t deny that Adobe’s Ink & Slide tool feels like I’m getting screwed over. You can’t just use this on your iPad just because you have an iPad. No, it’s not good enough that they got your $200 for the actual tool. On top of all of that, they also force you to have an Adobe creative cloud account to build to use it. I’m already a cloud member, because I love Photoshop and Illustrator, but I don’t feel like you should have to be a member to use this tool. For the $200 price tag you should get a membership to go along with it. Also, the slide isn’t really a complicated or sophisticated piece of equipment at all. It is simply 2 contact points that your iPad registers.
Conclusion
Overall, I’m not impressed with Adobe’s new Ink & Slide tool. To me, it looks like Adobe is just hungry for more money. They put out a product that is incredibly complicated to use, that looks frustrating, and comes at a high price tag. On top of all of this you are also forced to buy an Adobe creative cloud account just to build a use this thing. The worst part of it all, is that it’s not even that great. So, for $200 you get a frustrating piece of equipment, and then you get to pay another $50 a month to build a use it. In a years time, you’ll be in the whole $800 just to build this sketch on your iPad using one of Adobe’s products. Woo hoo! Sorry Adobe, no dice on this one. I’m not sure I’d take one even if you gave Ink & Slide to me for free.
