Could the Apple iPad cripple you?

13. I realise this is a long time after this article but after having used the IPAD 2 for some months the issue I have is not with the dexterity required to use the screen but rather the weight and when I foolishly lie in bed on my back and hold the device in one hand and use it with the other. Suffice to say, it wasn't long before I realised that this wasn't a good idea.

12. I've always wondered if you can get RSI in your jaws :)

11. I reckon a whole load of Apple fans will already be suffering from RSI from all the jabbering they do providing Jobs and Apple with free marketing... Their jaws must be aching.

Okay bad joke but still... Come on... Come on...

10. Now that I've seen it - and I'm not the only one who noticed that even Steve Jobs can't type properly on it - I still think it's going to be painful to use with that virtual keyboard. But I really like the hardware keyboard dock - that's enough to move the iPad from "no chance" to "buy buy buy" for me.

9. Great to see an author replying to critics, good on ya gary

8. I'm a bit worried that I'm coming across as arsey here, because I don't mean to be. I fear my making-a-point skills have temporarily deserted me, because the argument I was trying to make is basically this: we know what we're doing RSI-wise with traditional PC setups, but multitouch is a whole new beast - and given the size we're pretty sure the tablet will be, users will need to watch what they're doing in way, say, iMac users won't.

7. Healeydave: "However you interact with this new product is irrelivant though, because there's a clue in the name of RSI, I guess I need to spell it out too, its the first word "REPETITIVE"."

There's more to it than that, which is why ergonomics exists. Some things - eg crappy keyboards, badly laid out kit, software that requires excessive mouse use/travel - are bigger RSI factors than others.

Pete_L: "If you want the CTS to go away (eventually), stop using it - it's merely a phone, it's not life-and-death."

That's what I'm doing.

6. Your a plonker for using the iphone if you have RSI then, are you not? Dear god, you can't blame technology for your own faults.

5. Look, I am a self confessed Apple fan, I will probably pre-order the iPad (or whatever its called) within an hour of the Apple Store re-opening on the 27th.

But even I am fed up with nonsense stories, writing about theoretical issues about a device that isn't even available to buy yet!?!?!??!?!

Apple make beautifully designed products with a quality that most of us don't mind paying extra for. Their innovation on making these products easier to use is second to none.

However you interact with this new product is irrelivant though, because there's a clue in the name of RSI, I guess I need to spell it out too, its the first word "REPETITIVE".

If you spend too long making the same type of movements, no matter how small, your joints, nerves, whatever are going to react. Its pretty damn obvious really.

"pete_l's" response is probably not a practical answer either, if you sit at home all day flicking channels on your TV, you'll get RSI from the TV remote.

When we control our products through voice or brain control, do you think some people won't get RSI in the jaw or the brain??

Of-course you will if you think or say "scroll down" excessively all day, every day!

4. Great reference to 'the day today'....Oh for Chris Morris at his best....Jam and Brass Eye. I think he'd have a lot to say about the iPhone islate (whatever) debate....but... finally an article about the i(don'tgiveadamnwhatit'scallednowjustshowussowecanstopthetiradeofboringspeculativearticles)slate which has some relevance to modern life. If you use a number different mice, keyboards, games controllers, phones (as many of us do on a daily basis) then RSI is a serious risk and problem.... It hurts.

3. > I'm the writer

Yes, I appreciate that. However, I really don't understand why you'd keep using an iPhone in the knowledge that you have CTS and that using the iPhone aggravates it.You've said so yourself: "And that's seriously damaging my hands. For all its joys, multi-touch can be an ergonomic disaster area."

I have friends and colleagues with CTS and they suffer greatly from it. I presume you are in a similar situation - yet you keep using the iPhone. If you want the CTS to go away (eventually), stop using it - it's merely a phone, it's not life-and-death.

2. Pete, I'm the writer.

> He knows this yet for some inexplicable reason he keeps using it

As I'm sure you're aware, RSIs take a long time to develop - and when you stop the behaviours that cause them, they take a long time to go away again.

1. Madness.

This guy has a phone (dude, it's only a phone) that causes him actual physical pain. He knows this yet for some inexplicable reason he keeps using it. So far as his views on an Apple tablet go, it's hard to take seriously anyone with such poor judgement, that he willingly suffers pain just to read some trivia on the internet.

Do yourself a favour. Take your iPhone, put it on the ground and drive over it. If you like, fire up the camera (do these toys have cameras?) and make a video of the tyre getting closer until ..... crunch.

Then consider your folly and find some appliance that won't cripple you.