I have an iPad coming in a couple of weeks with 3G. But I am an Apple junkie. Last Saturday, I had to go out and get an Easter tie — I always get a new tie for Easter.
I ran into the local Apple reseller to buy a remote control for my Apple TV. The 1 year old keeps carrying them off and burying them somewhere. They had one iPad left. I bought it.
I figured we’d wind up with two anyway, at least that is my rationale. With technology changing so much, I opted not to get an entertainment system in my new car, instead presuming I’d give my 4 year old my iPad to watch movies on. She already navigates my iPhone better than her mom.
I’ve used the iPad now for a solid week. I really, really like it. Everyone keeps asking me, “But what do you use it for?” That is actually the really cool part. I bet I use mine in a way you won’t use yours.
For the past week, I’ve taken it with me everywhere. At church it is my Bible. In meetings it is my note taker, audio record, checking in at the office device. At CNN, it is my show prep device, twitter monitor, email machine, etc. At home, it is my game device, bedtime story reader, movie machine.
It fills the gaps and that is what I need.
When I need to run out but stay connected at City Council or elsewhere in a way my iPhone won’t cut it, I no longer have to think about where my computer bag is and is the battery charged on my laptop.
I used my iPad for two days straight as my on the go device and never once plugged it up. The battery really is that good. Best example: last Tuesday I used it for five hours straight of moderate email, web surfing, and twitter. At the end, it still had 60% of its charge.
I had a meeting last Wednesday about the city selling some property. No one could figure out where the parcel was. I pulled out the iPad, loaded Google maps, found the property, did a hybrid view, and passed it around.
In my downtime, waiting to go on camera or for a meeting to start, I can crank out emails or play a quick game of Fieldrunners or Flight Control (ok, a long game of either).
I can start a column for the newspaper or a blog post, but can’t really finish them. And if there is a rub, for now that is it. It is a consumption device and a light production device. It is not a workhorse. For blogging, I go to my MacBook. For finishing columns, etc. I do the same.
The keyboard in landscape is no problem at all to me. Some games do landscape on one side of the device, but won’t flip. And the side they chose is not the appropriate side if you use Apple’s case. iBooks is great, but if you slide your finger across the words when reading to your 4 year old, the page flips back.
All the issues are minor issues though. I really like this device. I like its potential. I hold the future in my hands. It changes the way I operate and frees me up to be more flexible about how I operate. That’s the beauty of the device.
Moe Lane
Steve Maley
KnightsofMalta
Dan Spencer
Dan McLaughlin
There's your first iPad App
Wing Zero (Diary) Tuesday, April 13th at 9:15PM EST (link)A program that lets you run your finger over words without flipping the page.
You can have the idea free of charge. call it the iLearning to Read App.
1-21-09 – We are so screwed… Wait… maybe not just yet.
Are you serious? Already?
bantamwait (Diary) Wednesday, April 14th at 11:58AM EST (link)nt
Let’s send the Marines to evacuate refugees from Libya and shut down the drug gangs in Mexico–and make the Marine hymn relevant again.
I assume you saw this...
Bill S (Diary) Tuesday, April 13th at 9:22PM EST (link)http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2010/04/macbook-pros-updated-with-corei5i7-processors-10hr-battery.ars
10 hour battery life on the new Macbook Pro 13″.
That is my next technology indulgence. And I’m seriously considering the 3G iPad for the wife. Glad to hear your positive review. I think her usage pattern may be very close to yours.
“It’s such a fine line between stupid, and clever.” – David St. Hubbins
Absolutely amazing battery life
aesthete (Diary) Tuesday, April 13th at 9:32PM EST (link)The i5 and i7 processors are awesome, as well. It’s annoying that Apple hasn’t upgraded the integrated graphics in its 13″ MacBook Pro, but for 10 hr battery life and an i5 processor, it’s still a pretty solid computing experience.
The act of defending any of the cardinal virtues has today all the exhilaration of a vice – G.K. Chesterton
Yeah, the integrated graphics thing is the only downside I see...
Bill S (Diary) Tuesday, April 13th at 9:58PM EST (link)to the 13″ model. And it’s not even that – it’s that it uses shared video memory as opposed to dedicated video memory…the 15″ MBP also uses the same GPU, but dedicated VRAM. The smaller size is what I really want now, though.
According to this Ars article, the new GPU on the 13″ model is STILL 80% faster than the prior 13″ model, even with shared VRAM.
“It’s such a fine line between stupid, and clever.” – David St. Hubbins
Heh, you and Tyler Cowen both
aesthete (Diary) Tuesday, April 13th at 9:34PM EST (link)And reading about both of your experiences gives me a case of tech envy
I love Apple. No one else on the market understands interfaces and niche devices quite like Apple does, and UNIX-based computing = heaven. Not that I’m biased, or anything.
The act of defending any of the cardinal virtues has today all the exhilaration of a vice – G.K. Chesterton
Apple Junkie?
MNConservative (Diary) Tuesday, April 13th at 9:41PM EST (link)and here I thought so highly of you…
You, my wife, Domenech
Erick Erickson (Diary) Tuesday, April 13th at 9:46PM EST (link)A cruel world I live in. But Rush and I are Apple guys.
Who will stand on either hand and keep this bridge with me?Follow @EWErickson
Don't let it get to you
Neil Stevens (Diary) Tuesday, April 13th at 9:51PM EST (link)I am writing this comment on my iPhone. So there.
RS contributing editor, technical administrator, and “a hardy variety of crabgrass.”
Read the RedState Posting Rules
Unlikely Voter: Poll Analysis, Election Projection.
“I rejoice that America has resisted.” – William Pitt, the Elder
Rush was an Apple guy before Apple turned to the Green Side
reverelth (Diary) Tuesday, April 13th at 10:20PM EST (link)I know, I know. Bill Gates donates millions to end the scourge of cow farts, too.
http://www.libertytreehugger.com
Gates foundation
SteveLA (Diary) Tuesday, April 13th at 10:33PM EST (link)reverelth
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is mostly into lots of good work like health care stuff and education in the third world. Pretty good work actually.
Maybe he is the demon span of software, but his foundation looks pretty good.
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Competency over ideological purity and litmus tests
And it seems to keeps his anti-trust detractors muzzled
reverelth (Diary) Tuesday, April 13th at 10:45PM EST (link)for the cost of a few vaccinations for poor kids.
http://www.libertytreehugger.com
Can't you use an external keyboard?
Next93 (Diary) Tuesday, April 13th at 11:27PM EST (link)I’ve seen folding keyboards with IRDA interfaces, and I think there are folding bluetooth keyboards as well), as well as roll-up USB keyboards. I know it’s one more thing to schlep around, but that *would* allow you to do some serious editing on the go…
Obama was The One in 2008.
He’ll be a BIGGER one in 2012.
Why pay the Apple Tax?
jcincy Tuesday, April 13th at 11:35PM EST (link)Thinkpad is for me.
Fantastic keyboards… quite an upgrade from my Atari 400 days.
“Providence has given to our people the choice of their rulers, and it is the duty, as well as the privilege and interest of our Christian nation, to select and prefer Christians for their rulers.” — John Jay
Jobs Mind trick
SteveLA (Diary) Tuesday, April 13th at 11:40PM EST (link)Sort of like a Jedi Mind Trick, but with cooler looking clothes worn by Steve Jobs.
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Competency over ideological purity and litmus tests
I me me my
EDC Tuesday, April 13th at 11:53PM EST (link)I wonder if I can guess that I know it was CNN that has affected your usage of the pronoun I. I do. I see that. I know I see it. I do. I still don’t watch CNN. I don’t.
I was shocked
victor_cocchia (Diary) Wednesday, April 14th at 12:49AM EST (link)At how much I both liked it and use it. It’s replaced about 70% of what I do on the computer and because I have this wireless devise I take with me that is both 4G/3G I use it everywhere!
I didn’t want to like it but from the first day it’s been amazing and for someone on the go so much it’s become indespensible in the first ten days I’ve had it.
“It’s not tyranny we desire; it’s a just, limited, federal government.” -
Alexander Hamilton
Two guesses which country it's made in
Menlo (Diary) Wednesday, April 14th at 1:57AM EST (link)Fujitsu still makes PCs in Japan.
Other than that, MY only “pad” is made out of paper, and it doesn’t have safety hazards or prop up a Communist dictatorship with slave labor. As an added bonus, it requires neither electricity nor battery power.
“The ultimate touchstone of constitutionality is the Constitution itself and not what we have said about it.” -Felix Frankfurter
I have one
nohone2 Wednesday, April 14th at 3:06AM EST (link)I am someone who has playfully chastised you for your Apple slant, I am a MS person, but I use Apple when it makes sense. I have a 1st gen iPhone, and it is the most horrible device I have ever owned, and can’t wait until my contract is up to get a Windows Mobile 7 when it is available. But the iPad is nice. I pre-ordered and had mine delivered the first day. It is not the magical device that Apple would like you to think, but it is nice. It it is very good for browsing the web, reading mail, and the 3rd party apps are good (but they crash – a lot). Reading books is not good, either on the iBooks app nor Kindle, especially for me where I read tech books, where you need to jump from one chapter to another. It is heavy, where holding it for a few minutes make it feel sturdy, but after a half hour when trying to read a book, it starts to feel too heavy.
It cannot replace my notebook, as I am a software developer and there are no software developer tools available (and like Apple would ever let go of their 1984-esque control slip to allow something like that happen), but for a replacement in some of the scenarios you list, it is adequate.
Sent from my iPad.
iPad versus ObamaPad (video)
redneck_hippie (Diary) Wednesday, April 14th at 8:38AM EST (link)in case you missed it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3qiSXc1g3M
You young whippersnappers...
mdyou (Diary) Wednesday, April 14th at 1:35PM EST (link)…will soon realize that one of the best things about this device is that it is READABLE. So many tasks are difficult on the iPhone once your close vision starts to go. I find I don’t need reading glasses for every darned thing with the iPad.