It’s been a while since I updated my opinion of Apple’s iPad.
I was one of those who pre-ordered last year and waited anxiously for the UPS truck to appear, but while I enjoyed this new bit of technology, I remained guarded about what it’s role might be in my workflow. It has seemed to me to be less than a laptop replacement, but I hadn’t decided just how much less. And that’s where things sat for much of the last year.
Recently, though, I noticed I have been using it a lot more around the house for reviewing/approving blog comments left here, doing quick email checks, watching for breaking news, looking up recipes, and lots of other miscellaneous tasks.
And when my MacBook Pro had to pay another extended visit to the Apple Store, I found myself relying on the iPad. In the process, I discovered several things.
Most important, I found that my brain and fingers have finally adapted to the on-screen keyboard. I remember that I thought I would never get the hang of it, and for a while relied on an external keyboard. But slowly, over time, it snuck up on me. That instantly increased the iPad’s utility tremendously. After taking notes during several meeting, I realized the notes were no longer full of typos and errors. Bingo.
Another big change–the long list of available apps. I’ve downloaded quite a few, abandoned many, but found some workhorses. Among them:
• Things. It’s a list maker & task manager. Simple at first, but you can complicate it up by using tags and filters. It syncs wirelessly between my laptop, iPad, and iPhone, which dramatically extends its usefullness.
• Omni Outliner. I’ve been using the Mac version on my laptop for several years to organize projects and research. Now I can sync the outlines between my computer and iPad, and fiddle anywhere.
• Evernote. This is handy for notes, web snips, audio notes, and bits & pieces of just about anything. It syncs on the fly to your mac and iPhone. Another very handy app.
• Dropbox. A great tool for sharing and syncing any kind of document. The free 2GB has been plenty for me so far.
• Kindle Reader. The iPad isn’t my first choice as a reader, but it’s nice to have available, and it syncs to the latest page that you’ve read on your Kindle, iPhone, or any other Kindle platform.
• Netflix. Got a free half hour to kill? Sign into your Netflix account and watch a movie or television show from their instant library.
• Blogsy. I just added this blogging app in the past couple of days, and have not yet had a chance to fully test it out. But it appears to be more fully developed that the current version of the WordPress app. I am, though, still watching for an iPad version of MarsEdit, which has been my primary blogging application on my Mac for some time.
• News Apps. I’ve got quite a few, including the Wall Street Journal and New York Times, AP, NPR, BBC, Blomberg, USA Today, Pro Publica, Pacific Business News, Honolulu Magazine, The Nation, Chronicle of Higher Education, The Hill, Inside Higher Ed, and,yes, Civil Beat. It’s more news than I can digest at any one sitting. That’s when Instapaper comes in handy.
• Social media–YouTube, Yelp, Twitter, Facebook, and Flipboard, which accesses both and more in an attractive package.
And more. Really.
Now, instead of wondering whether the iPad has a place, I’m starting to wonder whether it would be worth upgrading to the iPad 2. That’s a switch in my thinking from six months ago.
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Wait for the Ipad3. The differences between 1 & 2 don’t seem to worth the money. iPad 3 is supposed to be a bigger change. You should also check out Filterstorm, very good for photo work.
I haven’t heard about Filterstorm. Will check it out. I know the iPad has some photo apps–can they deal with raw file formats?
I too have been trying to rationalize an upgrade. It is not so much the features, like the camera. But the 2 is thinner, lighter and said to have longer battery life. I was not a great skeptic of the iPAD; so many people responded to it as if it were some affront, as if they were forced to buy it without knowing why. Silly. I am a fan today for sure and I must say, the TV advertising is superb, all about possibilities.
I bought an iPad2 after I had a Xoom for a week, android tablets were and still are a work in progress. The iPad is an amazing device for all the reasons you have mentioned. I use my android phone to tether to the internet during lunch at work they have really tight filtering. Apple will own the tablet market for a few more model runs. The next devices will each surpass the previous one. If your iPad is good for you now, wait until the next or even the one after that to upgrade. As an aside, Youtube has free movies, I downloaded some really old ones with a downloading program (streamtransport, on my PC.)
1) The General,
2) Things To Come
3) Birth Of A Nation.
Very enlightening stuff.
“After taking notes during several meeting, I realized the notes were no longer full of typos and errors.”
Nice. I’m going out tomorrow and order one of those typo-titans. Thanks.
iPad 1 is the most used computer in my home for everything but work (but some of that too). We use it for almost everything you mention, but also for games, study and music making.
iPad 3 will almost certainly be in our future.