Hooked to the iPad

May 14, 2010

It is beautiful.

It is fast.iPad 210x300 Hooked to the iPad

It is spiffy.

And, oh so cool.

The way you can expand and contract photos with your thumb and index finger — simply magical.

Yes, it looks like a big iPhone, but it’s really so much more.

The iPad is a lifestyle gadget that has made working (and playing) so much more efficient.

From reading books and writing blog posts to playing games, watching TV shows and taking notes in meetings, my 16GB Wifi iPad’s endearing qualities have made it indispensable.

Reading

I was seriously considering buying the Nook or Kindle sometime last year when my husband pointed out that those devices could only be used for one thing — reading books. What an insight.

I’m glad I waited for the iPad because now I can not only buy, store and read books on it, I can also do a host of other activities when I am done reading.

The size (9.56 by 7.47 inches) and weight (1.5 pounds) of the iPad make it convenient to read books in bed, in an airplane, on the sofa, or just about anywhere you want. Yes it’s true that it’s hard to read out in the sun — too much reflection — but I am not one for getting tanned while reading anyway.

I can bookmark pages, look up definitions, increase or decrease the font size, select if I want to read one book in Arial and another in Verdana, change the contrast and brightness, and search using keywords.

I use iBooks and Free Books to satisfy my literary urges and have found some really good reads for free (and some under $6).

The one thing I would like is the ability to share books with other iPad users via Bluetooth. It would be a cool loaning system.

I’ve also been reading news on the iPad with FeedlerRSS, browsing Time Magazine‘s top stories, and researching recipes on Epicurious.

Writing

Writing blog posts and emails has never been easier. Typing on the iPhone had helped me become comfortable with the virtual keys…the bigger touch screen makes it even smoother.

I shocked myself last week when I was able to type out a complete sentence on the iPad, sans typos, while looking at the television. There’s something about training the mind to know where alphabets are even when you can’t “feel” them.

I guess new users will take some time getting used to the look and feel of “embedded” keys, but once they do, it will be pretty easy.

When I type extensively (like this blog post using Pages, an iWork word processing app) on the iPad my fingers fly…feels like I’m playing the piano (which, by the way, you can on the iPad).

Productivity at work

If there was ever a sustainable way of having paperless meetings, this is it.

I no longer carry printouts to meetings (I can open attachments in emails and view them in GoodReader) and take notes in Evernote (allowing me to access them anytime from home).

I can instantly e-mail folks updates or questions from meetings instead of having to remember to do it later. And carrying the iPad to a meeting is like taking a notebook in…the laptop seems bulky now.

Entertainment

Most folks think of the iPad as an entertainment device, but as you can see from the uses above, it’s not constricted to being just that.

I had never imagined I would enjoy watching a TV show or a movie on such a small screen, but when I was away from home recently, the ability to lay in bed with the iPad propped up in its inbuilt cover stand, and watch my favorite comedy show via the ABC Player app …  changed my mind.

When we’re talking eipad games 225x300 Hooked to the iPadntertainment, how can we forget the plethora of free games one can play on the iPad? It’s such a time sink but the iPad makes it irresistible and so much fun.

I used to enjoy playing games on my computer and then the iPhone, but playing them on the iPad is such a magnificent experience.

I can touch and move, swipe and slide, tap and rotate. I can use the Bluetooth to have a two-player game with another iPad user…air hockey was never more fun! The bigger screen (as compared to an iPhone) is a definite advantage.

And no, I do not miss any Flash-based games… nevertheless, I’m hoping that HTML5 will be the new standard pretty soon.

Of course you can watch YouTube videos, show off photo albums (note to self: must buy the camera connection kit), listen to your favorite songs, spend time unleashing your creativity with PhotoPad, and ogle at WeatherHD’s beautiful rendition of current weather conditions.

And did I mention that even after 9 hours of constant use this past week, my iPad still had 39% battery life left?

For all practical reasons, the iPad has replaced my laptop and limited the use of my iPhone to taking pictures and making calls.

I don’t think there’s any going back.

Are you hooked, yet?

16081BD1A60533E0F1173D28DE4F0D3F Hooked to the iPad

dp seal trans 16x16 Hooked to the iPadCopyright secured by Digiprove © 2010 Mansi Bhatia

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14 Responses to Hooked to the iPad

  1. […] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Mansi. Mansi said: My iPad has become a lifestyle gadget that has made working (and playing) so much more efficient. http://www.mansibhatia.com/2010/05/ipad/ […]

  2. JannetteNo Gravatar on May 15, 2010 at 2:53 am

    Wow, you answered all the questions I had about the iPad. Sounds like a great gadget to have. Thank you.

    • MansiNo Gravatar on May 16, 2010 at 10:26 am

      It absolutely is, Janette.

  3. MarilynNo Gravatar on May 15, 2010 at 5:21 am

    I almost – almost want one…the other ‘stuff’ of creation I love my MacAir..but the iPad looks like the future is here…

    • MansiNo Gravatar on May 16, 2010 at 10:31 am

      You will love it, Marilyn :-)

  4. VyankateshNo Gravatar on May 15, 2010 at 5:33 am

    Quite interesting!!

    Makes me wonder about the long way we have come from the mainframe super computers – with the size of a room, to the personal computers, to the laptops, and finally to the iPads.

    And what next?

    And that was a very informative post, Mansi!!

    • MansiNo Gravatar on May 16, 2010 at 10:30 am

      Thanks, Vyankatesh. I guess the more avid consumers of information we’ve become, the faster technology has adapted to accommodate our needs. I hardly ever used the iPhone as a phone (despite harping for months before its launch that I wouldn’t need it)…using it for maps, reviews, playing games, taking photos, finding coupons, social networking, some texting. It had become an extra appendage at one point — the smallest computing device that could also make calls! It’s fascinating how far we have come in a very short amount of time and it’s exciting to be swept in this technological wave :-)

  5. BillNo Gravatar on May 16, 2010 at 2:51 am

    I’ve heard a lot of great things about the IPad, I wish I had the $$$ to get one but it will have to wait for a while. Thanks for the great review.

    Hugs,

    Bill

    • MansiNo Gravatar on May 16, 2010 at 10:25 am

      Thanks, Bill. It certainly is an investment, but one that I think is worth paying the price for.

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