Tired of all the iPad bashing? Well you won’t find any of that here, so read on! And before you start calling me a Mac Head and think my opinion is biased, I should point out that I own three computers and not one of them is a Mac. I have an HP TouchSmart All-In-One, a Toshiba laptop, and…well, embarrassingly enough, an Acer laptop. (I can’t let this pass without a disclaimer, so here it is: I bought it for my husband for Christmas. He is not a tech person, he only surfs the Internet and for $50 more than a netbook, it was a good deal).
So since my Apple beginnings during my undergrad years, I have not touched a Mac. Oh, wait…that’s not entirely true. Let me start again. I have not touched a Mac with the exception of accidentally unplugging the USB port of a MacBook Pro at Best Buy last week, which sent off an ear-piercing alarm that the employees could not shut off and had would-be computer buyers running from the store in droves. If any of you readers are from the Albany, NY area and were in Best Buy last Friday, yes, that was me. I think I have been banned for life!
Without getting into all the tech specs, because we all know the A4 chip is fast and Apple’s touch screen is a joy, what else did Apple do right? Plenty!
Lose 10 1bs Overnight! Okay, maybe the 10 lbs won’t come off your hips, but it sure will come off your shoulders. The Apple iPad is a beautiful piece of machinery that is ultra-portable, weighing in at only 1.5 lbs and measuring less than a half inch thick. We can all stand tall, America! The days of walking down the street like the Hunchback of Notre Dame will be a thing of the past once we throw our laptop bags away and leave our laptops where they belong: at home! I know, I know, the iPad isn’t supposed to be a laptop replacement, but we’ll get into this more later.
It’s Unlocked! Hooray, Apple! For those of you that are unsure what this means, it means I can take my iPad to any cell phone carrier and sign up for the data plan. Yes, Apple and AT&T have a great deal for iPad 3G buyers, but that doesn’t mean Verizon won’t come out with their own deal. We’ll just have to wait and see on this one.
iWorks! Based on their own productivity suite, Numbers, Pages, and Keynote will all be available as apps for $9.95 each. For me, this raises the bar and the iPad becomes not just a toy, but something I can actually work with. If I’m at school, I can create a document, a spreadsheet, or a presentation. Absolutely amazing! I can also do this on the couch, all with my fingers. And when it comes time to enter my voiceover into Keynote, I can easily get off my couch and carry my iPad to my office that doubles as a bathroom-or is it a bathroom that doubles as an office? Well inevitably, this is where my husband and I usually end up when we actually need to hear the person on the other end of the phone. And yes, conceivably I can bring my laptop into my office/bathroom, but where is the fun in writing about that?
Nearly Full-Sized Keyboard! Very cool. I can actually type on my iPad. Yes, I’ve read the complaints, but if we can learn to type 50 words per minute with our thumbs, I’m sure we can adapt to this as well! And if we can print with our iPhones, I am sure we will be able to print with our iPad.
10 Hours of Battery Life! Perfect!! This will get most of through a normal work day, including the train ride in and home again. And apparently, this doesn’t include standby time, which is about 30 days. So…did your power go out? Well, you won’t be sitting in the dark cursing the dead batteries in the flashlight so you can read your book!
Apps, Apps, and more Apps! The app store has 140,000 apps for the iPhone and iPod Touch. Most of these will work with the iPad, either in original (small) view or enlarged view to fit the iPad‘s 9.7 inch screen. And just imagine the Apps that are being created as we speak and will be out in time for the iPad launch. I can just imagine they will be nothing short of stellar!
WebCam? But there is no WebCam! Well maybe, just maybe, we have a surprise in store. Read on, negative Nelly. Alright, so it’s
just a rumor. And despite my best attempts to break into Apple’s Cupertino offices (which I have given up on following my Best Buy debacle) I guess this will have to remain a rumor. (It was a joke Mr. Jobs; no arrests please!) But here’s my source: According to Thomas Richter’s report on engadget, “Mission Repair has received spare parts that appear to show a space for a camera module” (Richter, 2010, p. 1) and “code that enables video call support in OS 3.2” (p. 1) which is the OS the iPad will be using. Let’s hope this is true!!
iBooks! There is no need to go out and purchase a separate eReader. The iBook Store will already be on your iPad when you purchase it. If you have yet to read on your iPhone, give it a shot. Both Barnes & Noble and Kindle have free apps and I can vouch for both of them. They are a pleasure. Don’t think so? Well, either did I…at first. Then I downloaded the Kindle app – they have free books if you just want to give it a try without spending any money – and I was hooked. Still am, in fact. I have since tried to read a regular hardcover book and failed. Two weeks ago my baby got sick so we were on the couch for two days. If I moved my pinkie an inch he would wake up and I would spend the next hour and a half trying to get him back to sleep. So of course, I found myself on the couch and my book was all the way across the room. I’m sure you can feel my pain! I couldn’t move, so what did I do? Gave up and bought another eBook and there my hardcover remains, on the end table where I left it two weeks ago. I can even see it now…and, wow, I guess I really need to dust!
Marketing! No this doesn’t have anything to do with the use of the iPad, but it’s worth a mention here. See, I was still in school during the CES show in January so I wasn’t following too much tech news. Still, I heard rumors about the next Apple iThing that was coming out. Purposely, I staying away from researching it because I know how obsessed I can get about these things. But finally, I turned in my final presentation and I was done with school. And what did I do the next day? Researched! Rumors abounded about the tablets that were coming, but the biggest buzz of all was Apple’s. My curiosity was insatiable and I spent lots of time researching. I was counting down to the big unveiling. I was sooo excited. I couldn’t wait! And one of my friends, who I am assuming will wish to remain anonymous, shared my excitement, saying “I’m so excited I’m gonna pee my pants!” And it’s true. The entire Internet was excited. So the word got out there, even if you weren’t paying attention. And no matter what you end up buying, whether it be the iPad or another variation thereof, it was Apple that got the world excited about the tablet!
A special thank you goes out to NYCnanda for his beautiful Apple wallpaper which I used for my picture. You can visit him here: http://rocketdock.com/addon/walls/15687. And thank you PowerPoint for making the addition of a halo a very easy job!
References
Ricker, T. (2010 , February 2). Apple ipad rumor roundup: abraham zapruder edition. Retrieved February 3, 2010, from http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/02/apple-ipad-rumor-roundup-abraham-zapruder-edition/
