The iPad - Initial thoughts
Thanks firstly to @Ilicco for despite being trapped in New York for a week due to a certain cloud of volcanic dust, he managed to get back to the UK in pretty good time to deliver me a 64gb iPad.
The very same iPad I'm writing on now, as I sit as a passenger in the car with my MiFi on the dashboard providing my Internet connection. I just wanted to jot a few first thoughts down in a blog post as I have had lots of DM's from enquiring minds asking me what I think of the iPad as a device. So in a nut.. > I am reading more> I am charging less
> I am listening more
> I am carrying less
> I am spending a shedload on apps
> I am waiting for more tools to be available
> I am looking forward to the next iPhone and OS I love browsing news, comics and blogs on the iPad. I am finding the Read Later app indispensable as when on the mac and the iPhone I find myself bookmarking articles for later as the iPad is a pleasure to read from. I can use the iPad for a whole day and still have power for the next. This is pretty liberating when you think I may have to charge my iPhone at 11am after heavy use. I am certainly finding it easier to soak up content from friends in my networks as well. As a listening/monitoring tool it's second to none. The photo above shows you the bag (on the left) I have to carry when 'fully loaded' with MacBook pro etc and on the right, the new bag I carry when travelling light. In the small bag I have my iPad, iPhone 3GS, MiFi, Minigorilla & charge cables, mains charger and a Canon Ixus 120is incase I want to shoot HD for later editing. If you are a media maker then the iPhone and iPad should be all you need and not having the ability to edit raw files or HD video may actually be a blessing as you may not be tempted when all you have to supply is content for the web. I often over shoot in quality and 'dial it down' for the web. With just an iPhone and iPad you have no choice but to shoot lo-Fi and get innovative. As far as apps go I resisted signing up for the US iTunes account as there seem to be a few apps in the UK store to keep me going and all I have to do is sync to the mac to install. I am waiting patiently for the app explosion in a few weeks. I did buy my most expensive app yet.. 'Things'. It has a great interface and is a really handy tool. £10,99. I feel I really need a decent case and screen protector.. Also, just in case I do need decent photos or video or audio, the sd card interface looks like a handy purchase. As i am now, I snap a photo on the iPhone and email it to myself. I do have an app that enables me to live sync my phone camera with the iPad but it's not all that. There will be better options soon.. At least I hope so. When the new iPhone comes out with it's front facing camera and higher quality photos and video, I feel there won't be a need for me to carry a compact camera at all. Do I pine for a camera in the iPad? In the front yes. I can see how a camera in the back could come in handy for Augmented Reality and overlaying of info on street views etc but for me as a content creator, I really miss recording video to upload straight into my iSight camera on my mac. There are work-a-rounds with the iPhone but ease of use and accessibility is key here. The next version of the operation system OS4 is really going to shine. Having already had a play on @Computid's phone I can see how it will really assist ease of mobile computing. I have yet to see just how mobile this is as I am keen to test the iPad with the Solargorilla and Powertraveller mobile power solutions. Having a MiFi has proven so far to be invaluable even if the wifi signal seems to drop out more than normal. I don't know if having a 3G iPad is going to help with connectivity across all your devices unless some killer 3G sharing apps are released. So, on the whole I am pretty pleased with the direction Apple-shaped mobile computing is going. This is still really early days and in a way it is fun trying to find file sharing, mobile media making work arounds so I can still move about unhindered by a massive bag of tech. I am certainly liking leaving the house with just a small satchel. As far as writing this blog post in an email went.. I am still not sure how I make a word into a link. (I had to go in and edit later on the Mac.). I can type as fast as I do on a 'normal' keyboard but I am finding the spacebar getting miss hit more than normal. Cheers for reading this far and as ever, there are more tests to come. I am @Documentally on Twitter. http://Twitter.com/Documentally
I'm @Documentally on Twitter
