Week Two With The iPad

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This past week, I find I reach for the iPad more than the Macbook, or even my iPhone to check something quickly, like the Weather Forecast, a Movie time or Twitter. I’m still continuing to figure out different positions to hold the device based on the context of what app I am running and what the best body position is for that task.

I never thought I would see a day where I would want to read from an electronic device in my hands over a ‘good old book’. That day has come. Don’t get me wrong, I still love books, especially for resale value if I don’t want to keep it, or for lending. It’s the CD to MP3 transition all over again.

I won my iPad. I had no intention of buying one, mostly for lack of funds. I didn’t view the iPad as a ‘need’, only a ‘want’. After using it more in depth, I am glad to see that this device would make a possible laptop replacement for most consumers. Some people could make do with just the current version of the iPad, especially when iOS4 is released for it this (rumored) November. Once we get past the initial first generation of the iPad hardware, I’m assuming that we will see that it eventually will be viable for most people as a consumer laptop replacement.

Or, is it an iPhone / iPod touch replacement? If this were a 3G model, I’d almost be willing to get a regular phone and just use it to make calls, because I’d have the iPad to run my apps with cell tower data connectivity. Then again, there is something to be said for having a phone in your pocket as powerful and easy to use as the iPhone. For some people, a smaller, more portable screen at less than half the price is why they would choose an iPod Touch.

The iPad can’t replace the laptop for everyone. Some will still need a laptop that can actually use powerful desktop software in a portable device. I don’t often need to have a Macbook and all it can do with me at any one time. For now, my Macbook Pro 13’ is my video production tool, but it would be great to have a larger screen of an iMac, or large screen monitor with the new Mac Mini, and leave that all home when I go out with my iPad. My ideal scenario I now see would be to have an iMac or even a Mac Mini, and an iPad with 3G data.

Ultimately, your circumstances will dictate what you need. All I’m saying is that the iPad is something I had not planned on finding to be so useful. Would you believe that I typed this up on it, laying down on the couch?

Apps of note:

Quickoffice Connect HD http://www.quickoffice.com/

This app is a complete office suite for the iPad. It can download open and sync apps from Google Docs, Dropbox, Box.net, and your email accounts. It handles almost any file format you can throw at it. Well worth the money I paid, and now my mobile writing station on the iPad and iPhone.

Photopad http://www.photographyblog.com/news/photopad_for_ipad/

This is a great full features photo editing app. I initially sought out an image editor to edit a screenshot I took on the iPad that I wanted to tweet. Quick, easy, free.