Well…. it’s been over a full year since I purchased my iPad 2. Hard to believe where the year has gone and all that has happened during that time. But that will have to wait for another blog post!
For years I remember thinking that some sort of tablet computer/device would become popular and make all of our lives easier, especially in the task management realm where, being the perfectionist that I am, could never live on paper given the constantly evolving goals, projects and tasks I took on, as well as how I went about organizing those tasks (e.g. Stephen Covey’s 4 Habits, Anthony Robbins’ Time of Your Life, David Allen’s Getting Things Done). But nothing felt right. Windows Tablets were a bloated abomination and netbooks were nothing but really annoying laptops, albeit light and small ones.
Finally Apple, who in my mind has transformed the cell phone market, developed the iPad. I so wanted the 1st generation device but due to financial restrictions, I did not invest in one. However I finally picked up a 3G 64GB iPad 2 and incorporated it in my life. And here are the results:
How often do you use your iPad?
I can honestly say that I use my iPad on a daily basis. I use it to check my email first thing in the morning and take a look at the news headlines. I take it everywhere I go so I can always listen to music, read books, email, chat, or work. In fact, I am typing this article up on my iPad with Apple’s wireless bluetooth keyboard, but I’ll get to that later). It is definitely my go-to tech device, 2nd only to my desktop computer, although I use my iPad more than my desktop these days.
What do you use your iPad for?
A lot. I’ve broken it into categories:
Email: The iPad is good for short quick emails, but not long ones. However most of my emails are short anyway so this doesn’t really affect me. If I need to send a long email, I can send a quick short email saying I’ll get back to them later, and then type up the longer email when I have access to a keyboard.
Chatting and Texting: With the 3G connection, I can chat via Kakao (A Korean text messaging app), Facebook Messenger or iMessage.
Task Management: I take advantage of the Toodledo app, but I am eying the development of Wunderkit and considering OmniFocus if I ever get a Mac laptop.
Note Taking: Evernote is my go-to notebook. I love it. Seriously. Like get-a-room love it.
Reading: I am in the process of purchasing old books of mine in the new ebook format so I never, ever again have to move my book collection! (Your welcome Mom and Dad!) I refuse to buy new books now unless they are an ebook unless I absolutely need it.
Watching Videos: I totally use my iPad to watch videos while I wash the dishes. Now I don’t mind washing the dishes as much!
Listen to Music: While it’s a little big, if I’m walking somewhere, it’s easy to plug in my headphones and listen to some music or an audiobook on it while I carry it in my bag.
Writing: Only with my Apple Bluetooth Wireless Keyboard. But if I bring it, it is super easy to type up longer emails or write articles.
Surfing The Web: Not the easiest to do, but doable. Hopefully HTML 5 will make this easier and better.
Can the iPad replace your laptop?
In a word, no. But it does a lot of the tasks you would do on a laptop. I would actully say you can do about 80% of your tasks on it, and most importantly, the tasks you do most frequently. However, many of the things we do on an computer don’t translate well to a touch interface (Ex: FPS gaming, Photoshop, etc). But as this device category is still relatively new, they are constantly thinking of new ways to use the touch interface effectively.
What does the iPad excel at?
-The touch capability on the iPad is really good and accurate. This makes using the iPad very pleasurable.
-The user interface is solid and responsive.
-Lots of Apps. Love this.
What does the iPad suck at?
-One of my habits is using the Evernote clipper on my desktop. However, there really is no good solution on the iPad.
-Typing large amounts of text is difficult without a bluetooth keyboard. Typing small amounts… not so bad.
-The camera on the iPad2 sucks monkey balls. Seriously, how did this thing get on the iPad in the first place? However this has been fixed on the “New iPad”.
-The iPad attract gunk on the screen like 13 year old girls to Justin Bieber. I don’t know if it’s possible to make a touch interface that won’t get fingerprints all over it, but I would love to have that feature.
What would you recommend about purchasing an iPad?
-Get 3G. It make it so much more functional, even if it’s just for email, chatting, or bringing up the odd website or map.
-Get a bluetooth wireless keyboard. You will be able to replace most of your laptop tasks with this handy little device.
-I thought I would need 64 GD since I am a power computer user. But most of your material can stay in the cloud, so you don’t need as much space. Take the 32 GB version.
What apps do you recommend?
Evernote, Kindle, Flipboard, Mindjet, GoodReader, Pages, and Plant Vs Zombies (Only if you have the next 3 months free though!)
If you have an iPad, do you need an iPhone?
This is a great question. I personally think that the iPad does everything the iPhone does, only better. But it lacks the ability to make traditional phone calls. You can get around that by using Skype, but iPad just isn’t a great “pick it up to talk” device. It will really depend on how much you rely on your phone. If you can get by with texting and email (You would be surprised how far that will take you) and not mind talking on Skype from time to time, you can probably get by without an iPhone. But if not, you’ll need to pick up an iPhone.
Do you want to upgrade after a year?
With the “New iPad” out (I still don’t get that naming convention), I felt there wasn’t enough in it to warrant buying a new iPad. Sure the Retina screen looks amazing and I so want a better camera on it for scanning images of documents, but with the added weight and heat issues, I am planning to wait for the “Even Newer iPad” or “New iPad 2” or whatever they will call the next one.
@ShaneBrewer 