An attempt ... I have an iMac, a G4 12" iBook and an iPod touch and no mobile phone or car.
I've used my iBook for taking notes at meetings, reading & preparing documents on the train, watching films in bed, showing my photos to my Mum and updating my family history using the superb Reunion when I'm at the library or with family. Having no car, when walking or cycling I've carried my iBook along in my rucksack but it's a noticeable weight, especially if I'm going around town or doing other things beforehand as so many times when it would have been handy to have it, I don't, because I'm not going to carry that weight with me just on the off chance it could be handy. Having my iPod touch has been great because I keep London tube maps on it, French lesson audio files, films and TV progs for long train journeys, the above mentioned Reunion, record talks and music with a mic I bought and play games as and when (I have about 3 games on my iMac). One of the bugbears for me though has been that if I'm out and about I can't update the tube service line status when I'm in London, can't check on train times, can't use Google maps if I'm going somewhere completely new or I'm just lost and miss out on the handy OmniFocus nearby context feature all because I have no internet connection most of the time as it's WiFi only. I always wanted 'a mobile phone without the phone and the text'. When Apple announced that the iPad would have a 3G option my eyes lit up! Because it's so light I now slip it in my rucksack as a matter of course. It has 3G so all that online stuff I mentioned above is now available to me if I need it - even, as I discovered recently, in a campsite in North Wales! Because of the larger screen I can now read PDFs easily which are a real effort or else completely impractical on my iPod. My Mum will really enjoying seeing my photos as the screen is much bigger than my iPod and much better than my iBook and viewing those films on the train will be a much better experience. The Shakespeare app on the iPad is a real delight compared to my iPod as of course are all the free books I've now loaded on. Google street view on the iPad is extraordinary though I've no use for it at present. I have no digital radio and even if I did I couldn't listen to FIP on it. The speaker in the iPad is hardly up to that of a good portable radio, but it's WAY better than the iPod and now means that I can stream FIP to my iPad in the kitchen and listen whilst cooking or washing up. Nice. These are all practical reasons but there is the other big reason - the iPad is just a delight to use. If any of you are motorcyclists you will understand the difference between the large movements of steering wheel and gears on a car compared with an almost imperceptible lean and a flick of the toes to do the same thing on a motorcycle. I've always found it a more 'mental' than 'physical' relationship that is an essential part of the appeal of a motorcycle. Robert Pirsig says in the amazing book 'Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance' - "The difference between driving a car and riding a motorcycle is that in a car you're watching the film and on a motorcycle you are in the film". This is my long way of saying that using a screen a foot away and a mechanical keyboard and a mouse compared to touching, flicking and swiping on the screen of an iPad is a parallel. On the motorbike, the gap between the machine and rider is much reduced compared with a car and I feel that the same is true of the 'normal' computer and the iPad. I now sit on the sofa an read my RSS feeds using The Early Edition in preference to using my Mac to read them and the same goes for Safari, though I'm an OmniWeb user so it's not really the same, but for all that I enjoy the experience of the web more on the iPad. The big downer at present is one thing that I still need my iBook for is Garageband. If I could record sound/MIDI on my iPad, lay down those tracks and have them played back as I'm recording another then I'd be totally sorted. The MIDI recording is now available as is the mic, but that workflow is not. Maybe in a year ... Also, the iPad has only been out for a couple of months. The kind of apps that could exist on it in a year or two will, I suspect, totally amaze us because that larger screen and keyboard make all sorts of new apps possible that would be impossible or tedious on an iPod touch. Also, as I'm developing apps for the iPhone and iPad I need to have a device to test on. Not a persuasive reason for most though I'll admit! Well, what a load of chat! I hope that adds something to your consideration. Stephen On 10 Jun 2010, at 00:59, Ray Packham wrote: > I went into the apple store the other day the look at the IPAD , its shinny > and fantastic but alas I couldn't find a real use for it as I have my > MacBook. I did think that it would be superb for my elderly parents who do > not want a computer but would like access to the internet, its so intuitive > and simple to use even my mum can pick it up in 5 mins! I wonder if Apple > have missed an opportunity to advertise for so called silver surfers who are > technophobes, I personally dont think Apple would associate themselves with > this sort of advertising as it does not fit with their young image but I > still feel its fantastic for those of the older generation who dont want a > laptop or tower/desktop simply because as my mum has proved its so simple to > use even a complete novice can pick it up in 5 mins. > > Anyhow just as a quick question how does it fit in with your existing kit and > what do you all use it for ? > > Regards Ray "The costs are such that my department is not so much the department of energy and climate change, as the department of nuclear legacy and bits of other things," - Chris Hune, June 2010 -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Sussex Mac User Group" group. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. 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