About a week ago I got a call on my cell from an electronic store in my neighborhood telling me my iPad2 had arrived.
Having heard such good things about it from a friend of mine, I was excited to get my hands on it.
I wasn’t disappointed.
Simply put, the iPad2 is a thing of beauty.
It’s lightning fast. Light. Crystal clear. Simple. And a joy to use.
It really has everything you could want and is a viable option for most people instead of a notebook computer.
It’s so good that I’m actually going to give my MacBook to my mother to replace her aging desktop and giving us the ability to do Facetime.
Besides all the things I mentioned above what’s so great about it is the ability to add apps for productivity, social media, news, travel, gaming and more.
With an app store that at present has 350,000 and counting, there’s something for everyone.
Most apps cost under $10 so it gives you access to some powerful programs that would cost anywhere between $30 and $150 on a normal computer.
As I just got it, I don’t have that many apps, but I would like to pass along a few that I think warrant your consideration.
- Flipboard (best way to view Twitter and Facebook accounts)
- Star Walk (ever wanted to know about the stars?)
- AVPlayer HD (let’s you play numerous formats of videos)
- World Atlas (the name says it all)
- Bloomburg (for keeping track of stocks)
- Evernote (best way to keep notes in sync)
- Stanza (best PDF reader)
- Sleipneir (amazing browser)
- Dictionary (for all your unknown words)
- SoundHound (your song detective)
- IM+ Pro (best messenger service)
- Infinity Blade (to test out your iPad’s gaming capabilities)
- Pages (for all your documents)
- Air Sharing (to sync storage data)
- Midori (great Japanese-English dictionary)
I’ll be sure to add comments to this post if I come across any other amazing apps. I will say I’m contemplating getting Instapaper, Penultimate and Casey’s Contraptions.
What’s the best thing about it? It’s convenient.
I’ve already watched one basketball game while having lunch at my favorite eatery.
I wrote up a few longish emails on the train.
I watched a movie sitting in the park.
Access anywhere, to do anything.
If you’re on the fence about getting one, just do it.
It will change the way you do things.
Adrian Shepherd
I agree with Chris that indeed, bringing technology into nature when your plan is to sit in nature is definitely defeating the purpose of our beautiful world. However, if you are forced to spend long days in an office with florescent lights and bad air circulation and then suddenly there is an option to do some of this work (or in fact, almost all of this work) in the park, then I think technology is getting us closer to nature. It’s a dangerous line for some but when I go to the park with my friends and family, I leave my iPad in the bag. When I think about spending a day working in a closed up office, I bring my iPad to the park and presto I’ve got an outdoor office which brings the peace of nature to my needy soul. Aaaah (that’s a sigh of peacefulness rather than a scream. Haha)
Thanks for all your great blogging Adrian!
Smiles,
Scott
Glad to know you find my blog valuable…hopefully you’ll find my book even more so. If you’re wondering when it’ll be released, fingers crossed – early June!!
I am indeed! can’t wait to read it!
Smiles,
Scott