We do not own an iPad. I believe that our iPhones are enough for us, at the moment. But the company Hubby works for runs Macs and they wanted an office iPad. Not only that, they are so nice they let the employees take it home and experience it. So I was able to use one for a couple of hours. It is really like a big iPhone . . . a really BIG iPhone. It does not take pictures nor is it a phone, but it is really pretty.
Apple seems to have a way with picture quality. I like my monitor, it is fine. I don’t need another one, but when I go to Hubby’s office I do tend to stare at his monitor. It is soooo clear and it makes whatever you are working on so beautiful. I found this to be the case with the iPad. But like my iPhone since the “monitor” is also your keyboard, you end up having to look “through” a lot of finger prints and smudges.
It was already loaded up with someone’s applications and so I basically just looked at a movie and did some internet surfing.
It ran pretty fast, and as I have already mentioned the clarity is awesome.
Some of the things that I am familiar with on the iPhone were different on the iPad and I thought the differences would be useful. The calendar program that comes as part of the iPhone was able to be displayed as if it were a book calendar with the note section on the left and the month on the right. It looked like a regular desk calendar. With the iPhone’s tiny screen you have to change “pages” for list/day/month. I can see how having a “regular desk calendar” would be very helpful. Don’t we all love to look at things “at a glance”.
I LOVED the way the multiple browsers showed. But I bet I would end up with 16 browser windows like I usually do on my regular computer. I think that the iPhone only allows eight and the way they are displayed is linearly and you swipe to move them. But on the iPad they are displayed in a grid format so you can see them all at once. I found that to be one of the most exciting features that I experienced.
Remember, I only had this for a few hours and the applications loaded on it were not mine or even my husband’s so I didn’t go snooping into them all.
The “keyboard” that pops up is a good sized qwerty keyboard and one could touch type one it. I have the need for the feel of the keys in order to type with any speed, but I heard my husband typing away on it just like normal. (And just so you know, he typed REALLY fast!)
I keep coming back to how pretty the “monitor” (display) looked. I actually didn’t even get to see the “naked” iPad because it was “vacuum packed” into is neoprene case and, as I have mentioned, it is not ours so I didn’t want to risk scratching it or anything, so I didn’t take it out of its case to look at it.
I did discover a book in the “library”. It was Whinnie-the-Pooh. Oh, my heart melted and I thought since I was stuck on the couch with the cat was on my lap I could try reading on the iPad. Well, four pages into it, my hand started to hurt. The iPad is very heavy and I could not hold it in one hand and read it like I would hold a book. But unlike the Kindle it has its own backlight, like a computer. (Did I mention how pretty the monitor makes everything look?).
Like a netbook, I can see how people could use an iPad. I can see how business could benefit from it. Since I work from home I am good with my regular computer and my iPhone, which is just like an iPad, but smaller, and it has a camera and a phone. But its picture is not nearly as pretty.
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