Right now, I am typing this post using the iPad Keyboard Dock, which I purchased from Best Buy along with a stylus (for use with note-taking apps like Penultimate).
One of my reasons (read: justifications) for purchasing the iPad was that it could replace my MacBook Pro whenever it needs to be serviced (which has been all to often, especially this past semester), or if I didn't feel like carrying around a 13-inch laptop everywhere I went on campus.
In my second day of usage, I decided to test out its usefulness outside of my apartment. So, against the advice of my mother and my friends, I took the iPad with me on my journey into the city. I assumed that my usage of the iPad would be limited due to its lack of internet connectivity (remember, I didn't buy the 3G version). I was pleasantly surprised to realize that I was wrong. Even though having internet certainly enhances the iPad, it is plenty useful. On my train ride into the city from Queens, I started reading Dan Brown's Angels and Demons via the Kindle app. I had purchased the book when I first bought the iPhone a year and a half ago, but I never got past the second chapter. It turned out that the iPhone wasn't the most practical of e-readers (side note: I am currently using an iPod touch, since my iPhone 3GS was stolen in Port Authority).
The iPad, however, is the perfect e-reader.
I know that the Kindle is arguably the e-reader du jour at the moment, but reading on the iPad was so amazing that I wouldn't be surprised if I purchased some more books. The screen, which as I said last night, was huge, allowed for very comfortable reading, in both portrait and landscape modes. I read most of the book in portrait mode, since I really did like how it mimicked the look of a book in your lap, without all of the page turning. However, I could have read it in either mode.
The iPad, as you would expect, is also a spectacular media player. I used my iPod touch to listen to music while I was reading, but I could have easily just plugged my headphones into the bottom of my iPad. The iPad is also great with games. During the Posse Awards Ceremony (which I attended as a current Posse Scholar from Trinity College), I was playing Angry Birds HD. Speaking of, if you do not have this app, I need you to head to the App Store and download it in whatever version you need, iPhone or iPad, even Android and webOS. It is soooooo worth it.
The other great thing the iPad has proven to do well without Wi-Fi is what I'm doing right now: typing. Before I bought the Keyboard Dock ($69 at Best Buy and Apple), I didn't think that typing on the screen was that bad. It may have been a bit more taxing and time-consuming (I've typed just as much as I did last night in half the time) but I have found it workable. The Keyboard, however, is a must for anyone seriously using the iPad. It's an absolutely spectacular addition to an awesome device, and it makes you want to use the iPad the way Steve Jobs suggested way back in January of last year: to produce content. As soon as you start typing with this keyboard, you can feel the iPad's usability increase tenfold.
With day two of my iPad experience almost over, I still have no regrets in purchasing it, or not purchasing the 3G model. It's a brilliant device, that still has all of the potential in the world.
Check back tomorrow, where I talk about my favorite apps so far, and which apps and accessories the iPad sorely needs.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
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