11 April 2011

Thinking About An iPad2 - Hit Pause.

Here is a just a pause for thought. I have been resisting the urge to buy an iPad2. It is a very strong temptation. I am in meetings these days where people are happy to flash their tech cred by bringing out their iPads. But then I watch them. They are generally playing with some of the little toys.

I have tried facetime and I like it but I am actually quite OK with skype and its chat features.

One of the fellow Professors has made similar comments - a great toy.

Well here is a more objective view from PCWeek.

Perhaps I will wait a bit

cheers

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Here’s what I’ve been doing with my iPad 2 since I bought it three weeks ago (in no particular order of importance).

• Watched the Masters live in HD while I was getting some work done.
• Used it for a second monitor for my Macbook Pro; in one case with Photoshop, putting the “palette” on the iPad getting it off the main screen; in another case to monitor Tweetdeck while I worked on a project.
• Watched a Netflix movie in the airport during a delay
• Monitored the Airport Arrival/Departure boards through an app called AirportRemote (picks up the airport feed, replicates it on the iPad)
• Checked unmarked roads in Google Earth during a driving trip to New Mexico
• Did a Skype Video call with a client
• Changed an Amazon order
• Did electronic bill pay with Wells Fargo app and transferred some funds
• Bought and started a new book on Kindle
• Received and edited a PowerPoint deck from an associate. In the car (someone else was driving).
• Caught up on some TV shows via Hulu+ at the hotel
• Downloaded videos I had taken day before from MobileMe, edited them in iMovie, posted them back up for freinds to see
• Answered a slew of emails
• Read a bunch of newspapers with amazing images and detail (NYTimes, etc.)
• Caught up on favorite magazines via Zite (all in one place)
• Read up on all the news as well as all social media in one place with magazine style Flipboard.
• Using Directv app, told me what was queued up for recording, channel guide, used it as universal remote control to play, FF, channel change, schedule recordings, etc.
• Stream videos and photos to my Samsung HDTV in 1080p (even though it doesn’t have the “Retina” screen, it still outputs in 1080P)
• Plays everything in my iTunes through the home network
• Propped it up in the kitchen for recipe on Epicurious, and at the same time listened to a local New Orleans radio talk show (TuneIn Radio)
• Read offline a bunch of saved online articles and blogs (including yours) using Skyfire
• Booked a hotel room on Expedia

All of this with nine hour battery life, using a Verizon 4g/3g hotspot wherever I happened to be. BTW, I did a 4G speed-test in Boston and got 22 gig download speed.

Otherwise it’s a toy.

Unknown said...

One thing I HAVEN'T done with my iPad. Print. Not gonna happen.