The call of the cool caused me to drive past our local Best Buy Saturday morning here in Dumbutt a minute before it opened to see how many people were out front. I had heard each store would get 15 iPads and if I saw less than 15 people there at 8:59 I would peruse it. There were a dozen out front as the doors opened and I walked out a few minutes later excited and 0 poorer.
It is fun and cool but does nothing new. It is also very hard not to like. So if you have $500 to throw out the window, which it doesn’t have, it’s nice.
I believe the pundits defining it as THE home computer is close to the truth. After only two days here its purpose seems to be to lay around visibly here and there to be picked up and used when one of us does not want to commit to a desktop, laptop or surf the tiny little smartphone web.
So far we have found it a good weather box, a good thing to check do your Facebook, to get info or guidance on what you are watching on TV, getting a recipe in the kitchen and we all like watching videos on it better than we do on our computers. I think this is because it often defaults into full screen with great resolution. But beware that without FLASH not all videos at all sites work. The big corporate sites seem to have adjusted, but so far Comedy Central has not while many of the videos from the big sites EMBEDDED on smaller blogs and networks show large blanks spaces. Like this blog, I also noticed Crooks and Liars is a mess too. I am sure this issue will be worked out soon. All in all the iPad seems to be a convenient and enjoyable way of doing some computing tasks quickly. It is a very good at output and lousy with input.
But I have found a show stopper! The four of us all use it the same way, resting in our laps with one leg crossed to prop it up. So the bottom of the iPad rests in that crack where your leg meets your torso.
The iPad has most of its navigation icons (including apps) fixed on the bottom of the screen. My belly overlaps the bottom inch of the screen which means I have to use my free hand to lift it a few inches every time I want to do something. Too handed process.
Their are two options for the fix. I need to either find a shim to put in my lap to lift it up a couple inches or take it back. I am told there is another option, but I don’t like it.
I suppose I should give my specs here so others can compare theirs to mine. I am 5’11" and 220 with most of the extra weight front and center.
This may also be an issue with very well endowed women though we could not test this with the women around here…
I rationalized buying an iPad because I had a real use for it. I spend several hours a day with an old 10 year old eBook reader [I am now more than half way through reading the top 100 books of all time]. At the moment there are issues getting my personal eBook library into it properly, dealing with DRM and iTunes. But I do expect new apps to help with that process in a matter of days. About the only downside compared to the Kindle and Sony is that it cannot be used in the sun (outside in the shade is okay though) and it may be too big.