Early Thoughts on the iPad
Since Apple announced its iPad the web has been consumed with discussion about the device. My husband, knowing I’m a Mac lover, sent me a link and though I swore I wasn’t going to get drawn into looking at it couldn’t help but take a peek.
From my perspective there are lots of thing to like about the iPad, screen size for one. The fact it runs iWorks is another.
My biggest question involve how to input stuff into the device. Looking at the pics it seems like this might be a little more like using a laptop. Since I write a lot when I’m on the road, this is important to me. The other question is how good will its ebook reader capabilities be. Several friends have various devices to read ebooks on from Kindle to iPod Touch. What I didn’t like about reading on the iPod Touch was the screen size, the iPad overcomes that issue but issues have been raised about how the screen technology would be on the eyes. Another issue for me is that I have to use VPN to get into any resources at my new job. I’ve got no idea how I would do this with the iPad. (Which is annoying and sad because after carrying my laptop around the office to meetings for week, I really sort of would have liked a tablet)
Ultimately, I’m on the fence about my desire to have an iPad. I have a Mac Air, which I LOVE beyond words. It was worth the extra money over netbook. However, I’m not sure how I feel about replacing it with and iPad. Particularly since I’m not sure how I’d VPN to the network at work. Which means I’d end up with yet another device to carry around. I’ve been looking at smart phones and ereaders. I’m likely to get a smart phone which means that the iPad would end up being a suped up ereader for me. Considering the price tag, I’m not sold. If anyone gets one and figures out how to VPN on them, let me know. I’d seriously be interested.
That being said, if I didn’t have my Mac Air, I’d be very likely to buy it.
I did a search of the app store and there seem to be several apps that allow VPN connections. I have never used any of them though I have used terminal apps and apps for using Remote Desktop. I’m sure that these types of apps are likely to make it to the iPad. I have read that OmniGroup wants to get all of their productivity apps to the iPad.
I see a lot of exciting possibilities depending on the apps created by developers. One thing they have said is that the iPad will support all of the iPhone/iTouch apps. So since VPN is supported on those devices I expect it will show up on the iPad as well.
After reading an article about various eReaders and what they offer, I came across an app called “Stanza” for the iPhone/iTouch.
There are other readers available but this one I’ve found to work the best and is simple. You can change the text color so it isn’t harsh on the eyes and you can easily adjust the brightness of the screen for better reading comfort.
If I ever got an iPad, Stanza would be one of the first apps I would install!
The Ipad looks like fun to play with, but I doubt if you can really work with it? But many people will buy it because of it look.