The American Resurgence

Last Thursday I finally went and got my very own iPad. Honestly, I’ve barely been able to put the thing down. I know there are a lot of neigh-sayers out there who say it’s a waste of money or some crap like that. All I have to say is, now that I’ve got one and been able to use it for a few days, you’re wrong.

Honestly it is the perfect combination of computing and convenience. It has all the functionality that I need out of a portable computer, without any of bulk that accompanies even the smallest of laptops. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve had a laptop since I was 13. But in my opinion, if you’re looking for something simple and convenient, there’s nothing better than the iPad.

Yeah, there are a couple drawbacks. I’ve gotten used to the multitasking on iPhone, and it’s a little inconvenient not to have it again. The delay of the iOS4 is really a bad idea on Apple’s part. Additionally, the other features given on the iOS4 are sorely lacking and I cannot wait for it to be released so the iPad’s full potentials can be unleashed.

The battery life is amazing. I actually have had difficulty fully depleting battery within a single day. I even have it set so that the screen will not turn off until I hit the button.

Typing on it is actually not too bad. I’ve heard some complain, and It isn’t as good as a keyboard, but for shorter messages or emails it’s actually quite accurate easy to type on. In fact, this post was written entirely on my iPad.

The screen is amazingly beautiful, and makes YouTube and movies look even better. The Internet on the iPad is great, and in my opinion, is much better than using a mouse and a computer. The ability to swipe around the screen and tap away on things makes the internet much easier to navigate and you can hold it right in your hands. Yeah, flash would be nice, but it’s not that big a deal. No Facebook app? Don’t really need it, Facebook is good enough on the Internet with iPad.

There are actually a lot of functions I used to use on my iPhone that I’ve transferred to my iPad. I no longer have a feed reader on my iPhone, because if I had go chose between reading on my iPhone or iPad I’d pick the iPad. I’ve also found a great app called Pocket Informant HD to perform my GTD functions. It holds my calendar, task list and syncs with Google Calendars.

Honestly, I think the age of the laptop is ending, and the age of the tablet is being birthed. While desktops will likely stay around as family computers, for people’s personal use the laptop is going to be replaced with the iPad, and other tablet devices to come.

Overall, I give the iPad 4/5 stars. It’s great, but there are some things to adjust to. Once you’ve adjusted though, you’ll see that this is the start of something new, and something big.