Finally! After many months of thinking about it, many months of talking to Apple devotees and weighing the pros and cons of owning an Apple product and finally, as a tribute to the designing genius of Steve Jobs, I am now the proud (?!?!) owner of an iPad2! Staying true to the ultra conservatism of a 'madraasi maama', I went in for the basic '16GB Wi-Fi only' model. Bought at the spur of a moment (the multi-month deliberations did not help me reach a conclusion), as all my technology buys have been in the past, the iPad, in my first week of ownership, gets a 3 star (***) rating. Apple aficionados might kill me for saying so, but I am hoping I shall get the benefit of doubt as I am still getting up to speed with it. This happens to be my first post using my new toy, so people, you will have to excuse me for any grammatical or formatting errors.
First impressions first. The moment I held the tablet in my hands for the first time, I knew that I am going to love this gadget. It just felt so light and comfortable holding it. Getting started is nice and easy, once you know what to do! Slightly different and cumbersome compared to getting started on a new PC. However, the great thing about iPad is that it is shipped with a fully charged battery! This was so helpful because the product was shipped to me from the U.S. by my cousin. It took me a few days to procure a multiple-pin adaptor to be able charge the device. The size of the screen and even more importantly, the inbuilt keyboard do take some getting used to. The user interface is slick and creates the impression that one is using a product designed with the user and a high benchmark of quality in mind.
Once you are up and running, the next challenge is to figure out how and why would this gadget be useful? For someone who uses a PC to do no more than the three basic tasks of checking emails, accessing social networking sites and posting blog messages, it is very difficult to figure what more value could this device add. Mobility? Yes! However, I will now have to get my Wi-Fi router placed in a more strategic position to be able to use it everywhere in the house. Just more work to adapt to the new gadget. This is not done yet, so the mobility of this 'new kid off the block' is restricted to my study as of now.
I also learnt in some of the conversations that I had with existing owners, that the lure of iPhone and iPad is due to the millions of 'apps' that can be downloaded to the device for various useful purposes, including 'loner' entertainment! Apart from the mandatory social networking apps, I have only been able to reach as far as a dumb 'Drag Racing' game and a 'Parrot' which flaps it's wings whenever I tilt the iPad in any direction. I think it also tries to curse me but, it isn't very clear to me what the content of it might be! Also, I have still not figured out the methodology to uninstall an app if I do not like it. In the due course of time, I am sure I shall be able to discover many more (free) apps which will add value to my digital existence. But till then, I will have to use the trial and error method to get to the apps which I might find useful. I have prodded existing users who were drooling about the gadget and its uses, to help me get up to speed quicker on it. Unsolicited feedback on this topic is quite welcome as well!
This is as far as I could get to in the first week, at the end of which, I am left hoping that the iPad does not turn out to be just a fad!
Take care.
