Wednesday, April 7, 2010

iPad and USB ports

One of the most common reasons that I see mentioned when people talk about reasons for not buying an iPad is the lack of USB ports. My question is why?

What do you need them for? To add storage? I have access to my iDisk via wifi. I have access to my MacBook Pro via wifi. I have access to my home computer via wifi. I do file transfers to/from each of these devices using ReaddleDoc (there are other apps that do this as well but ReaddleDocs is my favorite).

Do you want to add a printer? There are numerous apps that allow direct wifi printer of printing via a computer with a printer connected.

Do you want to add a keyboard? One word - Bluetooth

Do you want to add a camera. The iPad camera kit will take case of this and allow you to connect a camera via USB or a memory card reader.

So is this a case of 'I really need USB ports, or 'I think I need USB ports (because I just do).

Sunday, April 4, 2010

The iPad - Day 2

Spent most of yesterday with my iPad. It is truly an amazing device. The screen is crisp and bright. The device and screen size makes it very comfortable to work with.

So why did I want one when I already have a MacBook Pro and an iPhone 3GS?

My iPhone has been and will remain my 'always with me device'. It lets me carry out most of my day-to-day life no matter where I am. This includes access to:

- email (I use gmail for personal & Google Apps for work))
- my calendar (Google calendar)
- my contacts (Google contacts)
- my notes (Evernote)
- my task list (Nozbe)
- my social networks for personal & work (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Google Talk, and Skype)
- my banks
- my photos for personal & work (Picasa)
- my documents for personal & work (Google Docs)

My MacBook Pro will continue to be my workhouse device. I use it for detailed work, such as working with Adobe Illustrator, InDesign and Photoshop. In my office it's connected to a 24" LCD display.

The iPad is going to fill the gap between the two devices. The times when the iPhone screen is just a little to small to work efficiently. The times when I don't want to disconnect my MacBook to bring it to a meeting. As mentioned above I use Evernote for all of note. The iPad will allow me to leave the MacBook in my office and carry the iPad to my meetings. I really see this becoming the device that have with me in the office and home.

More to come...

Saturday, April 3, 2010

It's Here

Got my iPad about 2 hours ago. Amazing, Beautiful, Elegant, Fast. Lots more to come tomorrow after I get more time to play.

Oh yeah. I wrote this blog entry on the iPad.