Research Essentials

Perspectives on an academic environment: a collaborative blog by Gill Clough & Rebecca Ferguson

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My new iPad

May 27th, 2010 · No Comments

Its just arrived – one day before it’s out in the shops. Very exciting. I’ve twittered and facebooked it and got some interesting comments. As most of my friends are pretty geeky, there were several along the lines of “can I see it”. One or two “I’m stuck in London and mine is being delivered at home” and lots of witty. I got one from someone who had previously commented:
“Thousands queuing for iPad on it’s first day of release” – saddos! Apple should wise up and make an iHoover, iIron and iSaucepan then the wives of the geeks would never have to clean, iron or cook again ;-)

asking me:

Oh no…you weren’t one of the saddos who placed an immediate order for the latest Apple gadget were you?! Please tell me it’s just for work/research and not something you really wanted… I’m deeply concerned ;-)

Another friend came up with a more interesting question, saying

I am intrigued to know what you will do with it. I can’t think of a use except for movies. I’d really like to know how you get on with it. Enjoy your new gadget – it’s always fun getting them.
This got me thinking about what I expected I’d be doing with it and triggered this post. The iPad is currently syncing with my mac mini upstairs so I’m going to list the things I expect I’ll be able to do with it here, and then after a few weeks come back and compare with what I actually do with it.
What I expect to be doing with my iPad
  • Social networking – Using twitter and facebook apps. I have a 3G version, although no sim card yet, so I anticipate being able to use it as a lightweight device on holiday or when I’m away to get on the net and keep up to date.
  • Email- but only home email, not work.
  • Sharing – when I take photos on holiday, it is nice to be able to upload them for friends to see, or just for safekeeping to mobleme.
  • Web browsing – lots of that, including watching news videos etc. I think the screen is enough bigger than an iphone to make it very nice to use.
  • Playing apps – I enjoy the little iPhone apps. They’re good for passing the time when waiting to collect somebody off a train, or indeed, when on a train or a plane.
  • Music, video podcasts and movies – possibly. I don’t actually use my iPhone for music. I have a couple of iPod nanos that are dedicated music players and I use them almost exclusively. The iPhone is an emergency music player if I need one. I may watch video podcasts on the iPad as the screen is bigger. I’ve never watched a movie either on the laptop or the iPhone so I can’t imagine I’d watch one of the iPad unless, of course, I were away and bored.
  • Possibly taking notes at conferences or meetings. I’m not really sure about this one. I don’t know how easily I’ll manage the lack of response from the virtual keypad as I’m a touch-typist. Also, as it is my own iPad, I think if I’m working I’ll always have my mac with me.
I view it as primarily a personal device, like my iPhone, that I will use in the same way as I use my iPhone, to share my photos or other artefacts (website whatever) with my friends, and as a portal onto the web for when I’m away from my desk. The current data plans look flexible enough to suit me – you can pay for a day’s worth or a week or a month non-recurring, so I can plan when I’m going to need data access and purchase accordingly.

by Gill

Tags: iPad · technology

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