First moments with the iPad

My first few moments with the iPad were pretty normal as far as any Apple product goes. The packaging is nicely done, displaying the ‘goods’ right away, giving you a sense of something great is to come. Starting the device for the first time brought up the regular “connect to itunes” icon, after connecting, it allowed me to skip syncing and start to play.

The first app I opened was safari, and I went to a few of my favorite websites. Browsing is quick, surprisingly quick actually.

I then decided that I wanted to download some apps – which is a problem, since I’m in Canada, and the app store isn’t available here yet. I have a dummy iTunes account that I use whenever I need to connect to the American store (not very often). The first few apps I downloaded were CNN News, WordPress, iBooks (which I quickly deleted – more on that later), a free game (deleted), Twitteriffic, and TweetDeck (Twitteriffic remains – Tweetdeck, i don’t like).

I’m usually pretty good with electronic gadgets, and the iPad was no different. After I had been playing with it for a short while, I started to notice that it fits very well in the way that I sit, a lot like a book, or a magazine. The photo to the left is an example of this – I naturally came into this position, holding the device like this (I didn’t know this photo was being taken at the time).

After having the iPad for a few days, I’m starting to see where it will fit in my life. I can see it fitting in as a business tool – I used it in a meeting yesterday to show a client a website (the awe factor helped). I’ve also been using the Amazon Kindle app for reading (something I don’t normally do – maybe its the novelty?). I’ve also been keeping the iPad by the living room couch, to surf and play games while I’m watching TV.

Thus far, I’m very happy with my iPad. I can see that it is still in its infancy, the app store seems lacking right now, and something about the UX seems missing. Though, the potential is there, the tools are there (hardware – processor speed). With a little bit of time, I can see this little device becoming something huge – maybe not iPod huge, but Apple is certainly breaking new ground.

I will write more as I find new uses for the iPad!

I haven’t had an actual computer available to me at home for a few months now – i’ve been working from the office a LOT – so this will be a nice change for me, being able to get stuff done from home, instead of having to be in the office every waking moment – not that its so horrible.

I’m looking forward to the 7hr battery life (supposedly), and also the SD card slot that has been integrated into the body of the Macbook Pro’s.

I’ll try and post a review once I get it – i’ve also got to catch up on some blogs about my new Guitar!

Happy black friday everyone!

I’m quite (nerdly) excited about it – having finally moved from an AppleTv as my primary source for video, to a MacMini that I won from an Ebay Auction last week – which incidentally was a local sale, so I was able to pick it up, and not pay shipping charges. Nice.

Obviously, my media software of choice is Boxee, and was the first piece of software that I installed on it. Right now, here’s what my setup looks like (i’ll illustrate it a little better in a coming post):

32″ Toshiba LCD – wall mounted (mounted on the wall makes me feel fancy)
Dlink DNS323 – as my primary harddrive (networked)
Dlink DIR-615 – as our router in the house (its a cheap router, but has wireless N, which is nice)
PS3 – Gaming system, though, i’m wondering if I even need it anymore
Apple MacMini – An older 1.83 GHz Core2Duo machine, w/1gb Ram & 80Gb HD
Various Cables, power bar, etc etc.

I’m going to be picking up a Logitech DiNovo Mini as a keyboard/mouse controller, but for the time being, i’m just using my iPhone connected to the network, using Air Mouse. Thus far, its been fine.

I’m also considering picking up a Sony HT-CT100 3.1 Soundbar Surround system – perhaps when my next paycheck comes in!

I’ll post some photos of the setup in a day or so.

Back a few months ago when I bought an Apple TV to be able to play with this little app that needed to be hacked onto the Apple TV, I didn’t even know that I would enjoy it so much. Since then, its cut my TV watching in half, and well, we don’t even subscribe to Cable services anymore. If this is a glimpse at what is coming in the future for the television industry, I like it.

If I were to give any advice to the big TV networks – i’d say that they should jump on the bandwagon and find a way to work with these people, because THIS is where television is going. I’d hate to make this parallel, but I’ve got a feeling that this whole TV On demand thing could potentially be the next Napster/Mp3 revolution. Lets learn from past mistakes, and take the right steps.

Thanks again to the Boxee team!!

One feature that NONE of them covered was Push – until last night – when BeeJive’s most recent iPhone app update was released. It was music to my ears when I saw on Twitter my friend Cristina posted that the update was available.

I updated almost instantaneously – and have not been disappointed. This app is fantastic and I highly suggest you purchase it if you’re looking for a solid IM app for the iPhone, that has push support.

Click here to buy.