Apple iPad Wi-Fi + 3G – Web tablet – A4 1 GHz – Flash: 32 GB – 9.7″ color TFT – Bluetooth 2.1 EDR, Wi-Fi – GSM, UMTS, EDGE, HSDPA – GPS

I have 2 iPads. A 64 GB WiFi only model which I bought the day it was available, and this 32GB 3G model which I picked up last week. They are about the same price; if you have to choose between an extra 32GB of storage and 3G capacity, definitely go with the 3G if for nothing else future proofing. I consider this to be the sweet spot of the 6 iPad variants.

Right now, my wife is in China with a WiFi only model. She is not a technical person, and can rarely find an open WiFi hotspot. So, she goes days between checking her e-mail. E-mail which might be critical to her business. If she had a 3G model, I could have purchased a modestly priced data plan from Chinese Unicom, modified a data SIM to a micro-SIM, and she would be getting her e-mail every minute, and doing some light web browsing. On the other hand, her iPad is loaded with media with over a dozen DVD quality films, all her music, and a large number of family photos. This does take advantage of the extra storage, but is a poor substitute for the whole Internet.

3G is not quite the great deal as it was yesterday, AT&T is eliminating unlimited data for new accounts. In the past, the deal was you could get unlimited data for $30/month with no contract. Now you can get a $25/month deal for 2GB, which is probably more than enough if you don’t watch video. Existing $30/month users might as well be on contract, because they will have to keep paying to get the original deal. There are also cheaper smaller plans. Right now I’m on the unlimited plan, and it is great. I have been Skyping to my wife in China, using Google maps, browsing the web in the dentist office and at lunch. It is very slick. I tried the 250 MB/month plan and that was just too small for what I was doing.

As for the rest of the iPad, it is great. I downloaded a free novel from the iBooks store and read it comfortably without any eyestrain or hurting my arm. It’s my preferred device for browsing the web, although you do get to notice the lack of Flash. It’s mostly ads though so that’s fine, but occasionally there will be a graph or video which you just can’t see. Over time, I expect this will be less of a problem as Flash dies out, but it is mildly annoying now.

The glass does get awfully greasy, but that is easily wiped away. Typing is surprisingly OK, I can type about as fast as I normally can if I concentrate. My kids like watching YouTube every night, and that is slicker than going to the website. So, I find I use the iPad several hours a day, which means I can get 2 or 3 days out of a full battery charging, which is a relief compared to being worried about keeping my iPhone charged.

This is indeed a game changing device, and I think most anyone will find there are hours of the day whether it be on the couch, bed or passenger’s seat where it is nearly the ideal computing companion.
Rating: 5 / 5

The PAD fills that nebulious space between a notebook and a smartphone. Smartphones offer the ultimate in portability plus a camera and the ability to place calls. Notebooks offer a reasonable amount of computing power plus an expectation of portability especially in the 13 to 15″ screen size areas.

However, smart phones are very difficult to use because the screens ARE so small. Web browsing , reading and responding to email are a chore. Notebooks provide all the functionality of desktops except expandability and usually video cards required by high end games are lacking. But even though they are transportable, for many simple functions that such as email and web browsing, they can be cumbersome to set up and take down. Any larger screen size than 15″ and its unlikely it will leave home. The cost of laptops has fallen considerably over the years and from being primarily a business tool, laptop owners use the machine as their primary computer for personal use. The laptop is unobtrusive, can be moved from room to room especially if wireless internet is available, and does not have the dearth of cords and junk that seems to easily collect around an embedded laptop. Still, in spite of its portability, many people would just rather leave the laptop behind if their travels do not require work specific needs.

Sensing a need for an email machine, web browser and the ability to run regular programs should the need arise, the computer industry introduced the low cost NETBOOK. There was certainly some interest in these machines as they allowed a very convenient way of checking email and web browsing while traveling around town without the bulk of a laptop. A NETBOOK could literally be folded up and placed in a purse or cargo pants pocket.

However, consumers soon noticed limitations and annoyances about the NETBOOKS. Durability was in question. Cheap production meant a cheap product which easily broke down. Installs of software had to be downloaded or an external drive hooked up to it. The screen was small and especially for older eyes, hard to read and make out was was being viewed.

NETBOOKS were still computers and required all the maintenance of one: anti-virus had to be installed / updated or else it was susceptible for infections by any type of badware. Startup programs had to be monitored to insure “too much junk” was not loading or its already slow boot times would be further impeded. Many programs ran sluggishly, creaking along primarily on ATOM processors. The Windows 7 Starter edition was a crippled version of Windows 7, lacking functions and the ability to run certain programs which ran under “normal” Windows 7, diminishing some of its expected capability.

Though the NETBOOK could be taken anywhere, its optimistic battery times were usually half its advertised rate under real world operations and begged still for the presence of a desk or other table like furniture to set up upon for proper control and use of the cursor.

And then Apple announces the iPAD, a tablet style computer. Tablets existed before and many of them were just morphed Windows machines into the tablet form factor with styluses that often found their way into toilets, sewer grates, and dog maws. And a Windows tablet is typically priced 20 to 30% higher than a corresponding laptop. It seemed a little overkill to check email and web-surf.

Few guessed how well the iPAD might sell. SuperGeeks decried the lack of a true USB port, camera and the fact DOSBoX could not be installed nor a game controller, let alone a boot configuration into Linux. They foresaw little use for such a device and predicted its utter failure. But since its release a little less than a million a month have been selling. Granted the Flash, Python, MySql, sed, XCode, and Linux demographic were entirely ignored; but the habitual e-mailers and Websurfing crowd was not. And especially at these two tasks, the device excelled. Add in some other useful tasks such as e-reading, to include comic books (previously a chore on a PC or even Mac with incessant mouse / key scrolling / zooming and clicking), and some games with various other programs and the iPAD became an overnight sensation.

At once other companies began to announce various tablets of their own. Microsoft and HP each announced products based on Windows 7, but bailed when it became apparent their technology and Windows could not deliver what they originally envisioned. Other companies instead decide to work with the Android OS, already in use on phones and scale-up to tablet seemed much more promising.

This is all fine and good, a summary of this slice of industry from my viewpoint–so HOW does the PAD benefit me?

1.=The iPAD is available NOW (though not on Amazon at a reasonable price YET). Announced products that are canceled or have uncertain release dates are of little use.

2. = The iPAD is unbelievably portable and unlike a smartphone, the screen quite readable.

3.= I have not read a comic book in years. This allows a small collection available at all times.

4.= The entire works of Shakespeare are available FREE in a 1.6 lbs form factor. And the type can be ENLARGED.

5.= Scads of translations of the Bible are available FREE in a 1.6 lbs form factor. And the type can be ENLARGED.

6.= The Quran available FREE in a 1.6 lbs form factor. Jewish friends may be upset because they don’t see the Torah’s Icon, but remind them the 16 translations of the the Bible’s first five books is the Torah. And FREE. Also the type can be enlarged.

7.= If WiFi is there, the WEB is there.

8. = EMAIL is very easily accessed, ALL ACCOUNTS. If one has multiple accounts, the iPADs interface makes it easy to monitor them without going around to various websites to log in and out of them

9.= Drawing / sketch apps allow direct sketching on the screen. Previous technology required cabled Wacom tablets or a Wacomized computer with propitiatory stylus.

10. = Artists often make use of reference material to better paint or draw an accurate representation of an object. Researching on a computer usually requires the expected Google search (or library visit in the olden days). Once an image was found, it had to be added to a paint program, resized and printed out then taken over to the work area. The iPAD allows one to go to Safari, pull up an image, save it, then go into the photo album and resize it for easy display viewing while it is being painted or drawn paint it. Other pictures of various subjects can be switched over to easily. The iPAD’s size and the fact it has no spill vulnerable keyboard, makes for an easy unobtrusive. insertion next to an artists work area.

I give the product 5 stars less one for, well I’m REALLY trying to knock it down one star, OK maybe for the lack of a USB port for printing to my non wireless printer, and perhaps some nuanced things like the included NOTES text program–no re-sizable fonts, or that I cannot delete spam without opening the email first. But it is really hard to deduct that star.
Rating: 4 / 5

I cant help but think the Ipad is a glorified Iphone but love its ability to play media and be used as a book reader. The big negative for me is the inability to see any Flash product and all those web sites that run FLASH. I know Apple hates FLASH but really if you cant see thousands of web sites and the product is designed to browse the web I cant help but feel the customer has been placed into this fight and for $700 dollars I think it serves to only upset apple customers. I wish they would fix this and quick. I don’t want a $700 book reader or DVD player.
Rating: 4 / 5