I Love My iPad
Everyone should have an iPad. That’s how I’m feeling after using mine for the past month. Everyone should have the ability to have a machine that is so responsive and lightweight, one that can put you into a good mood the way my iPad does for me.
It wasn’t my initial choice to buy an iPad. It just happened in the course of working to be a leader while traveling. I needed a lightweight solution for managing e-mails, writing blog posts, and editing articles. The wonderful Dell Inspiron 600m laptop I’ve had since 2003 still works fine; the problem is that it’s heavy. The newer models in the same line and a comparable price range are even heavier. A netbook was a possibility but the screen is a little too small for my eyes. When I was at a management conference, I saw a professor write on his tablet, a laptop computer with a screen that could translate his words into type. However intriguing and time saving it was, my colleague warned me that the tablet was heavy.
So, one day I walked into the Apple store near me on the Upper West Side. Warning: do not, I mean really DO NOT ENTER AN APPLE STORE unless you want to buy something that you really didn’t think you wanted.
My reason for entering the Apple store was to look at a Mac. Relatives and friends had suggested I buy a Mac since I could I could find a model with a large screen that was probably in the weight range I needed. Exploring the Mac interface, however, I quickly realized that I’m a PC person. I’ve used Outlook/Exchange since 1996 and knew that I would not be happy with the Apple version called Entourage. Plus, buying into a whole new way of using applications seemed like overkill for my needs.
“I want to look at an iPad.” I give Dave, an Apple Specialist, credit. Dave did not suggest that I look at an iPad. I was lured to that area because I had walked by the store numerous times looking at the blown-up images of iPad screens posted on the walls (they were also posted throughout the city) and was curious about what the actual screens looked like.
That’s when it happened. True love began to emerge.
Leigh's iPad
I was cautious, yet engaged, especially when Dave showed me how to enlarge the type on the screen with a few strokes of my fingers. He wanted to show me movies and other sites that just didn’t interest me. I was interested in a solution to easily manage my eight e-mail addresses, my need to search the web, and the opportunity to edit Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents. Check, check, check! The iPad fulfilled all that—and more. Of course, I could read an e-book (Winnie the Pooh comes with the iPad), and download a zillion songs and applications from iTunes and the App Store. That was icing on the compact cake that weighed in at 1.5 pounds.
I had to wait a week for my iPad since there were millions of other people who were also falling in love with the iPad. When I brought my iPad home, I knew I had found the solution I needed. Using the built-in keypad is a little awkward and there is no printer connection. Nothing’s perfect. It is what it is: a lovely lightweight tablet that fulfills my traveling needs.