Wednesday, June 29, 2011

More on my iPad

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Before I start blathering, I just wanted to say something.

I have about one hundred posts started, just waiting to be finished (no kidding!). I start them, then get carried away, and they become way too long, or go off in fifty different directions. I neglect to edit them, so I just hit "save" but never go back and actually clean them up and post them.

I always think I get too far off topic, and then think, who cares? Am I the only one that does this?

Now that that's off my chest, here's today's prattle.

I continue to love the iPad. Really, if you don't have one, I guess you don't know, but it has absolutely become my go-to choice in mobile devices.

In fact, I rarely use my iPhone any longer. Since I can use Skype on the iPad, that's proved to be a real boon. That said, my iPad doesn't have a camera, so it's not much use for that, but it's a whiz bang device for photo editing. My hope is that the next generation will have a better screen and a better camera. If so, I'm in for one.

I finally found a great bag that perfectly fits my Canon 7D and my iPad, so now I carry both of them with me wherever I go. I'm not traveling light, but I'm prepared!

For now, I'm still impressed with the first generation iPad. If you're on the fence, maybe look for a used first generation. They're a lot cheaper than the new ones and a great way to get your feet wet.

You all surely know by now that I'm a movie junkie. I just discovered a great little app from Roger Ebert that contains over three hundred of his oh so well written reviews. I have to say, I love the way this man writes. His insights are always spot on. It only costs $.99 and doesn't require an internet connection, so it's suitable for an iPad, an iPhone or an iPod Touch.

I've also spent a bit of time watching movies on my iPad. Terry gets tired of my obsession with British "upper class" melodramas, so sometimes, I just stay in bed in the morning and watch an episode or two of my favorite Masterpiece Theater. It's very cool.

As for reading, I've given the Kindle and Literati completely over to Terry. I love that I can have all my books in one place. I might mention that if you're using an eReader, you might want to take a look at a free software called Calibre. It's written to be a repository for all your books, regardless of format. It backs them up, you can edit the metadata to your liking and makes it really easy to load them on to any of your devices. If you like, you can also hook it directly into iTunes.

I'm so impressed with how well the iPad manages PDFs. As you RVers may know, about a year or so ago, we scanned all of our manuals into the computer. It makes it so much easier to find one when we need it, I'm convinced it's the way to go. And this relates to the iPad how? Well, for the manuals that we use most often, I've put a copy of the PDF in Calibre and now have them on my iPad. I've also written up a few "lists" in PDF form, things like all the steps we follow when we hook the car to the motorhome for traveling, how to dump (I always review this, just to be sure) and a list of things to check before we take off. It's very handy.

I also like an app called OurGroceries. While there are hundreds of shopping list apps for these devices, what I like about this one is that it communicates across devices. Both Terry and I have it on our iPhones and I also have it on the iPad. When one of us enters something into the shopping list, it magically appears on all the devices. No more saying we don't have the shopping list with us!

I've also discovered several apps that are just so darn gorgeous, I have to mention them. It looks like many artists are using these devices as a way to self publish. There's a small game called Dreams HD that has such stunning drawings, I find myself going back to it over and over. Another favorite is Forgotten Colours, fifteen small stories with original artwork. If you like Forgotten Colours, they offer a free set of "wallpaper" based on the drawings for your iPad.

I could go on and on (as I said at the beginning), but I think I'll save the second half of my list for another post. Hopefully that way, you can stay awake through all this!
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Postscript-
After I went to ALL THE TROUBLE to edit this for posting, Blogger is down! Maybe this means I shouldn't post it when they're back up?

Nah, now that Blogger is back up, I say post away.

5 comments:

Russ Krecklow said...

must have IPad.....must have IPad.....must have IPad......I keep trying to impress this upon Donna's mind with the power of suggestion, but so far, it hasn't worked!

She just got up and went into the kitchen, and came back with an ice cream thingy.....and ate it all up!!

Something must be wrong with my mental transmitter.

Donna K said...

I always love your posts...so do go on if you feel like it...it's YOUR blog!

Lots of good info on the ipad...we're still mulling that one. I love my Kindle so much and I have my laptop so why do I need an ipad??? I bet you can tell me why LOL! We don't have iphones so we couldn't communicate between devices. But then Russ does love his toys so we will probably cave at some point in the future.

Pleinguy said...

Your enthusiasm for the iPad is contagious. I'm not sure the new iOS5 coming in September will work for the original iPad. If not you will miss some wonderful new features.

Myself, I just love my 3G iPod Touch. I call it the computer in my pocket because it does so many things. I did a post about it early this week on my blog.

Based on you and Andy recommending the Our Groceries app, I downloaded it. However, it doesn't work on my Touch. Whenever I select s Shopping List, it dumps out of the program; so there's no way to use it. Have you heard of any issues like this?

Keep posting whatever strikes your fancy. I love it all!

Jim and Gayle said...

Dammit, I continue to have gadget envy.

Jim

Merikay said...

I don't even have a cell phone! Had one once for two years and rarely used it. Craig got one when we went on a rented RV trip, and when we do buy our rig, I will probably get one too. But maybe not.

I loe my mac pro that I got last fall. I watch Netflix on it all of the time, use it as an e-reader, and listen to audio books as well. I did get a better speaker right off however.

I too have a number of draft posts. Not as many as you do however. If I don't post them within a few weeks I usually delete them.