because I am always using it? Whether it be to read a book (which let me just say now, makes no sense, because no one loved her Kindle more than I did. But the truth is, the iPad is way more fun to read on than the Kindle. Color makes a big difference. Just think what our lives would be like today if the Wizard of Oz had stayed black and white.) Wrong. So, yes, I read on it. A lot. But I also love to check email and blogs on it because it is so convenient and easy to do, wherever I might be. I don't actually have a laptop ... well, I do, it's a netbook though, and more just because someone like me needs to have the ability to tune in whenever, where ever she may be -- but my number one computer is a beeeeee-U-tiful iMac with a kick-ass big old screen and it meets all my needs, thank you very much. I had, in fact, determined that I didn't need an iPad. What was I thinking?
I have stacks of Vanity Fair magazines in my office. Stacks of them. The problem with VF is that every article is thousands of words long. Clearly the editor of VF just goes out to lunch everyday or something, because these tomes just go on and on and on. But I always feel as though I must read every word. So as a result, I get behind. Oh, and flipping through the pages and pages and pages of glossy ads (which I don't even glance at) is tiresome. BUT! There is an app for that! Oh yes, indeedy, you can download Vanity Fair and read it on your iPad -- and it is an app designed by VF -- which is a big deal, one will find, when using apps. Because VF designed the app, it works with the magazine. And in such a beautiful way. Oprah magazine has done the same thing. Beautiful apps, beautiful magazines with an interactive feature that just can NOT be beat. You can click on a photo and get more photos. You can get videos right then and there ... it's just a dream come true! Love, love, lovelovelovelove it!
Avoid apps that have no connection with the publication itself -- because in most cases it is just PDF pages downloaded with no interactivity whatsoever and often times they are even blurry. No thanks! The New York Times has a fairly decent app -- The Boston Globe does exactly what I I told you to avoid. Clunky, blurry, not good. There is nothing that pisses me off more in an app than "hanging" where I can't figure out how to get out and the only way is to get out altogether. The Union Leader also does the same thing -- though even worse than the Globe! It is like flipping through an old microfiche machine. Seriously pathetic and if the point is to get yourself out there, then play big or don't play at all. People with iPad's are techno-savvy and they do not have time for that kind of crap. I couldn't delete those apps fast enough, and it is unlikely I will ever check them out again.
To pay or not to pay, that is the question. When I shelled out a lot of dough for my new toy (and make no mistake, it is a toy) I decided that I wasn't going to put a lot of money into apps. So I am currently on that same program and only download free apps. Well, liar liar, pants on fire, I did immediately download and pay for Scrabble. My addictions are wordy! And I do pay for the magazines. And take this advice ... heed it well. DO NOT DOWNLOAD THE FREE APP FOR ANGRY BIRDS.
I used to do a column on websites, called Webbed Feats, and I would spend hours combing the web looking for interesting websites and then I would write about them. I just realized that I am doing that here! And there are definitely columnists that do talk about apps -- I know because I will go to great lengths for a good free app!
The other night, as my mind was in overdrive as it usually is, I started to think about how ridiculous this whole app thing is. An app is an application, and our computers have been running on applications since the beginning of Windows-based computing. But it only takes a little time and pretty soon a word like apps is mainstream. I want to come up with such a word!
Another important piece of the iPad puzzle was the cover. I did extensive research on this, because in the end, the cover will be just as important as the equipment it is covering -- and it will be in your hands daily! I loved the look of the Smart Cover that they were pushing, but after reading only a few reviews I knew it wasn't "the one." The very fact that it didn't protect the back of the iPad was really all I needed to know, but to read that the magnets often didn't hold reminded me of people who bought Kindles with a known (by Amazon) defect that the cover created. But rather than stop the mass production and goal of putting a Kindle in everyone's hand before the end of the world, they just sold them. I happened to know more than one person who had this problem, and quite frankly I find it utterly disgusting that a company would do such a thing. Yeah, I know, I'm not that naive. But still.
So my cover had to have great reviews ... and there are a lot of covers out there. What turned me on to the Dodocase was its story; I am always a sucker for a good story. Old-fashioned bookbinding company in San Franscisco, on the brink of extinction, pairs up with hip college grads and they create a cover using tried-and true technology using the OLD machines. Love it. The name they could have worked on -- but I get it. Dodo, extinction, blah blah blah. But really, a dumb name, by saying it is a cover of extinction -- when in fact, it's not. But that is just me -- the cover is great though a little boring in its blackness. I guess I should just put stickers on it, or something, because this morning I wasted a lot of time checking out new, PINK covers! So silly.
So now I am off to read, on my iPad of course.
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