Thursday, March 29, 2012

IPad as the New Legal Pad?

This is how a lot of us work: Laptop + Other Information
When the iPad first came out, my husband Sam and I ran out to buy one. As a developer, Sam thought it was fabulous, and as a librarian, I thought it was a great tool to reach timid technology users.
At first we adored it. It lived on our ottoman in our living room, and we grabbed it when we had a quick question ("I'm not sure...Let's google it!") or when we needed  to play Harbor Master or Sextuple Word Challenge. But, as soon as we wanted to find restaurants, bars, or fun places in the neighborhood, we ran into FLASH issues. Halfway through the search, we'd have to give up and switch to our laptops. After awhile, the iPad just wasn't being used. I wasn't reading on it (it was too heavy, and I loved my Kindle), nor was I checking my email (I already used my Evo for that). One day, I came home, and I realized that the iPad was missing. My husband had sold it three days earlier, and I hadn't even noticed. 
But now, I find myself yearning for one again. As learning becomes increasingly self-directed, I find myself watching instructional videos on Youtube while I attempt to practice the skill on my laptop. Clicking back and forth between windows is fun for about twenty minutes, but it gets frustrating fast. In the old days, while I was learning a new skill, I was surrounded by notes and other resources (like textbooks). Now, most of my information lives on my computer screen. If I think about the iPad in this way, it makes a lot more sense to make the purchase again.
And it wouldn't hurt to move my Angry Birds obsession from my Evo to a bigger screen...

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