Same words, different language.

[hannah]

My mother's offered to get me an iPad as a late birthday gift. She's been advocating for it pretty strongly - "it'll be good for travel" is the main argument. And it really is the sort of thing that makes for a good birthday gift from one's parents. I'm just not sure why she's suggested it at all. My brother has one, and I played on it for a little while last week to get some idea of what it's capable of.

The more I think about it, the less I know I'd be able to use an iPad for much of anything. I mean, I don't travel enough for 'travel' to be a good reason - I'm going to France with my family in May, and I'm going to Con.TXT in June, and that's all the travel I can see myself doing in the next year or so. Even during travel, I don't know what I could use it for. Browsing the internet would be nice, but that's not really something I'd need after the trip is over, so I might as well take the time to bodily separate myself from the internet for a few days and simply enjoy the luxury of not needing to regularly check my e-mail. Word processing would mean synching the iPad to my computer or e-mailing stuff back and forth, and even then the iPad doesn't really do word processing, not even with dedicated apps. An ereader would be useful, but why not pack a couple of dense paperbacks instead? Once I get back from the trip, I'd have my regular computer and my regular books, and the iPad would be a fancy redundancy. So I really can't grasp why my mother thinks I want one.

So to everyone with an iPad: what the hell do you use it for? Because I don't know. And maybe someone telling me would help me figure this out.

Comments

[raven]

I have a very long commute mostly on trains, and mine is completely invaluable to me: it's so great having a small device I can use to write, read my email, read Kindle books, use a browser and watch TV and listen to music! I'd use a computer for all those things at home, so I think I agree that travelling is key to how much use I get out of it.

(Worth mentioning, though, for word processing, I use SimpleNote, which is self-syncing.)

[hannah]

How much space for music does it have?

[raven]

It depends on which one you get. Mine has 16GB space total, and it's set to fill in any empty space with music.

[hannah]

Wait, how does that space getting filled in automatically work?

[raven]

You specify what you want on it - apps, games, films, whatever, and all that takes priority, but if there's any space left, it automatically fills it with random music from your library.

[hannah]

I don't have iTunes. I suspect this would pose a problem.

[batdina]

caveat: I"m a language geek.

my iPad has an entire library of Hebrew and Aramaic books (religious and otherwise) as well as an ereader (kindle and ibooks). it has a game or two (scrabble mostly) and a dozen audio books at any given time as well as 10 gigs of music of all kinds.

I have a mini (with a 60g drive), it fits into even my smallest bag and it syncs with a keyboard (lightweight one that's about the same size) so if I do need it for writing purposes, I have the ability to do it without using the screen. I do use the cloud for a few things on it, just in case. If I'm working on an article for instance, or a poem, I make sure it's in the cloud before I leave home. I've used the sucker on planes, trains, and subways and I use it at night if I'm awake after the partner-chick crashes.

for me, the biggest positive thing is that it doesn't weigh even as much as a thick paperback, and given the fact that my joints are in revolt most of the time, the flexibility of having so much available to me in one place can't be beat.

I certainly get the "taking a break from the internet" thing as I do it once a week myself. this is just to say that even I have been surprised at how much use I'm getting out of the thing.

[delight]

I actually use mine for word processing! I like Pages a lot, and I use iCloud so I don't actually sync it to my computer (though I've also learned the hard way that that's a bad idea; I recently upgraded mine and some of my purchased apps didn't carry over and I had to buy them again, because I had upgraded in-app rather than bought premium versions outright). Of course, I have a full-size keyboard for it; I find it indispensable for academic purposes because my computer batteries just don't last long enough to do all the word processing I need to do in one sitting without access to a plug. But that is my personal experience with it, and doesn't translate well to people not in that setting.

That said: I also use mine for, um, everything else in the world. Internet things and non; I misplaced my Kindle, so I use it for books (when I want a book I often want it right away to read right now, not when I can get a physical copy). I use it for watching things like Netflix, though this doesn't work on trains unless you have a 3g model. I use the camera, even though it's not that great and I also have a DSLR, just because I usually have the iPad with me and the DSLR does not go everywhere I do. (It fits in my purse.) I use it for zen purposes (there are literally zen garden apps and they are very relaxing), for tracking my nutrition stuff & my medications, and for either using or ignoring my email, AIM and Twitter depending on if I feel like being connected to the rest of the world or not (I often need internet breaks).

And I'm sure that's not even half of what I use it for. I didn't think I'd use it much either but have ended up finding it completely indispensable.

[montanaharper]

I mostly use mine as an ereader (with the Marvin app), even when I'm home. I read in bed for an hour or so every night, for instance. I use Calibre on my computer and there's a plug-in that lets me download fanfic from a variety of sites, which I then sync to my iPad. I have about 500 stories on there right now, so I can always pick what I'm in the mood for, fandom- or theme-wise. I also have about 100 professionally published books on it, including reference works for things I'm writing. It's a lot easier than carrying a physical book around, and if I get a story idea I can just note it down without having to carry a notebook and pen. I've also got a bluetooth keyboard that attaches magnetically to the iPad for travel and has a slot for the iPad to hold it at a good reading angle when you're using it.

Some of the other things I do with it:
* games (Bejeweled HD, mainly), for when I'm out and have some time to kill but not enough to start on a book
* comic-book reader (ComicRack)
* remote app (xbmcRemote) for the media center program on my PC, so I don't have to be within reach of the keyboard or mouse to control what I'm watching
* shopping list app (GroceryIQ; also QFC's app for virtual coupons/discounts)
* Overdrive for ebooks and audiobooks from the library
* Google Drive, so my in-progress fic is synced and available if I am inspired while I'm out
* IMDB app for when I'm watching TV or a movie and need to know who that really familiar guy is
* recipe app (AllRecipes), which makes cooking a lot easier and less dead-tree consuming
* audiobook app (Audible), so I can fall asleep listening to books or podfic via the built-in speaker
* medical database app (Minerva PHR) that syncs with my PC so I can have all my medical data with me all the time
* apps from my bank and auto/renter's insurance company

I actually use my iPad a lot, and I'm pretty much a homebody. Though I got one without wireless and I'm regretting that now when I am out doing things; when I replace this one I'm definitely getting a wireless-capable one, because T-Mobile has a thing where you can get 200MB of free monthly data without any strings. My daughter's on the plan and has been happy with it.

[lasergirl]

I use my ipad to read comic books and to play games as a de-stresser before I fall asleep at night. I started using it more during school last year to keep PDFs of Ministry of Education documents in so I didn't have to carry around the multitudes of paper copies. Right now I use it for Tumblr (visual twitter, good for fannish content and pictures of cute animals), I play a couple of puzzle word games and again, comic books. I can write stuff on it but that's not really what it's for at all.

[hannah]

What's your Tumblr username?