The iPad--To Be or Not to Be?

To say that I enjoy using the iPad would not be a complete lie--I do. I like being able to whip it out of my bag whenever I please, whether to play a game (I have an unhealthy obsession with the Angry Birds app) or research something on the internet (something inconspicuous like different dog species or James Joyce). The iPad, if nothing else, is incredibly handy. It's the shortcut I have to the outside world. In the time that it takes to log onto my computer, press "remind me later" to the Adobe reader notice that pops up each time, minimize AIM--which I haven't used in close to five years--and sit back and wait as my Symantec checks for any viruses, I will have already completed the task on the iPad and moved onto something else. Yet, that doesn't mean I would trade in my baby--a.k.a my laptop--for greener pastures, and I think that pretty much says at all: the iPad is functional and desired because it is portable, not necessarily because of its features. For example, despite the fact that it has a little shadow of a circle that looks quite suspiciously like a camera, no such things exists--for this model at any rate. Flash doesn't exist and while it would be nice if the iPad allowed free apps, it simply isn't the case. (Granted, the latter could just simply be my own wishful hoping).

Moreover, unlike others in the class, I don't take notes on the iPad, not for class anyhow. Call me old-fashioned or stubborn, but unless I'm physically handwriting class notes into a notebook, there seems to be some sort of malfunction between the teacher and my brain. In any case, I used the iPad--the app "Chapters" in particular--to work on my thesis. Initially, I couldn't envision anything better. After having--accidentally, of course--dropped my laptop last winter break, constant moving it around just simply doesn't happen because of the crack in screen. Thus, my inability to freely bring my laptop around made the use of the iPad even more of a treasure. However, despite the mobility of the iPad, I quickly realized that typing on it is a hazard to one's inner spell check. Words were incorrect (thanks to the iPad's auto-correct function) and typing quotation marks for dialogue was more of a hassle than anything else.

In addition, I found that my concentration level has decreased since using the iPad. We've discussed in class how we now live in a hyperactive society; up until this point, I have always been proud of the fact that I did not consider myself to be one of these people. However, I've recently acknowledged the shameful fact that on the iPad, I barely ever complete books. Instead, I log on the Kindle app, open a book, read a few pages, decide that there might be something more interesting online, and rush to Amazon.com where I resume my endless search for free e-books. Thus far, I have roughly fifty e-books on my Kindle, of which only thirty or so I have finished, to be compared with the roughly 150 books I have at home, all of which have been finished probably in the same day they were individually bought. I don't want to blame the iPad for my recent hyperactive take on life, but to me, there seems no other explanation; if I trek over to Borders on St. Charles, buy two or three books, I have finished reading everything I have purchased by the next day, and sometimes have gone back for a second reading.

In short, the iPad has greatly influenced my life this past semester, some in better ways than others. Would I trade in my iPad? My answer is a emphatic no. I like being able to use it whenever I wish, to discover new apps that somehow manage to make my life easier, despite the fact that there are definitely cons to the device as well.