Two Months with an iPad - the journey continues

Ok - two months in and what can I add to the mix.

Well, firstly I can report that the lack of multitasking is in fact a bigger pain than I'd like - the fact that it is pretty quick to change between applications makes it bearable - but only just.

The lack of corporate tools to manage and navigate through firewalls and filtering systems is a pain - made more so by the fact that my office on the ground floor is beautifully sheltered from any sign of significant 3G coverage by the concrete that surrounds me - so heading out over 3G needs me to move location.

Last gripe is Vodafone's 3G coverage - prone to drop out far too often for my complete liking - might investigate Telecom or 2Degrees in another few months. That said, I have been surprised at the fact that I have not used the full 3GB of data I pay for each month ...


Blogging tools   (that I've found so far) are average - they allow me to do some basic stuff like text and images, but I want more.



But that's about it for the negatives ... the positives are ....

I can access my Google account via Google's mobile app - email, docs, etc. The shame is that I can't edit or create Docs or Presentations - but at least I can edit Spreadsheets if I need to ... but that's where ...

 Docs To Go comes in. I have had a few issues getting documents created in Google Docs to even open in Docs To Go - the issue seems to have been some of the newer versions of Google Apps - but this appears resolved now and for the last week I have been able to pretty easily create new and edit existing documents on the fly - so I'm happy with this.

The mobile version of Google Earth is awesome - we used it to find our way to places we had no idea about during a recent motorhome holiday - the awesome detail coupled with 3G access was brilliant - don't need a GPS in the truck to do this!!

And while I am still not overly happy with the file structure and management the iPad offers (maybe I just need to accept there is another way of arranging stuff than my untidy way of filing on my other computing devices!) But DropBox works well for me shifting stuff between my PC, Mac and iPad - so this all works OK.

My worst purchase to date is the Apple Keyboard doc - thought I'd need it - haven't used it since the day I bought it.

Best purchase - the iPad itself, the Apple case for it and everything else I have installed.

Best use to date - recording feedback directly onto a Google Doc (via Docs to Go) as the students were presenting their research - laptop and tablet both too heavy and awkward to do this - iPod Touch too small, iPad - just purrfick!

Next best app - Feedler - my RSS feed (or my way of a reading my Google Reader account at the moment). there is still something missing from what I think I want - just haven't found a better way yet.


Basically I love the iPad (well, love is a bit strong ... but it is way cool) - haven't even thought about trying to print anything from it - no need to. Just add the document to my iBooks library and read it when I want.

My next exploration will be to sign up for some digital magazines via Zinio  - have resisted the temptation so far, but can see that is where I'm heading.

i, i, i ... it's all about i or do i mean me?

I've had my iPod Touch for about 3 weeks now - wish I had enough to get an iPhone but the local rates for what I'd use it for are prohibitive, so iPod Touch it is.

Since I've had it my 7 year old now wants to learn a foreign language on it (after he saw some stuff off iTunes) and I love the way it collects my email and calendar so that I know what I am supposed to be doing during the day. In fact, the thing I am using it least for at the moment is listeningto music. I watch TED talks regularly on it (Ray Kurzweil's update on technology and exponential growth is my current favourite.)

I have noticed a tendency for it to loose network settings (home and school) and so I guess I need to explore that a little more - could get frustrating if I don't resolve that soon. However, I do need to start using my new Pulse Smartpen too - showed it to my latest Horizon Project class on Friday and they were blown away to the point of calling it a hoax!

But NECC is nearly upon us - one of my favourite events of the year where I can start to catch up on some of my own PD - and just today came across this site which looks to be a repository of everything iPod/iPhone for education. So, more time to be devoted to i-something ... it's just that I sometimes feel that the i-something is just all about work and not about me ... think I need to change that somehow.