Merry Christmas! I’m typing this post from the Legacy Hotel in Little Rock, wrapping up a 2-day stay here.
I spent much of the past two days setting up and playing with the Christmas present I got my mother – an iPad. I have to admit, up until now I haven’t seen the point of iPads. They seemed like big iPhones without the phone. However, for her, a wireless iPad was perfect – a chance to experience iOS without a monthly phone bill.
Now that I’ve played with it, I can understand their appeal. There are plenty of apps which are written specifically for the iPad, rather than being apps written for the smaller iPhone screen that also work on the iPad. She downloaded the app for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, the local newspaper, and within minutes, she was reading the paper on her iPad. I don’t mean, she was surfing the Demo-Gaz’ website reading news stories – she had the actual newspaper, with photos, ads and all. She could zoom in and out, e-mail stories… very cool.
She also got the WeatherBug app. I have WeatherBug on my iPhone, but have to choose from multiple tabs depending on whether I want current conditions, radar, weather photos, or the forecast. The iPad has it all on one screen.
She got a couple of others – CNN’s app, which is designed for the iPad and has lots of photos and video, as well as People magazine which she subscribes to.
Is it enough to make me want an iPad? Not yet. With my apartment already cluttered with a MacBook, netbook and iPhone, I don’t see the need (yet) for a fourth Internet device, especially one that can’t (yet) get on PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker. Definitely going to keep my eye on the iPad though. If the coolness factor goes up I may get one.
Thanks to a sweet friend in Memphis, I also brought my mother a grab bag of perfumes and other goodies, including two fragrances she loved but hadn’t seen in 20 years. She was thrilled.
It’s snowing in Memphis, so I’m going to make an early trip back while the sun is high and bright in the sky. Hopefully that’ll keep snow and ice from sticking to the roads while I’m on them.
I’ll do a blog post about the stuff I did Little Rock later, this afternoon maybe if I get back early.