2 weeks with an iPad :)

So, it's been two weeks since I got my iPad and I am still very enamoured with my new toy. Despite it's 10 hour battery life, I have to charge it every night because its on, through the working day. Either I am playing games or browsing, or downloading, or just fiddling with it.

I have observed that the tablet has completely substituted my notebook for pure browsing behaviour. For example, I have imported my RSS subscriptions onto an iPad based feed reader and so I read all my tech news on it every morning. I still prefer my phone to check e-mail, Facebook and Twitter handily but I definitely use the tablet more to update my status or share links. While I am more likely to read from the tablet, I still prefer the Kindle for reading e-books, as I just find the E-ink easier on the eye for prolonged reading.

And for composing this blog post, I am back onto my notebook. I have still not got around to enjoying typing on any touch screen device. I have been considering attaching an external wireless keyboard as an accessory, but I don't think I will.  As of now, it is designed primarily as a consumption device and I don't think accessories can change it 360 degrees to a productivity device.

What has changed hugely, is that I have completely stopped browsing the Net on my phone. I might still do that in an emergency but the experience is just  so much better on a 10 inch screen. I am cutting down my Reliance Net Connect and cellphone 3g plans and putting the saved money into a bigger data plan for the iPad.

And today, I dug out this blog post by Peter Bregnan. He talks about returning his iPad after he realised that the device was making him compellingly consume more content, at times when he would normally be idle. He notes

"Being bored is a precious thing, a state of mind we should pursue. Once boredom sets in, our minds begin to wander, looking for something exciting, something interesting to land on. And that's where creativity arises.
My best ideas come to me when I am unproductive. When I am running but not listening to my iPod. When I am sitting, doing nothing, waiting for someone. When I am lying in bed as my mind wanders before falling to sleep. These "wasted" moments, moments not filled with anything in particular, are vital."
I completely understand where he is coming from, and agree that the tablet is an addictive form factor. Perhaps more so than even the cell phone. I am not returning my iPad (I am supposed to pass it on to my mom when I am fed up, she has already booked it!) But I will treat his words as a caution. Idleness is certainly precious in an age of constant connectivity.

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