Mossberg ditched his laptop for an iPad while traveling

Walt Mossberg, from The Wall Street Journal, decided to leave his laptop at home and travel to Paris with an iPad. This was a week-long working vacation and he posted an assessment of his experience with the iPad.



Interestingly, I have just run into one of the issues Mr. Mossberg mentioned while using my iPad. I have a number of PDF documents that I've "marked-up" with highlighting and comments, etc. I really like doing this rather than printing everything out. By marking up a PDF or even a Word document, I don't have to waste the paper, I can store it in Dropbox and have access from basically anywhere, and the mark-ups are dated and legible (sadly, I can't read my own writing) and much more functional for my uses. I spent the better part of an afternoon looking at reviews and trying different iPad apps to find one that will let me see the mark-ups. I found some that would allow me to mark-up a document (even though they didn't allow for use beyond the iPad, no exporting, etc). However, I didn't find anything that would let me see mark-ups I'd made previously with Adobe Acrobat.

As for Mr. Mossberg's mention of Ping from within iTunes, I haven't tried that yet, and I'm guessing if it isn't available, it will be soon in the iOS 4.2 update coming in Nov! This is one of the few issues I've found with my iPad so far.

OtterBox iPad Defender Case...Finally!

I've previously posted about my OtterBox iPhone case. This case has saved my iPhone from bumbs, bruises, and possibly disaster many times. Because of the great protection this case has given my iPhone, I've been waiting, not so patiently, for the iPad version. It finally arrived this morning. The iPad Defender Case from OtterBox provides three layers of protection for my iPad: a polycarbonate case, silicone skin around the case, and an adhesive screen protector. In addition to the case, it has a polycarbonate cover that snaps over the screen to provide added protection. The cover also acts as a stand for my iPad if I'm watching a video or surfing the Web.

Luckily, I recently read a blog posting about putting on the latest version of adhesive screen protectors. Most of the modern protectors have 3 layers. You removed one side and that sticks to the screen. You work the air bubbles out and make sure the placement is good, then you remove the outer layer. I'm pretty happy with the way my screen protector ended up on my iPad. Then it was time to place my iPad into the case. I was shocked at how precise the case was. It was much tighter than my iPhone case. There is some felt-type fabric inside the case. I think this adds to the really good fit. Then I had to stretch the silicone sleeve over the case. The silicone fits well with some tabs that "snap" into the hard case to hold it in place.

While this case does add a bit to the weight and "heft" of my iPad, I really like this case. The silicone around this case reduces the slipperiness of the iPad and makes holding feel much more secure. Additionally, with the cover snapped over the screen allows me to feel very comfortable slipping my iPad into my backpack or even my waterproof bike pannier. The one real drawback to this case is the price. $90 is a lot to spend on a case, but the peace of mind I have makes taking my iPad with me to most places possible. So I guess the cost is worth the security.

iPad...First impressions

I've had my iPad for a couple of weeks now and I have to admit that I pretty much love this device. Granted, there are some limitations. For example, the Apple VGA connector doesn't actually project the screen of my iPad only specific apps is a limitation in the classroom. I would love to be able to project my iPad screen to my class for demonstrations, but right now I can't.

However, I find myself using my iPad more than my MacBook Pro. It is the device that I grab to check my mail, surf the web, play a game, and so on. It turns on in the blink of an eye and is quick to render a web page or load an app.

The battery life is great. I can use it for a couple of days and then plug it in at night and it's ready to go in the morning. The size is perfect. I haven't gotten a case to mine yet, but I think I will actually like it even better with a little heft around it. Plus I'll likely feel a bit safer with then too. This this is fragile.

I love the display. It is bright and clear. I have no problems reading news reports and articles on it. I do find myself longing for some cursor keys for simple edits, but I'm sure I'll get more comfortable with time.

One other thing that will come with time is the ability to print directly from the iPad. Right now it really doesn't work. There are some third party apps that make the claim, but none of the reviews are supporting the claims. As Apple begins to see the really instructional and educational power of the iPad, I'm certain both the projection and printing issues will be resolved.

For now, all I can say is I see the iPad as a game changer in education. It is relatively low cost, has great battery life, and educators could develop content specific apps pretty easily. Additionally, with Pages, Keynote, and Numbers, it can be used in many traditional ways as a content development tool. I'm excited to see where this product might take K12 and Higher Education.

OtterBox Defender Case - iPhone & iPad

If you have an iPhone, you are likely concerned that it could get damaged, or at least you should be concerned about that. Those things aren't cheap! When I got my iPhone I new I'd want a good case for it. A case that could hold up to some abuse and protect my phone. Also, I really wanted something to protect the screen from scratches. I tried a couple of different cases and when I found the Defender Case from OtterBox I knew I found the case I was looking for.

This case has a hard polycarbonate case, surrounded by a silicone. The case also has a cover over the screen that allows you to use your touchscreen without removing anything. So the hard case is strong and protective. The silicone cover provides some bumper protection and give a bit of grip so your phone doesn't slip out of your hands. The screen cover does a nice job of protecting your screen. I've used my case for about 18 months now and have been really happy. I've dropped my phone a few times and it's survived just fine.



The case also gives you access to all the ports and controls. While, I'll admit the ringer switch is a little hard to get to without fingernails, it still works. I have two small  concerns with this case.

• The screen protector does have some adhesion between it and the actual screen. So I get some strange shadows/shapes between the screen and the protector.
• The case adds some "heft" to the iPhone. I knew this going in. The iPhone is slim and light, and I wanted to protect it. So The slim and light iPhone with a nice protective case is no longer slim and light. It still fits into my pocket just fine and I actually prefer the feel of it in my hand to an "uncased" iPhone. For some, this is just not an option. Of course, those tend to be the folks that buy new phones ever 3-6 months because they dropped their phone getting out the car and the screen cracked!

OtterBox has a Defender Case for the iPad coming soon, and I plan to order that as soon as it's available. Neither of these cases are cheap, but my experience with the iPhone case tells me my iPad will be saved from some bumps and drops too. So the cost seems worth it.

MobileMe

When MobileMe (formerly .Mac) first came out, I paid my fee to be a loyal Apple supporter. I never actually used any of the products. I had my own web server so I didn't need online storage or websites. Nor did I need another email address. After things for Apple started to turn around, I let my subscription lapse.
Then something happened. I kept all my information (e.g., calendar, contacts, and so on) on my laptop and I synced all of this info with my iPhone on a regular basis. I also regularly backed everything up. Then I got a shiny new iMac in my office. This meant I wasn't taking my laptop back and forth to campus any more. However, I wanted to have all my information synced between the two computers and my iPhone.

I started looking at solutions like the apps from Google, like Google Calendar but I was just seeing too many hurdles to make it all work. The price for many of these options was really low and even free, but the set-up and hoops just seems like a barrier. So I started using using MobileMe. Like most things Apple, it just works. My contacts, bookmarks, calendars, etc are all synced between my computers, iPhone and now my iPad. If I make a change on one, it's updated everywhere. Also, I can access this info from the Web if I'm without my iPhone or computer. Additionally, the "Find my iPhone/iPad" option found at me.com is huge! iPhones/iPads aren't cheap and the ability to locate it and even lock it remotely is worth the yearly subscription cost.

While $99 a year is a little salty, the convenience is worth the cost. In addition, I do get 20GB of storage online and it could handle some back-ups, etc. I don't use those features, but they are available if I needed them. It is pretty handy to put albums up from iPhoto for others to download images. I don't have to do much to get the album up there so it's a time saver for me as well.

If you haven't tried MobileMe, you can try if for free for 60 days. If you have multiple devices, I'll bet you find it worth the $99 a year.