Today was National iPad Pre-Order Day, when all of us fan boys got out our wallets and paid the semi-quarterly membership fee to the Cult of Steve for the latest Apple gadget. In other words, yes I pre-ordered my iPad today, along with a gazillion of my closest friends.
I actually agonized over this decision quite a bit, because I couldn’t decide if I wanted the Wi-Fi version or the Wi-Fi + 3G version. The 3G version would be handy, no doubt, but it would delay my order for almost a month, plus I really didn’t want to sign up for another monthly bill. I finally decided to go with the 64GB Wi-Fi version based on availability, price, and the fact that I won’t miss 3G much based on how I expect to use the device.
(And let’s face it — my darling wife made the decision easy with her most insightful comment on Facebook.) Boom! Decision made, I ordered the Wi-Fi model. ;-)
I work for a networking company doing technical pre-sales, so a big part of my job involves visiting customers and delivering presentations on our products and services. One of the things I’m interested in using the iPad for is to give presentations. I added an iPad Dock Connector to VGA Adapter to my order, so I can hook it up to a projector. I’m looking forward to downloading a copy of Keynote once I receive the unit. I figure 3G won’t be required for this use case, since I will prep my presentations in advance from the Wi-Fi connection in my office or hotel. I’ll let you know how this works out once I’ve had a chance to field test it.
In the course of doing my job, I also frequently find myself sitting on an airplane. Luckily, most Delta flights have Wi-Fi on them now. (Another use case where 3G isn’t required.) I can really see the iPad coming in handy on a plane, both for watching movies and reading books. I watch TV shows and movies on my iPhone now, but the bigger screen on the iPad is bound to improve the experience. I’ve never owned an electronic book reader, but I am looking forward to using the iPad to read books. I’m a voracious reader, and I really enjoy devouring a good Science Fiction book, but it’s often hard to find my kind of books at the local bookstore. (Darn near impossible at an airport newsstand!) For example, I just finished “The Dreaming Void” by Peter J. Hamilton and thoroughly enjoyed it. However when I rushed out to the bookstore to buy the sequel it was nowhere to be found. With the iPad, I suspect I will be able to download most books to get instant gratification. We shall see how the selection pans out.
All in all, I’m happy with my decision. Stay tuned for more updates and the unboxing on April 3rd!
#1 by Ron Burchett on March 14, 2010 - 7:14 pm
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Hello Charles. I have read extensively about the iPad. However, you are actually the first person that said something that directly interested me: Using the iPad Dock to VGA Adaptor to hook up the iPad to a projector. This is exactly what I plan on doing, so I would be very interested in hearing how successful you are.
My situation would be different from yours only in how I will be using the device with a projector. You see: my Keynote presentations (all presentations converted from PowerPoint) will be based on MS Office Professional 2007, iWorks and Open Office Org.
I want to show my students that they need not be restricted in presenting their ideas in just a MS environment. They are free to work how they want: be it under Windows, Apple or Linux.
Using an iPad to present these points would be a great visual and communications prop. But I am going to hold off just a little bit to see how successful you are.
On a closing note: I totally agree with your wife because my wife said about the same thing.