iDilemma

CLOSE, BUT NO CIGAR

The pressure was unyielding and, at times, overwhelming. So many times my finger felted the firm resistance of the hard plastic button pushed up against it like a gateway drug beckoning to click and feel the rush and euphoria of an Apple purchase. The years, months, weeks, days, and hours leading up to the January 2010 reveal (well, Apple calls them Special Events), where the iPad would be ceremoniously unveiled to a clamoring throng of mostly Apple branded lemmings, were intense. I felt sure that I would order at least one of whatever Steve unapologetically offered that day as the next piece of deified fruit from upon high.

The day had finally arrived. The world was, “all a twitter” (excuse the obvious heteronym) over the promised revelation from Steve and his merry men. It seemed as though every news outlet, blogger, podcaster, and social mediadite had a take regarding the new product from Apple. To be fair, the iPhone had taken the world by storm and no one wanted to be left off the media coverage train for this new device. It promised to be a seminal moment in Apple history and we were all ready for the new Johnny (Ive) Apple Seed.

I was up early that cool day in January. I wanted to get my work done early so I could follow the Jobsian Keynote from one of the many live blogs covering it that morning. Steve had finally reached under that semi-worn black velvet cloth which had covered so many of the fabulous offerings from Apple. There it was, the iPad, in all its svelte and sexy glory. I have to admit, I was immediately attracted to its beauty and shape. If I could have ordered one that day, I surely would have.

As I listened to the information regarding the iPad, Apple emphasized many of the same talking and selling points associated with the iPhone: IPod functionality, great internet experience, infinite usability through App integration, and media consumption. Of course, the added benefit was the addition of iBooks. You could do all the things you were currently doing on your iPhone and iPod Touch (sans telephony), only on a larger screen. As I was digesting the PR hype regarding the iPad, I realized that I am an audio book listener, not a visual book reader, per se. Therefore, was the increased screen real estate enough of a reason to pony up the greenbacks for this beautiful, but impractical (so I thought) device?

Yeah, one day I would no doubt own an iPad. When the novelty wore off and I had some extra money to play with, I would pick one up. No, Steve and company had not sold me on the idea of why I needed this device. Indeed, it was beautiful and useful in a glorified iPod Touch kind of way, but not something that would allow me to be productive too, or so I thought.

IT’S THE PRODUCTIVITY STUPID
Dateline, “LAS VEGAS, NEVADA — CTIA WIRELESS® 2010 — MARCH 23, 2010 — Sybase, Inc. (NYSE: SY), an industry leader in enterprise and mobile software, today announced the results of a survey on mobile device usage, finding that the #1 reason U.S. consumers would use a tablet device such as the Apple iPad is for working on the go.” After surveying 2,443 adults, Sybase, Inc., announced that indeed productivity was/is the number one reason for using the iPad.

The above referenced survey was only a confirmation of something I had come to realize a number of days earlier. On one particular early morning, as I was sipping my coffee, riding my stationary bike, and listening to one of the many podcasts residing on my iPhone, I was reminded of an App I had forgotten about. As I listened to one of the podcasters opine about the reasons why he had pre-ordered his iPad, one of the reasons hit me like a ton of bricked iPhones, “I can’t wait to use LogMein on the iPad” he excitedly proclaimed. “I will be able to do all my laptop activities right from my iPad,” he went on to point out. “With LogMein, the iPad will be the notebook I always wanted,” he triumphantly exclaimed.

There it was. The reason I needed. I could use LogMein on the iPad and enjoy great productivity on the iPad as well as the other rich media experiences built into this new platform. Without hesitation, I pre-ordered my WiFi only version (Thanks MiFi) of the iPad and have never looked back. I look forward to using this small wonder both at home and on the road. Obviously, running my home computer via the iPad will not be the same as working with those applications and files locally. However, the fact that I can do it at all and that it can be done on a larger piece of screen real estate is enough for my needs. Color me happy and excited to get my hands on this nuclear response to the pee shooters (netbooks) which have been impotently launched at the Apple juggernaut for so many years. Now can someone tell me if the body shake I am experiencing is anxiousness over the arrival of the iPad, or RRDFS (Residual Reality Distortion Field Syndrome)?

email – MyMac Magazine – Twitter – Advertise – Reviews Archive – Podcast