We finally broke down and bought an iPad about a month ago. Our old computer is so very slow and with the podcasts I’m recording and editing weekly and trying to write a couple of blogs several times a week, I was always on it and Mrsfabp was left out in the digital cold. I looked at new laptops but then decided that the iPad offered us more, especially in light of the fact that I wanted to learn the Apple system and eventually get an Apple Mac Book or similar new computer when the time to replace the old dinosaur comes (that’s my old computer, not me…).
It took a while to get used to but overall has been a wonderful addition and made things on our recent trip much easier. There are easy to use Apps for Gmail and Twitter and Facebook and Google reader and lots of games to play and Mrsfabp’s favorite, a Netflix app that let her watch movies and TV shows wherever a wireless network could be found. There was however a bit of a serendipitous effect to the iPad. It was a real, genuine social magnet.
Back a number of years ago I was reading a car review by a writer for a car magazine about the newly redesigned VW Bug. He opened up the article by saying that the thing he was most unprepared for was the public’s reaction to the car he was test driving and reviewing. He said everyone asked him about it. He had never experienced the “buzz” that this car was generating in all of his years of reviewing cars. People constantly talked to him about it wherever he went with it. What was it like, did he enjoy driving it. He then said he felt like he was in a fishbowl at times with all the stares and mouth open gapes and said everyone who talked to him said they wanted to try one. Well our experience with the iPad is very, very similar, if not exactly the same.
Everyone who sees it asks about it. What’s it like, easy to use, heavy or light, do we like it. On several occasions we were surrounded by a small crowd of people looking at it. The most memorable was at a breakfast place in the city. Our waitress noticed it and made several comments ending with “I wonder if I should get one.” Within minutes there was a small group of people including a couple of managers and a busboy and sweeper asking about it. “What kind of things can you do with it? Is it easy to use? How do you move around the menu?” Everyone is fascinated by it. And everyone who talks with us ended up saying something like “I think I want to get one”
This thing could be better for the dating world than a new puppy. I’m not sure Steve Jobs and Apple knew what they had here. Or maybe they did…
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