The iPad is not for geeks; It is for us!

As an Apple lover, I had waited with anticipation for the rumored Apple “tablet”. Yesterday my wait was over; the iPad had arrived. I went to a lot of web sites where some of the younger geeks tended to bash it for its’ apparent limitations, some of which were:

• No multitasking
• No Adobe Flash
• No camera or iChat capabilities
• Still limited to AT&T's 3G service

First, I didn’t expect the iPad to replace my iPhone, or my MacBook Pro, or my iMac 27,” or my digital camera. I would have liked a carrier other than AT&T because of their abysmal service, but I’m saying a prayer that situation will change in the near future.

Steve Wozniak was unhappy that it didn’t allow him to edit movies or fool around with music. Steve, don’t you have a real Mac for that? I do.

Mashable has a great article about the purpose of the iPad. It proposed that the iPad is a device for consuming content, not creating it.
As such it is uniquely suited to this task. If I want to create content like this blog post, for instance, I sure as heck will use my 27“ iMac--not an iPad.

What do I find so valuable about it?

• It will save trees, millions of them. Right now I have literally hundreds of books lining the shelves of several book cases. I tend to read several at a time, and have to carry at least two with me--just in case. With the iPad, I can have all the books I’m currently interested in with me when I go to Cafe La Tartine for tea. I can de-clutter my house by passing along my unused book cases to someone who needs them.
• It has a much larger screen (9.7inches) than my iPhone. As we age, our eyes need help reading small print. I’ve tried reading some books on my iPhone, and it’s darn difficult! I’ll be able to read bigger text and enjoy it rather than struggling. We have a client who is trying to read a 600 page novel on his iPhone, and it takes 13,000 pages. On the iPad, it will take 600.

• At a mere 1.5 pounds, it’s light weight, and only 1/2” thick (that’s actually “thin”). My laptop is increasingly difficult for me to carry, and when I take it somewhere it’s usually to surf the web, check email, look at Facebook, or post to Twitter. I hardly need a laptop for those tasks if I have an iPad.
• It’s small enough to fit in a woman’s tote bag or large purse without having to carry yet another case. Men will have to figure out their own preferred method of transport.

How will I use it?

• As a book reader. I love reading but the arthritis in my hands sometimes interferes with holding the books pages open. No such problem exists with the iPad. I can have my current books with me wherever I go, meaning I’ll actually read more -- what a concept.
• To get email while I‘m away from my real computers. I’m CEO of Alive! Whole Life Fitness Studio and I need to be able to access my email wherever I am -- OK, except at the movies or maybe the bathroom.
• To browse the internet (of course). I’ll be able to look up the latest Onion articles and laugh my a** off. Laughing is good.
• I’ll finally be able to actually see the Facebook app and post updates; Twitter will be easier to see as well. It’s those eyes again!
• To keep my favorite photos of my family and friends so I can share them with people I meet. I promise I won’t force them to look!
• To access some of my favorite YouTube videos; the ones that either make me laugh or inspire me.
• I’ll use the Maps feature to find my way to a new restaurant or a business.

I hope Apple extends the iBook store to publishing eBooks created by us folks; what a concept! A friend of ours also had a great suggestion. Some of the publishers could subsidize the cost of the iPad in return for a long term subscription to their content. It could work kind of like the old book club model, only on steroids.

If Apple is smart (and I think they are really, really smart), they’ll market this to my demographic; the 50-pluser’s and above. As DTNick said in a comment in a PC World article :

“As I mentioned ..., we geeks sometimes lose touch of what real people use computers for: http://bit.ly/cLtQUy
My mom, for example, isn’t going to care about multitasking, the aspect ratio, the lack of an HDMI port, or any of that spec stuff. All she’ll care about is whether it’s easy to use, and whether it’ll get her online.”

DTNick, I’m not your Mom--but I could be. Thanks for thinking of me!

So, geeks who want more than what the iPad offers, please don’t buy one; obviously it’s not for you. Leave it for us, the 78 million plus Boomers and beyond (I’m a bit beyond) who will find it an extremely valuable piece of technology.

Finding My Voice

It’s been awhile since I sat down to write a post. Stuff like tax preparation, and a zillion other things I decided were more important than blogging (silly me) kept me from writing. Well, no more excuses. Here I am again.

Today I’m sitting in my home office with a ceramic heater at my knees, huddled in a turtleneck trying to stay warm. According to my husband, the barometric pressure is supposed to be lower than it’s ever been which is probably why my arthritic joints are so achy.
It’s been raining, windy and cold for days -- it seems like weeks -- here in sunny northern California. Four storms all stacked up in a pretty little row, waiting to jump on land and feed the earth.

Now, I love the rain, and the thunder, and even the lightning. Ok, even those freezing cold little bits of hail made me feel more alive than I’ve felt in a long time; I’m happy to report it was so small that no damage was done to my car. When we lived in New Mexico, I reveled in the daily afternoon autumn thunderstorms that swept across our four acre property outside Lamy. I even dared to go outside and stand under our tin-roofed porch, kind of daring the lightning to strike me. Of course, it never did so I am here now to merely remember that incredible feeling of aliveness, and power and vulnerability that overcame me during these storms.

I’ve found that the stuff nature has thrown at me so far in my life has been bearable and even exhilarating. I do not know how I would respond to a natural disaster as devastating as the one to hit Haiti. I watch news accounts, see the unbearable suffering and feel ashamed that I have complained about our home and it’s “defects”, or how food wasn’t cooked the way I wanted it so I sent it back. Or how incredibly ungrateful I can be when things aren’t going my way. Or how my dog eats better than the Haitians. I feel ashamed.

We donated money to AmeriCares and that helped my state of mind - a little bit - but there is so much more that needs to be done. Several of the people who send me email newsletters included the following links in them so I would have the opportunity to give to the Haitian people. I include them, below, so you can also have the opportunity to give if your heart is touched as mine was.

Robert Middleton of Action Plan Marketing had this to say in his newsletter:

“I don't know about you, but with the earthquake in Hatiti
I found myself glued to the television and feeling rather helpless
in the face of all that devastation.

It's really hard to comprehend, not just that tens of thousands
have lost their lives, but that the living have virtually lost their
whole city. It will literally take generations to rebuild.

It kind of puts our small problems in perspective.

And it hopefully brings up the question, "What can I do?"

The answer is that you can make a donation. Perhaps you can do
more, but every single person can, at the very least, make a
donation that will go directly to aid in Haiti.

My wife and I were on the verge of buying a buying a fireplace
heater for our living room. I told my wife that we could do without
it this winter and donate that money instead.

So, that's what we did. And I urge you to do what you can.

Below are links to a number of different trusted organizations that
will make sure your donation gets to Haiti and make a difference.
And even a small donation can help. I read yesterday that over
$50 Million has already been raised from small $5 to $10 donations
through cell phones and social media.

Here's a number of links that you can be assured will get your
money to Haiti. And, of course, fell free to donate to any other
reputable aid organization.”

Care
http://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=N.Jja&m=1ary0h20yaOQIo&b=NLOAGsZuHufet.QZmYsV1g

Habitat for Humanity
http://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=N.Jja&m=1ary0h20yaOQIo&b=xW7fDYytLBP2eHlYYjvKlQ

World Concern
http://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=N.Jja&m=1ary0h20yaOQIo&b=oPNPDXDVljHdct4tpQiU4w

AmeriCares
http://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=N.Jja&m=1ary0h20yaOQIo&b=iQjZnu7O5g2d5QXFWaRT3A

Avavaz
http://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=N.Jja&m=1ary0h20yaOQIo&b=O7q13ME4iy9dlO4xRgbqEA

Robert is someone I trust and whose integrity is without question. I couldn’t have said it better, and I am happy to pass this along as he requested.

Look around you, be grateful for what you have, and see what is possible for you to share.