Th3 Core

What? You only read in the spring?  I'm pounding the hell out of icab and it's holding up pretty well.  But browsers are largely a matter of minute preferences for heavy users.

Tip: customizing icab bookmark bar

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=929425


Worth a read (note the progression of atomic and icab during the timespan of the thread)

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=916340

So is an iPad a worthwhile purchase these days? You didn't think much of netbooks when they became the rage. I could get a decent desktop machine for the price of a high end iPad.

I think of it as  optional equipment, the smartphone is more important to me, but the iPad is easier to carry than a 13 inch Macbook.  Because you spend so much on the iPad you tend to redouble your efforts to work it into your routine.  It is a great way to go paperless - with the right apps you can get by with just carrying the iPad. Example: I dump PDF's and spreadsheets I need into Dropbox and that way I can take the iPad to a meeting and I have my reference material. With Whiteboard, I can draw a diagram, and others can see it and add to it from remote locations. Evernote beats my old habit of scribbling notes on the back of old envelopes and then losing them - the larger screen on the tablet is easier on the eyes. A friend takes his iPad to all meetings and has an app that lets him jot notes with a stylus.

I do think a tablet is more versatile than a simple netbook.

However, you might want to wait until summer before making your decision: more Android tablets, the HP Touchpad and Blackberry tablet are due out and will give you more choices.

I did try the Apple bluetooth keyboard and it works well for more frequent typing, although there may be more compact and portable keyboards.

>What? You only read in the spring?

heh. Sounds like it doesn't it?  Really it is a matter of battery life.  My linux laptop only gets about 2 hours on battery.  Too short for me.  The iPad goes way longer.

>laptop

If they made one under $700 that had instant web access and lasted 8+ hours on the battery, I might have.   Louise will end up using hers like a laptop.  My keyboard will likely just do duty while I drink my two pots of coffee in the morning.

I'm trying the app Penultimate, which is a handwriting note taking app.  A friend uses an app like this to jot notes during meetings eliminating notebooks.

Of course I could download the app instantly but I had to order a stylus through Amazon ...

Icab on Ipad 2 can toggle to the YouTube app and load the video (in H264 codec) without closing the browser ...sort of a fake multiprocessing workaround.  When on the page containing the Youtube video, pull down the Action Icon (right arrow icon on upper left) and the context menu will show YouTube App.  When finished viewing, double-tap the Home button on the Ipad and then click the Icab icon to return to where you were in your browsing session.


Goodreader app, which seems to be some sort of Swiss Army knife app for Ipad, opens zip files and has a file management system.

>hell freezing

True. But I'm not a fanboi yet. Well, not in the usual sense.

>heavily using an Apple product

I bought it for "always on, instant access" and it is performing like a champ in that regard.  But it is extremely convenient in a few other ways, too.  Like the Smart Cover, which is a pretty damn clever accessory and makes the ipad even easier to have lying about always at the ready.

However, the OS and its many limitations just plain sucks (compared to XP) and it's only due to Icab that I've managed to make a real work machine out of this thing.


<added>
It has cut a full half-hour off my daily reading routine.  It's already bumped the resident netbook off the breakfast table.

I have a regimented daily reading list of about 20 sites that are on the browser Quickstart/Speed dial page.  Of these, five or 6 require login.  Icab can be set to memorize and recall form data and also custom gestures. By setting these, I have to do very little typing within my routine. Combine that with instant access, I can breeze through these 20 (plus the secondary articles that are down the reading tree) very quickly --my sessions are **noticeably** quicker than on the laptop w/ chrome. (As in; Damn! I'm finished already?!?)  I usually do 3 sessions per day.