IPad Tips and Tricks

[gertbysea]

I have just ordered the new mini iPad. Disappointed to find I cannot use my current SIM card but have to buy a nano SIM . Never mind by the time it arrived I would have only 2 months to go,on my other.

Love them Apples!

Gert

[cookie1]

I certainly won't be buying one Gert, but I look forward to all the things you show us with it.

[CreamPuff63]

When do you get it Gert?

[judydawn]

Good for you Gretchen, is there anything else on your list of must haves now 

[gertbysea]

It was not so much a MUST have  as a useful want. I figure I have worked hard all my life and sacrificed enough in the past. Up here there is not a lot  to do Or spend money on. We can't travel much because of the DOGS and I do enjoy my iPad. I love being in touch  with my friends right here, my pals all over Australia And overseas and my family here and there. I like being spontaneous and taking random pics  that tickle my fancy and sharing these times when they happen. The iPad is quite heavy and cumbersome so.........

And it will be here at the end of November.

There is nothing new about it just smaller. It keeps my mind active. I can be transported to any where I like. I can read the NY Times  and the Guardian. I can watch Lark Rise to Candelford or old Lucille Ball TV,shows . I can research things of interest  and write a letter to my mother.
And I can do all of it easily from anywhere I like. 

Best of all it is fun.

Gert

[cookie1]

You are certainly right Gert. We work hard all our lives and to be truthful we never know when it will end. So why not enjoy every day?  When I am destitute, then I'll worry.

[gertbysea]

Me too cookie!

Gert

[judydawn]

Enjoy them all Gretchen - will you have time to sleep 

[gertbysea]

Yup!

Pop them under my pillow.

Gert

[CreamPuff63]

My kids know when I buy the latest gizmo that its because "you are just a tech head mum". Not that I am super computer literate but I do love my gadgets. Why not! We all have our foibles, and it doesn't hurt anyone.

Its great cos you teach us, we can point something out to you, and then we can pass on knowledge to each other. DD24 who you met at the retreat wants to buy either an iPad or a mini for when she goes to the US on Boxing Day. It will be interesting to know what you reckon whether to go the bigger one or the smaller. I can see the smaller being more handy in terms of handbag size and posting pics directly onto Facebook.

[tarasis]

I'd be curious about the Mini but my wife is dead set against that, however she seems more amenable to an iPad 4 (she'd get my 3, I'd get 4 and we'd sell older iPad we have).

However as on holiday I missed the pre-order window for next Friday, now it's for two weeks.

Like CP63 I'm a gadget nut (generally Apple) so it's really hard to resist new ones.

[gertbysea]

I mainly want the mini Rob so it fits in my handbag easily. I don't use my iPhone at all. It is just an emergency thing . I do however use my iPad ALL THE TIME  and it is heavy and sometimes cumbersome. I also have to have my Kindle at all times so with three devices the weight adds up. I figure the mini  will replace the Kindle when I am out . I prefer messaging on the iPad to texting on the phone.  It is great for keeping in touch with email ( formally pen ) pals when out. It is fun to actually show and tell than write and describe.

Whe I was looking at the Apple TV I was able to message a photo home to DH and show him the cable connector  and ask if we had one already before buying a new one.  It is handy for things like that.  It is cheaper to use  the 3G on the iPad than the 3G on the phone.

Where you have  no wireless you are likely to have 3G but I notice some cafes are advertising free wireless. I Cairns the council,are setting up a wireless area in the City

When DH needs a thing a ma jig at the hardware he can take a photo here and show at the store just what he is looking for. If he is about to take something apart he takes a photo first so can put it back the right way. This has proved very  useful.  Note this.....when removing patterned curved pavers take a picture first!!! It will  save hours and angst. And your DW telling you she told you so.

If you want a special cut of meat for a recipe take a pic to show,the butcher.

Wen travelling the iPad is invaluable.  Taking  photos and wee VDO's in remote places can endear you to the locals. A crowd may gather and you can make instant friends. In a tiny village in Cambodia I was able to take a family  photo and immediately email it to the family VIA a local shop who printed the pic for them. Their  very first pic of themselves ever. How valuable is that?

A VDO of a woman skinning rats in a market is a treasure. Is it not?  

Yup I can't wait for the  mini. I think the difference in the 3 and 4 is probably just the improved Retina display which will be nice but no need for an upgrade just yet as far as I am concerned.  As more app developers  abandon Adobe flash for I products and get with the program it annoys me less that I devices do not support flash.

When stuck in Ho Chi Min City with no way out on one airline I was able to book another instantly without leaving my bar stool!

The uses for and the portability of the iPad amaze me and I love Siri. She an take me anywhere without me lifting a finger.

Gert

[judydawn]

Now that you make all those points Gretchen I can see how valuable and useful it is, especially in the hands of someone like yourself. Enjoy.

[gertbysea]

Judy have you ever been in a hardware store and tried to buy a thingy to repair your  what's it?  Or into Spotlight store trying to explain the curtain thingy to teenager? Or into a lighting shop to match a lamp from ten years  ago?  Take a pic on the iPad first as it is big enough to show. Or a VDO of the place in the garden you want to plant a tree  when shopping at a nursery. Not sure of the height ? Take a pic. No more drawing pics for DH so he can shop for something.

Find something on line you want to buy locally? Take a screen shot to show or  better yet open up your iPad and take the sales person to the web site. Maybe they can order it in.

Endless practical uses and I am only thinking of the things I want to do with it. With children well ................if only iPads were available then. Today's child will never know what it is like to live without instant information. They  will never have to walk in the dark  snow covered streets to the library to find out who was Genghis Khan. Hell  they probably don't even teach that these days.

No more walking home from the shop with the wrong  loaf of bread for mum only to trudge back in the snow to return it and find out the last of Mum's bread had been sold.  No ice cream for me that night.

I hate snow but I love iPads. 

You can let your teenage daughter shop for her  formal dress while you are at work assured that she will message/email  a photo first so you can nix the black see through strapless backless $600 number  she is now wearing in the shop.

The best is for comparative shopping. Take a pic in Retrovision to show the guy at The Good Guys and get the cheaper price. The 12 year old shop assistant  in Hardly Normals can now see what the hell the old fart is talking about when she says she wants  the cleaning tablets for  her coffee machine.

Want to match a colour or coordinate the  doona cover on the bed. No problem.

I need more coffee.

Gert

[cookie1]

Gert, thanks. I would never have thought of some of those uses. DH has actually learned how to use the camera on the iPad and look at photos. He will be able to take it to Bunnings with him.