Author
Josh Cox
So I went to bed Friday night not really thinking about getting an iPad, until I woke up Saturday morning at 8:30 and couldn’t fall back to sleep. I went ahead and drove over to the Apple store and got in line. A while later (2 hours) I was walking out with my new iPad. Apple did a great job keeping people happy with free Starbucks, water, donuts, and even a live band (this was at the Indianapolis store).
They activated it at the store for me since I am traveling for the holiday, and my iMac is a state away. I fought the urge to play with it while driving but drove straight home (Editor: Good thing too, Oprah would have been pissed).
First impressions. It looks great. The screen is brilliant. Websites look amazing on the screen. And navigating those websites is a breeze. I’ve noticed you can use really small finger swipes and taps and the screen reacts extremely quick. One other thing to note; It’s a bit heavier and has a little smaller screen than I thought it was going to be.
Some Apple workers were walking around the line letting you play with a few iPads while you waited. I declined. I wanted the full surprise of using it the first time to be on my own. The first thing I did when I got home was to open up the settings and set up a few email addresses. It was very similar to the way you configure things on your iPhone. I then moved on to the preinstalled apps, calendar, contacts, notes, etc. They are all bigger and somewhat upgraded versions than are currently on the iPhone.
I then went to the App Store and started getting my necessities; a weather app, a few news apps, book apps, Facebook, and Netflix. The USA Today app is fantastic. They did a great job using the screen to its entirety. If you have a Netflix account and the iPad, this app is a must. I watched Ghostbusters 2 and it was crystal clear. I’ll continue to update you on my experiences as I figure out how to quantify whether or not this thing is worth the cash. My early feeling is that its a win.