Forum Posts Feed
Ipad
< Next Topic | Back to topic list | Previous Topic >
Posted by jamesofford
May 22, 2010 at 03:48 PM
Greetings folks:
Not exactly part of the mainstream discussions, but I am curious if anyone out there has bought an Ipad, and managed to integrate it into their information management workflow? I find the tablet formfactor quite intriguing, and have tried out the Ipad a couple of times in Apple stores.
As I have mentioned before, I have a large number of PDF files that are integral to my work.(Back off ma’am, I’m a scientist.). I currently keep them on my work PC, but would love to be able to load them up into something like Evernote, and have them available whenever I want. It would keep me from killing as many trees as I do, and make the information that I want immediately accessible. I have even gotten the okay from the family CFO(that would be my wife)to lay out the money for an Ipad. We are coming remarkably close to the day of universal computing, I am just not sure that the Ipad is it.
I am just not sure about the Ipad. I am no Apple basher. I currently own and love a Macbook as my only home computer.(Due to the fact that I am at a scientifc meeting I am, however, writing this on my work PC, a Lenovo Thinkpad T61. A reasonable laptop.)I have followed the Ipad saga for some time, and have been quite interested in the idea. But there is something that makes me hold back. It may be the fact that the machine has been touted as an entertainment device. It may be that I don’t think I could type very well on it. I don’t see it as necessary, but it sure could be helpful.
Anyone else out there feeling of two minds about this machine?
Jim
Posted by Hugh
May 22, 2010 at 04:32 PM
Jim
You may find this thread on the Literature and Latte forum interesting, especially druid’s comments:
http://www.literatureandlatte.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=7588
H
Posted by Chris Thompson
May 22, 2010 at 04:50 PM
I think it’s intriguing that OmniOutliner will be released for the iPad any day now.
—Chris
Posted by Tom S.
May 22, 2010 at 06:33 PM
Jim wrote:
>As I have mentioned
>before, I have a large number of PDF files that are integral to my work.(Back off ma’am,
>I’m a scientist.). I currently keep them on my work PC, but would love to be able to load
>them up into something like Evernote, and have them available whenever I want. It
>would keep me from killing as many trees as I do, and make the information that I want
>immediately accessible. I have even gotten the okay from the family CFO(that would be
>my wife)to lay out the money for an Ipad. We are coming remarkably close to the day of
>universal computing, I am just not sure that the Ipad is it.
I have an iPad which is WiFi only and I’m a scientist. I’m finding this device to be extremely handy. Though I don’t use it much, the Evernote app is quite good. The real strength of this device is the browser which is really excellent. It doesn’t support Flash but I really don’t miss it much and I’d much rather do without it than have the device freeze twice a week. If any of your data is in the cloud, the chances are good you’ll find this device is a good way to access it. The Dropbox app is pretty good as well. I also recommend the Instapaper app which allows you to save web pages for offline reading. Its indispensable, especially if you don’t spring for the 3G version.
What sold me on this device was when I went to the web and pulled up a pdf of one of my reprints in the store. When the screen is in portrait mode, the entire page is visible and though the type is a little small its quite readable. No more panning around, leaving the text to find figures on a page. The experience is a lot like reading the manuscript on paper. The eBook apps from Apply, Barnes and Noble and Amazon are all quite good though I must confess that I’m a science fiction/fantasy fan and haven’t looked at any textbooks.
> It may be the fact that the machine has been touted as an
>entertainment device. It may be that I don’t think I could type very well on it. I don’t
>see it as necessary, but it sure could be helpful.
You are correct. It is not necessary but it is helpful. It isn’t an entertainment device. Its a device primarily for consumption of information. Its also good for email, short notes and maybe a short essay or something. When you find a lot of criticisms of the device, its usually from people who expected it to be a laptop replacement. This is a mistake. You aren’t going to want to try to write a paper or, heaven forbid, a grant on this thing.
Having said that, my Apple wireless bluetooth keyboard is very light weight and pretty small as keyboards go. It hooks up to the iPad and works beautifully.
Bottom line, I’m glad I bought it and I’m happy with it.
Tom S.
Posted by quant
May 23, 2010 at 08:34 AM
why do you mention you are scientist?
does your “scientific job” entails so much browsing that you find ipad useful? in my case, browsing (for research papers) takes usually 10-20 minutes, and then i spend a good week reading the download paper (math).
Tom S. wrote:
>I have an iPad which is WiFi only and I’m a scientist. I’m finding
>this device to be extremely handy. Though I don’t use it much, the Evernote app is quite
>good. The real strength of this device is the browser which is really excellent. It ...