Thanks to Steve's posts, I've been looking at the Mini as a serious work tool. I've eschewed a full-size iPad so far, seeing it as more of a consuming than a producing machine. One point I immediately noticed is just how much lighter the Mini is to handle than the full-size version, and therefore more portable and "bag-able", as Steve says, and also easier and more discreet to pull out and consult and makes notes on in a strange city, say.

Facetime on a hand-held full-size iPad quickly becomes a strain; I imagine that on the Mini it would not. Despite the size, I think I could work on it too. But like Steve I would probably need a second pair of spectacles! Even so the portability and the convenience of Mini+specs could still be greater than those of the full-size iPad alone.

Hmm.

Steve, many thanks (make that Many, MANY THANKS) for putting me onto iThoughts. What a well thought through program. It's the best $10 I've spent on the iPad.

Cheers, Julie

Hugh wrote:

Thanks to Steve's posts, I've been looking at the Mini as a serious work tool. I've
eschewed a full-size iPad so far, seeing it as more of a consuming than a producing
machine. One point I immediately noticed is just how much lighter the Mini is to handle
than the full-size version, and therefore more portable and "bag-able", as Steve
says, and also easier and more discreet to pull out and consult and makes notes on in a
strange city, say.

Facetime on a hand-held full-size iPad quickly becomes a
strain; I imagine that on the Mini it would not. Despite the size, I think I could work on
it too. But like Steve I would probably need a second pair of spectacles! Even so the
portability and the convenience of Mini+specs could still be greater than those of
the full-size iPad alone.

I think it all depends in what context you want to "produce" and what. I have been using both the full-sized iPad and my 4th gen. iPod Touch as work tools in the home and office context, and there I don't see the need for a Mini. For reading and annotating PDFs, the larger the screen the better. On the other hand, if portability is an issue and you need to work in a foreign urban context, then Mini makes sense.

And let's not forget the new iPod Touch either, which now has a larger screen, so a step closer to the Mini. Thus one could also go for the larger iPod + full-size iPad combo.

Hi, Julie,

Glad I could recommend iThoughts. The only thing it lacks (that I've uncovered so far) is the ability to drill down to show just one node and its sub nodes.

I'm glad to see on its roadmaps page that the developer is planning to implement an outline view.

Steve

MsJulie wrote:

Steve, many thanks (make that Many, MANY THANKS) for putting me onto iThoughts. What a
well thought through program. It's the best $10 I've spent on the iPad.

Cheers,
Julie

A note this morning to the developer of iThoughts regarding hoisting on nodes brought a quick response that it is on the list of things to do. Good news.

Steve