New non-techie owner - 16 GB 3G

Hello to everyone! We got our 16 GB 3G iPad yesterday and everyone in the family has been putting it through its paces.

The iPad is the first high-tech device that I've ever considered buying upon release. When the Walkman cassette player came out, I waited 3 years before buying one. Only after CD players had been out for 3 years did I get one. I still don't own a laptop (I use iMac for desktop work) or a cell phone (don't need 24/7 phone connectivity).

Conversely, the rest of the family is way more techie than I am. My wife has a desktop PC and an HP laptop...AND a netbook...AND a cell phone, though not an iPhone. She's also the family photographer and has gone through 4 digital cameras in the last ten years. My sons (11 and 6) have Nintendo handhelds and of course know more about using the cell than I do.

But after watching Steve Jobs' keynote introducing the iPad, I became intrigued by the possibilities. The touch screen is a game-changer, much like the Wii's motion-sensing controls changed the way we play video games (yup, we have one). So I thought we should have an iPad right away, despite the opinions of many who thought we should wait for 2.0 or even 3.0.

I don't have a clear idea yet of what our family's going to do with the iPad. My wife will certainly read books and store some photos on it, and the boys already have their fave games loaded. I'm still not sure what I'm going to do with it, although the ability to browse the web...from my living room...without waiting for the slooooow laptop to boot...is already an advantage. I'm also a musician, so music creation software is an interest, and some of this stuff shows real promise. Now if I can just get the iPad away from the rest of my family for awhile...

Welcome on bourd from Australia. Great reading your post. If we can assist just ask. Colin Australia


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Welcome to the site, hope to see you around!!:)

Welcome to the place man!

I love your intro. Its refreshing that something so easy-to-use motivates non-techies to get involved in...ya know...technology stuff.

When do you get it? If you got it, what have you done so far?

I'm non-techie in that I don't use a lot of tech stuff myself. However, I'm a tech writer for a company that makes mobile computers and printers, so I know what all of it does.

So of course, the iPad has been in the house for almost three days, and I've probably fooled with it the least of everyone here. My wife is using it right now to check E-mail - yesterday she test drove Netflix and downloaded a few books from Kindle. My older son likes Labyrinth 2, and made me a virtual birthday card using Drawing Pad. My younger son is patiently waiting his chance to play PvZ (again). Both of the boys dislike writing, so I'm requiring them to use Notes to write reviews of the games they play - in exchange for game time. So far it's working!

I don't typically check my E-mail all the time, so I don't think I'll be using iPad for that just yet, and I'm not ready to retire my trusty iPod just yet (yup, I waited two years before getting one of those).

I've played a bit with Beatwave (that's fun) and Soundrop (less fun but interesting, very minimalist). Next up: try out some of these brainstorming apps like Popplet and Corkulous. We need to really test the 3G - haven't fired that up yet. And someone at the office gave me a vehicle lighter adapter with a USB port, intended for charging iPods - we'll see if it'll work with the iPad. The R & D phase continues!

Hi MLimtiaco. Welcome to the community!

Welcome from Germany.

Welcome!

As the app base for the iPad grows, there will be more ways for you to use it. I too look forward to more music apps....