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Feeling a bit strange when in public

AQ_OC

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This has hit be several times now. I have a 64GB iPhone 4S, and the 64GB LTE iPad 3, and now a MacBook Air 13, and a Lenovo X220T (a convertible tablet PC running windows).

I'm not likely to be taking the two laptops with me as I go places, but I could have the phone, tablet, and one of these laptops.

Man, I feel if I let people see me with this stuff I'll be come a good target for a mugging. Weighing against that is the fact that I tend to be a rather menacing looking guy, but only to normal people, I would think. I still try to make sure that I don't pull out the phone while using the iPad (which is what I like to use if I'm in a restaurant or something).

Adding to this is this article I ran across:

The shame of owning an iPad | ZDNet

Now, frankly, I don't think there is anything "elitist" about owning an iPad.....that's just stupid. The real "elitist" among us are the super rich who also wield political power. I'm certainly not in that group and I suspect most iPad owners aren't either. But as a target for a hit-and-run mugging, I at least have stuff that the criminal element might desire.

Do you others here have similar feeling with your toys? Do you hide your toys when in public? Or do you let them all hang out? And, concerning the article, you people look at you funny or pay more attention to you when you pull out your iPad?
 

Hayles66

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Yes, I agree with her! When I take out my iPad at my school where I work, I'm very conscious of the students looking at it and touching it. I don't earn a lot of money like the teachers do so I have to justify myself to the students some of whom wouldn't be able to afford one. Some i wouldn't trust at all. I do let the favoured few play with it but only ones I trust. I'd like to bring it out more but I feel like I'm showing off. Silly really. Two of my colleagues have them but the rest just think we have toys and wouldn't dream of the expense. I guess you have to own one to understand why we love these things.
I use my iPad for storing my lesson plans, work schedule, meeting notes, revision etc... I haven't worked up the courage to let anyone I know that I now own the new one as I'm too ashamed to say I bought it when they know money is tight for me! Silly really but this thing is my one true vice, I don't drink a lot, I don't go out, I don't smoke so this is my secret little pleasure. I'll let you know if I take the plunge and tell my colleagues. Maybe next year when the price drops and I can pretend I got it cheap!!!

Sent from my new iPad using iPF
 

Seadog

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I use mine in public all the time. However, I do carry my iPad and laptop in a travel bag when I am not using them. I hope that if they think I have a PC, they won't bother.
 

fleur07

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I use my iPad all the time in public, I also use my phone in public. Sometimes I have both out. When I meet with a client sometimes the meetings are off site and my iPad is very handy for that. If people what to think I'm ultra rich because of that, then let them. They are right though! I am ultra rich just not for the reasons they are thinking.
 

skimonkey

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Hayles66 said:
Yes, I agree with her! When I take out my iPad at my school where I work, I'm very conscious of the students looking at it and touching it. I don't earn a lot of money like the teachers do so I have to justify myself to the students some of whom wouldn't be able to afford one. Some i wouldn't trust at all. I do let the favoured few play with it but only ones I trust. I'd like to bring it out more but I feel like I'm showing off. Silly really. Two of my colleagues have them but the rest just think we have toys and wouldn't dream of the expense. I guess you have to own one to understand why we love these things.
I use my iPad for storing my lesson plans, work schedule, meeting notes, revision etc... I haven't worked up the courage to let anyone I know that I now own the new one as I'm too ashamed to say I bought it when they know money is tight for me! Silly really but this thing is my one true vice, I don't drink a lot, I don't go out, I don't smoke so this is my secret little pleasure. I'll let you know if I take the plunge and tell my colleagues. Maybe next year when the price drops and I can pretend I got it cheap!!!

Sent from my new iPad using iPF

Hayles- i think its great that you bought the new ipad! Good for you-it's what you enjoy and that's all that counts.

I bring mine to work and feel comfortable using it there. Several of us have ipads so it is a joy to share ideas with each other.
 

seneca18

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Just take a marker and color over the Apple logo and in big bold letters write BLACKBERRY PLAYBOOK :)
 

skimonkey

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seneca18 said:
Just take a marker and color over the Apple logo and in big bold letters write BLACKBERRY PLAYBOOK ​:)

That's funny, Seneca!
 

ipadder474

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My Mac Pro and iPad never leave my home. I am always armed, but also am careful not to use my iPhone where strangers can see it. We have the stand your ground law in my state, and if someone really tries to rob me there is going to be deadly force used.
 

Kaykaykay

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I'm careful where I use any electronic device, as I would be with anything of value. Just be aware of surroundings.

I do use my iPad, laptops, netbooks and other gadgets in public. I don't use them anywhere where I think I'd be at significant risk of theft, mugging, etc. I don't want to lose the devices, but more important I don't want to get hurt, nor do I want my data at risk.

In some cities in the U.S., Asian women were being targeted for iPad muggings and snatch-and-grabs, probably because we're petite. On subways in the U.S., there also have been snatch-and-grabs, especially of iDevices, which have good resale value.

On U.S. subways even when I feel relatively safe reading a book, I use an iPod touch 4 on which I keep limited content -- mostly ebooks, audiobooks and music. That way, even if it were grabbed, none of my contacts, email, etc., would be on it. All of my iDevices have passwords, remote wipe, Find My iPhone/iPad activated, of course.

Some people are excited about near field communications, which allows you to put credit on a phone for purchases. I'm not keen on this, because I see it as another reason why a phone would be valuable in a snatch-and-grab.
 

shahzad1

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My Mac Pro and iPad never leave my home. I am always armed, but also am careful not to use my iPhone where strangers can see it. We have the stand your ground law in my state, and if someone really tries to rob me there is going to be deadly force used.
Thanks for your post.
 

iPhoNettie

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Hayles66 said:
Yes, I agree with her! When I take out my iPad at my school where I work, I'm very conscious of the students looking at it and touching it. I don't earn a lot of money like the teachers do so I have to justify myself to the students some of whom wouldn't be able to afford one. Some i wouldn't trust at all. I do let the favoured few play with it but only ones I trust. I'd like to bring it out more but I feel like I'm showing off. Silly really. Two of my colleagues have them but the rest just think we have toys and wouldn't dream of the expense. I guess you have to own one to understand why we love these things.
I use my iPad for storing my lesson plans, work schedule, meeting notes, revision etc... I haven't worked up the courage to let anyone I know that I now own the new one as I'm too ashamed to say I bought it when they know money is tight for me! Silly really but this thing is my one true vice, I don't drink a lot, I don't go out, I don't smoke so this is my secret little pleasure. I'll let you know if I take the plunge and tell my colleagues. Maybe next year when the price drops and I can pretend I got it cheap!!!

Sent from my new iPad using iPF

Hayles, I'm just like you. I have the iPad 3 and I've enjoyed every version of the iPad-and I've gotten each one on launch day. I'm not ashamed. I don't drink, don't go out (except for the rare date with the hubby---RARE!), I'm not a clothes horse, or a shoe ho, however I do like my Coach bags, but I digress. My iPad is my one true splurge that I save up for every year. Yeah, I said it, every year. I'm a gadget geek and I like my gadgets. I take my iPad with me everywhere I go, but I don't always take it out. I just like having it with me. POWER TO THE IPAD PEOPLE! (with my fist thrust in the air). Lol. Ok, now I'm just being silly.

Sent from my iPad using iPF
 

MattIM

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Thanks for posting that link, AC_OQ. I agree that you always have to be conscientious of where you are in public and behave accordingly. Here in Fort Wayne, most folks are polite and keep to themselves, we maintain a pretty good personal space. I was at a restaurant the other day and there was a family of eight sitting at the next table. There were three teenagers in the party. One had an iPad, another was playing on a game device, and a third was texting on a smart phone. It occurred to me how totally isolated the kids where at the table. The five adults where engaged in conversation and never engaged the kids. My companion was watching me watch them. He leaned over and stated, "Now you know how you look when you are involved on an iPad as the party swirls around you."

If you live in some of our large cities and you are technologically burdened there is a real danger of being un-burdened. Whether or not you feel like an elitist using your iPad in public is true too but only so far as how validated you feel (it's mostly in your head). There is another experience using an iPad in a public setting--it is also isolating.
 

Kaykaykay

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I don't think of iPad as an elite product, especially when I regularly see people wearing expensive watches and other jewelry, wearing shoes worth hundreds or carrying purses that cost hundreds or more, not to mention the pricey cars that many people drive. It's just a matter of choice for many people, I figure.

In major metro areas in the U.S., I see people using iPads all the time. Not a big deal. In Asian metro areas that I frequent, everyone seems to have a smart phone. The main thing in those cities is portability; it's not convenient to hold an iPad when jammed up against people on the subway, for instance. But in such cities, everyone seems to have a smart phone, including lots of seniors who don't look tech savvy.
 
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AQ_OC

AQ_OC

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I don't think of iPad as an elite product, especially when I regularly see people wearing expensive watches and other jewelry, wearing shoes worth hundreds or carrying purses that cost hundreds or more, not to mention the pricey cars that many people drive. It's just a matter of choice for many people, I figure.

In major metro areas in the U.S., I see people using iPads all the time. Not a big deal. In Asian metro areas that I frequent, everyone seems to have a smart phone. The main thing in those cities is portability; it's not convenient to hold an iPad when jammed up against people on the subway, for instance. But in such cities, everyone seems to have a smart phone, including lots of seniors who don't look tech savvy.

+1 on the top comment. According to that article, the iPad is the elitist product, not the phone. I guess the notion is that a lot of people figure people need a phone, but the tablet is strictly an "want" item owned by those spoiled, elite members of the population. I don't agree, though, because it really a question of what you like to spend money on...cars, cloths, jewelry, or electronics, or other things I won't mention.
 

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