Intro and fundamental question

[fopianki]

Hi folks, my name is Frank and I am on faculty at a midwest University. I have been struggling with whether to buy an iPad considering I already own an iPhone, a MacBook Pro and a Kindle. Other than being able to access textbooks, and have a a bit more portability for writing emails, brief documents, etc, can anyone tell me what I will gain by buying an iPad. The truth be told, I really want one but I need a better reason for me and my spouse! Help!!! Frank

 

[MattIM]

Welcome to the Forum, Frank!

Hi folks, my name is Frank and I am on faculty at a midwest University. I have been struggling with whether to buy an iPad considering I already own an iPhone, a MacBook Pro and a Kindle. Other than being able to access textbooks, and have a a bit more portability for writing emails, brief documents, etc, can anyone tell me what I will gain by buying an iPad. The truth be told, I really want one but I need a better reason for me and my spouse! Help!!! Frank

For an entire month, I went through all kinds of mental machinations rationalizing the purchase of the iPad--and that was before one was available. And then in April, I visited the Best Buy in my neighborhood where they had iPads on display. I got to touch one and play with it for 15 minutes before I had to step aside and give it to another person to look at. I visited that store several weeks and finally in June I bought my iPad.

You are fortunate that you are on faculty at a midWestern University. I am a part time student at the local university here in Fort Wayne. They have iPads for sale in the campus bookstore for US$100 less than you get at retail. So you might find something similar in your campus bookstore.

There is no life or death reason to get an iPad but if you do buy one, you'll find yourself gaining a LOT OF REASONS for keeping it. I use a laptop for my workstation and my iPad for my personal everything else. While I am required to bring my laptop home just in case work needs me to look at something, my personal laptop is just now used only to be a backup for this iPad.

 

[emm]

Don't know what your field is, but there is a wonderful array of apps for keeping up with things. Huffington Post, BBC news with a link to their live broadcast, live French TV, RSS feed readers like Pulse and River of News, Flipboard, CNN, newspapers, mags, GPS and I haven't even mentioned all the ebook apps. Since getting the iPad I hardly touch my Kindle because the reading experience is so superior. Better note taking, access to enhanced books with videos and color pics--so I have various ways to read ebooks on one device--Kindle app, Nook app, iBooks, stanza, etc. You can sit comfortably on the couch to enjoy all this. Don't have to worry about hooking on a light for night reading. Do yourself a personal and professional favor--get an iPad!