Can a self-professed Apple hater learn to love the iPad? Read on for an honest review of the 2nd generation iPad.
I
must confess, I absolutely dislike Apple. This dislike was so prevalent
that I refused to adopt the iPad when everyone was raving about it. I
complained that iTunes is too cumbersome and awful, and that the item
was overpriced and a waste of time. I ignored everything Apple and went
all in with Android products. That changed when I started my first
teaching job.
Enter
August, the air is incredibly warm, I'm wearing long sleeve shirts
because I'm trying to look professional while preparing my classroom for
the first time, and then I hear my wife brag to the principal that I am
a tech genius.
"Oh really?" Says the principal. "What do you think we can do with an iPad at this school?"
Oh
crap, I have been put on the spot and must give my reasoning for why I
won't touch the danged thing. "I just don't like the company, and it is a
pain to get their products to work decently with a Windows-based PC." I
was speaking from experience, I hated tech calls that dealt with
getting these two rivals to work together, and so I shunned Apple
completely. Suddenly, the principal smiles and says, "Well figure it out
anyway," and hands me a new iPad 2.
I
felt like I was a vampire, having to hold a cross that is burning my
hands. But when you are a new teacher, and someone has bragged about
your tech prowess, you just can't say no to your boss. So I took the
thing home with me, and began to play with it.
To
be honest, as a PC and Android guy, this thing was far from intuitive,
and much time was spent online learning how to use the device properly.
That was annoying, but in retrospect I believe that was because I am not
used to running this kind of OS. After a few hours, I began to explore
and enjoy the tablet from house Apple.
The
screen is large and bright, and the touch screen is so smooth and
responsive, honestly it is so much better than any Android phone I had
used before. Then I experienced the iPad's ultimate claim to fame, the
App Store.
As
a teacher and gamer, I found hundreds of apps that demanded my time and
money. So much more compared to the fairly large Android market! Then I
found out something even better; I can totally skip iTunes completely!
The program that is the bane of all my perceived problems with Apple
could be ignored, I can just transfer files wirelessly or leave it all
in the cloud. Without a need for a tether to my computer to transfer
items, I could truly enjoy what Apple has to offer hardware-wise.
Will
I go completely Apple and forgo all other products? I wouldn't bet on
it. I still love the openness and versatility that Android offers, and
my computer will remain my main office item, but when it comes to the
amount of education apps offered on the iPad, I think I'll use this
product indefinitely.
Or until the Android tablet app market matches the prowess of the iPad app market.
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