My First 24 Hours with my iPad

9:30 AM

My honey, Robert, and I arrived at the Best Buy in Pleasant Hill.  There were approximately 10 men already waiting in front of the store.  After about 5 minutes, a Best Buy representative came out to hand out tickets.  Their iPad inventory had just arrived at 9:00am without accessories -- cuttin’ it close!  We took the 16GB ticket.  I’d decided we would get the base model because we only plan to use it at home for internet browsing, YouTube watching, and reading the news (we let our NY Times and Oprah subscriptions lapse in anticipation of using the iPad to read them).

For the first 15-20 minutes standing in line I was the only female…but soon there were a few more of us.  For one older woman who kept her head lowered the entire time, it was the first time she has ever gotten up early to buy a new toy on launch day.  She was so excited, but she wouldn’t look up because it was also the first time she had ever in her life left the house without make up on. LOL!!

10:00 AM

Just before the doors opened there were 20-25 people in the iPad line.  A few of us noticed their were about 10 other people waiting for the store to open that were not in the iPad line.  Why?  What would you get up early to buy first thing in the morning from Best Buy that wasn’t an iPad ;)  Things that make Apple fans go hmmmm……

The Best Buy representatives sent us directly to customer service line to purchase our iPad.  They told us they had plenty of inventory for everyone one to get one so a few hesitators went to the display to play with it before handing over their credit card; not us we went straight to the cashier.  The best part was we saved our Best Buy coupons and got our iPad at a significant discount!  Yeah!

10:30 AM

In the car we opened up the package, turned it on and the connect to iTunes icon was displayed on the screen L  Hungry, we went to breakfast first and showed off the box.  It was great even little kids who spotted the box started yelling “iPad, iPad!”

11:45 AM

I ran upstairs to the my iMac, connected the iPad, and went through the setup.  The best part “An iPad has been previously synced to this computer” message.  Not!  I did a quick google and found TheAppleBlog had already documented the entire setup process with screen shots (Thanks!) and they had gotten the same screen.  So, I selected "Setup new iPad." and moved on to naming it.  Robert suggested "MaxiPad", I said, "No.", yet it is probably the only pad I want people to know I'm wearing...ewww!! LOL!!  We settled on "GoGadgetGurl's iPad".

Setup took ~20 minutes.  It probably would have taken only 5-10 minutes if I had chosen not to put 191 photos the iPad had to optimize for viewing.  Also all my apps were automatically sync’d all to the iPad.  When I saw all my apps on the iPad it struck me how personal my iPhone is to me.  There are apps like iPeriod that I removed because I don’t want that info on a coffee table device (TMI!!!)!

The rest of the setup, network connection, email, and MobileMe was as easy as it is on the iPhone.

12:15 PM

iPhone apps run on the iPad but they launch in iPhone display size.  There’s a convenient “2x” button in the lower right corner that increases the size of the app to fit the iPad screen.  The resolution is pretty good and the pixelation is minimal, and it doesn’t it look stretched.  We discovered this looking for the highly publicized NY Times iPad app.  It isn’t called "nytimes".  I don’t understand why yet (if you know, let me know?), but the NY Times iPad app is called “NYT Editor’s Choice”   I had to do a couple of searches on iTunes Store before it showed up.  I also wasn’t able to find the hyped Zinio for iPad app, but my iPhone version works fine.

1:30 PM

I finally let my honey play with it.  He goes directly to the NY Times app and declares “Print is truly dead now.  The iPad in landscape is the same size as the paper folded in half!”   He reads 3-4 newspapers a day!

I leave him be to read his email, and then he decides he should finally accept the 3 Facebook invitations (including mine) that I swear are at least 6 months old.  So, he post the photo I took of him at Best Buy to his 3 Facebook friends…he’s getting there slowly.

I leave him to do his thing…send emails, watch You Tube videos, house hunt, etc.  All the things he  used to do on his iPhone.

3:30 PM

I find the iPad laying on the coffee table so I take it back and download “Pages” for $9.99.  I want to write a quick document and my laptop is too cumbersome to lugged around the house ;)

Pages is completely differently than the desktop version which makes it a slight challenge to use.  My review of Pages for the iPad is probably a blog post all it’s own.  After I figured out how to get a blank document, typing with the onscreen keyboard was easier than I expected it to be.  I was pecking the soft keys more than typing, but I wrote two quick documents.  There isn't a “Save” menu option, but an “Export” menu option with three format choices “Pages”, “.doc”, and “PDF”.  I can also email the document in one of these three formats.

5:00 PM

Robert plays with it some more and downloads the BBC news app.  Nice news app, it has video for every news article. 

6:00-10:00 PM

We stop to have dinner and watch a movie, not on the iPad.  It isn’t going to replace our 52-inch flat screen.

10:00 PM

Robert does his night time reading on it before going to sleep.  We charge it next to the bed.

6:00 AM

I wake up, feed the dog, and Robert reminded me to call our neighbor to see if he was going to Easter service with us.  This is when I realized I had no idea where my iPhone was!  No worries, I grabbed the cordless phone and the iPad to get the phone number.  After the phone call, I peruse the BBC news apps, install the NPR news app and stream KQED radio while I get dressed for Easter service.  Robert and I considered taking it to church with us, but decided not to J

Happy iPadding to everyone,

GoGadgetGurl!

iPhone Coming June 29!!

Well it’s official! The iPhone is to be released June 29th. I am relieved! Apple officially announced it in their new iPhone commercials. I don’t know about you, but it’s easier for me to wait when I have an end date. Hence the countdown clock to the left (courtesy of www.hashemian.com). Woohoo! It’s less than a month away! ☺ I have also added a subscription form, so I don’t spam everyone every time I add an new entry to this blog. Sign up and you’ll be sent update notices automatically via email. And if you don’t sign up I won’t spam you. So, sign up! The subscription form is under the iPhone image to the left. Finally, I want to thank everyone that received my initial announcement. Your feedback was great! ☺ I want to especially thank C Dotson ;) for submitting the first comment and inquiry. I did some research and the rumor is the Chinese character version of the iPhone will be released in 2008. I’ll keep you posted.
Well now it’s time to get ready for our iPhones. If you’re like me I don’t use the Contacts and Calendar on my iPod. Since iTunes will be used to sync the Calendar and Contacts, I think it’s time to do some testing. I have an iPod Nano, an iPod Photo, and an iPod Video (I know, way too many, maybe I’ll post one or two on craigslist). So, my next post will be on the migration of my contacts and calendar from my Moto Razr V3 and my Palm Tungsten E (I told you I held out) to my iPods. This will be done on my PowerBook G4 and my iMac. If I’m feeling especially generous I might test iTunes on a PC. It all depends on my patience quotient, and if anyone really wants me too ;)
Have a miraculous week!
Go Go Gadget Gurl!

Gadget Gurl's iPhone Wait

I have been waiting for the iPhone since I heard the review on it in January. My Dad knows me so well that when I saw him a few days after the announcement, the first thing he said to me was so you’ll be getting a new phone in June. YEAH BABY!!! ☺ I have asked about this iPhone every where I’ve been. I have been to the Bay Street Apple Store in Emeryville, CA the Apple Store in Thousand Oaks, the Apple Store in Atlantic City, NJ, the 5th Avenue Apple Store asking two simple questions: Have you seen the iPhone? Do you know when it will be released? The answer to both has been no. I have even asked at my local Cingular Store more than once. The last time I was in there he said bring it by when you get it, hmmm…what makes him think I’ll have one before his store does….I wonder ;) All I know is I can’t wait! (metaphorically, obviously I have been for almost 6 months!) I wish Apple was taking pre-orders!

When I first heard the iPhone announcement on NPR (National Public Radio) I was driving down San Pablo Ave in Berkeley, CA and I screamed. Two things got me excited one it was an integrated phone, pda, and ipod; two it was being released on Cingular. My prayers had been answered, well maybe that’s strong…the tech snob in me at least had been validated…When Motorola’s Razr V3 became so common every other person on the street had one, I started hiding mine. That’s when I knew it was time for me to get the next latest and greatest. So I looked for a slim pda and saw nothing I liked. I was even willing to for go the scream…I screamed when someone placed the Razr in my hand for the first time. When Motorola announced the Motorola Q, I was excited, but after investigating it, it turned out it wasn’t worth changing plans for. It was wider than I wanted and it wasn’t touch screen...I heard rumors they were going to release a version for Cingular, but we haven’t seen that and we probably won’t since Cingular will be riding the iPhone wave all the way to the bank (imho). It is going to be a hot summer for both!

So, why am I so excited about the iPhone and I haven’t even seen it yet. Well, first it is made by Apple, and I am biased. I’m writing this blog on my PowerBook G4 I have had for almost 4 years (so I’ve been ready to upgrade), and I have an iMac desktop. I love my Macs. I wouldn’t call myself a Mac geek though, I used to have a Sony VAIO laptop, but now that I run Windows XP on my iMac using Parallels Desktop I have passed the VAIO on to charity. I love the design, feel, and look of Apple products. And the iPhone, from looking at Job’s Keynote will not disappoint. It’s sleek and slim which is a must for me. Next, it’s an integrated phone, calendar, address book, photo album, web browser, and 80GB ipod -- it might come smaller, but I don’ play small); This configuration means it’s an itsy bitsy mac (can’t cal it a mini mac for obvious reasons) in the palm of my hand that will fully sync with my iCal, Address Book, and video and photo albums on my laptop, desktop, and web (.mac account). This is sort of an aside but with the iPhone Apple introduces a whole new market for the use of their .Mac program. iPhone users will be able to keep their calendars, and address books backed up on the web whether they are pc users or not. Other companies may already offer this, but they don’t have the market presence Apple does. This may surprise you but I am typically the type of person that routes for the underdog. Apple use to be one when it was Apple vs. Microsoft; but in the music player arena it’s Microsoft who? (I can’t totally dis’ Microsoft thought I am using MS Word right now).

The iPhone is rumored to be released June 11th, or 14th. I know it will probably be available at WWDC ’07 at the Moscone in SF, CA which coincidentally NOT! starts June 11th. But, I have to be in Orlando for the Cyberwize (what is Cyberwize, you ask?) International Convention starting on the 14th. So, I am just going to manifest my perfect connection to get my first iPhone. Stay tuned…I’m off on my adventure…holla back GO! GO! Gadget Gurl! ☺