Life With the Apple iPad Day 2

It is day 2 and I can already see big problems with the iPad - I'm addicted!!! I wake up and check the weather on the Internet using safari, then check the news using the USA today app. I have to go to work and like everyone else in New Jersey want to get my work done and get out early to beat traffic. I leave the iPad charging in the kitchen and head to work. Out of sight, out of mind…

The work day is not totally iPad free. I find myself a few times on the iPad site as well as Googling apps. Once the kids are a sleep, first order of business is loading non-iTunes video. I buy my first app - yxplayer. With this app you still sync through iTunes, but the yzplayer App is added to the File Sharing Section a the bottom of the Apps tab on iTunes. In the File Sharing section one selects yxplayer, browses for the videos, and click sync. Once you have sync'd, open the yxplayer app on the iPad and start watching. The videos I load are SD quality but still look good. The only problem is the aspect ratio is messed up and the videos are all square instead of their native 4:3. I will have to do some leg work on this. On Saturday Morning, my daughter could care less about the aspect ratio as she watches Blue’s Clues.Get yxplayer from MobileSoft

Now it is time for the social networking Apps. I load both Twitter and Facebook. I start using Twitter and I am able to sign in and view immediately. I even send a tweet. You can follow me on twitter @SMBStrategy. Facebook is a little different story but I think it is operator error. I only dabble in Facebook and find the web site to be a little quirky. The same quirks seem to be present in the iPad App also. When you see the Facebook buttons on BizPlanHelp, you will know I have gained a higher level of comfort. Get the Twitter by Twitter, Inc. App and the Facebook by Facebook App.

On Day 2 I also download an App called Free Books. It contains a bunch of older works that are no longer governed by copyright laws, which means all the classics I should have read in school, but because I was an Electrical Engineer, I didn’t. I download the works of Edgar Allen Poe and start reading. I prefer Stephen King, but for the price you can’t beat Poe. Get the Free Books by Spreadsong, Inc.

So far I still have not justified the iPad for business use, but it is the beginning of the weekend and with 160 hours of video on my Tivo that I can now watch on the iPad, business can wait until Monday.