iPonder #2

I've had the use of an iPad for several weeks now and wrote a post earlier on my initial impressions.  I took it along to a conference I attended. It was certainly all I needed and my back will be eternally grateful that I wasn't toting my full computer bag.

A couple of tricks I've learned:

• To copy a URL tap and hold in the address bar.  This will bring up the keyboard.  Ignore it and simply tap and hold again until the magnifying circle comes up.  When you release your finger a pop-up will allow you to "select all".  Choosing "select all" gives you the option to copy and then paste elsewhere.
• When typing in most apps, to end a sentence just tap the space bar twice.  A period will be inserted and the next word you type will automatically start with a capital letter.

The magazine reading experience is delightful with all the imbedded media and colours that pop off the page.  Even the ads engaged me.  Wired Reader is impressive.  The current issue has a video trailer for the new Toy Story 3 movie imbedded on the cover.  There are several ways to navigate the articles.  Some pages have Touch buttons to move through a series of items.   For longer articles you simply swipe up to reveal successive pages.  I learned how Cheetos are made, fascinating, and I love the photo of quality control testers wearing hairnets, beard nets and earphone protection.

  

Navigating is as simple as tapping anywhere on the page to return to the cover or pull up an index menu.  A slider along the bottom of the screen lets you advance or page back and shows you your progress.

One of the  'pay for' apps I'm trying out:

Audiotorium Take notes and record voice.  There are 7 font choices and a range of font sizes which would be useful for younger students or vision impaired users.  Notes can be arranged into three basic categories: my notes, work notes or school notes and you can add your own additional categories.  Using the plus sign icon in the category menu lets you add subjects within categories, for instance adding 'English" under the School Notes category.  To start taking notes, select a category and subject first, then hit the + sign located in the top right.   Notes are saved automatically and stored chronologically.  

If you are recording an interview or lecture you can drop bookmarks into the recording so that you 

quickly return to those spots when replaying.  You can also send your notes to yourself and others        via email.

 Here's what the developer has to say.