iPad in Estonia, finally

Apple’s iconic and gamechanging iPad is finally officially available in Estonia. The reception has been full of sneers and irony as the new version of iPad should come out in a couple of months. Hopefully it will be here quicker. There are also a number of people in Estonia who probably due to jealousy or some sort of conformism are quite anti-Apple, so their disdain for any kinf of iProduct is also directed at the iPad.

Having used the iPad rather extensively since last July, when I bought myself a 32 Gb Wi-fi only iPad with the Apple iPad Case from the Apple Store Opéra in Paris, I can share some of my thoughts about what the iPad can and what it cannot do. I have to say that I have not really taken the iPad out of the case so my experience is limited to using it with this incredibly brilliantly designed case. So my first suggestion is to definitely get the Apple iPad Case with your iPad. Also, the iPad benefited a lot from the iOS 4.2 update which brought multitasking support along with other neat features, which added a lot of utility.

The iPad is perfect for (what I have used it for):

• casual web surfing and watching web (non-Flash) videos, either on your couch or during meetings
• reading and responding to e-mail,
• using it as a personal organiser (calendar),
• making notes and viewing online or e-mailed documents during meetings (it is so much quicker and lighter than a laptop),
• quickly checking something on the web (for example a recipe in the kitchen, it is difficult to have a laptop next to the stove, but the iPad fits everywhere)
• travelling for work or pleasure (lack of 3G does not harm as 3G roaming tends to be expensive and most conferences and more and more places in Europe do have free Wifi),
• playing games (I got completely addicted to Need For Speed Hot Pursuit, and I also like to play Scrabble on it from time to time, as a simulation-addict I also recommend SimCity and the Settlers),
• attaching speakers and using as a music machine at a party, because it also has a fully functional iPod built in.

What the iPad is not for (for me):

• replacing your work (or home) laptop,
• writing longer documents for which you need to easily drag and drop stuff or make links,
• editing photos or video,
• using instant messenging services (Skype or MSN), it is somewhat cumbersome to chat realtime with other people because of the lack of windows (so you must always switch between the browser and your messenger program.

What I would like to try with the iPad is to use it with a projector at the university for my presentations to students. It seems the iPad dock connector to VGA adapter is finally for sale here so I will get that and try it out with my classes.

I have found the iPad very useful, it is so quick, intuitive and light. And it is clearly the best device for those specific purposes I use if for.

P.S. My current tech set-up includes three MacBook Pros (one 13” with the Apple Cinema Display at one workplace and an older 15” for the other, one 17” is for home use), the iPad for meetings and travel, iPhone 4 for twitter, mobile e-mail and web surfing. All of these devices sync Calendars, Contacts, Bookmarks etc with each other over MobileMe and I keep a documents folder with documents that I work on on my iDisk (this is the weakest link, and tends to not function from time to time, so improvement would be useful).