Sugar, Spice and The iPad 2 (with a DIY Case!)

So yesterday, after much waiting, I went out and bought an iPad 2. The whole ordeal if I should even call it an ordeal was actually quite pleasant. Target and the local Apple reseller, Mac Haus hadnt gotten their shipments but word on the street was that the local Walmart had. I showed up an hour and half before the release and they told me they only had about 16 in stock but there were only three guys waiting in line so I jumped right in there! We only had a few more people trickle in when 5 o'clock rolled around, but it was nice, no hordes of people with pitchforks or anything.




So to the main point! The iPad 2 is much thinner than I expected. I've pretty much gotten used to holding it but whenever I catch a reflection of myself with it I'm startled by how thin it really is. It's so thin that it makes me nervous at times. I'm not entirely sure if I could take this out into the wild world without some sort of case (Walmart didn't have any of those spiffy magnetic squares yet).  Without a case I would probably constantly envision it kissing a cold concrete floor somewhere, its face spidering into a million tiny little pieces.






Here's a case I made just for the time being:

I cut a rectangle out of an old accounting workbook and lined the inside with thin cardboard.

I even went as far as and labeling it 'workbook' just in case anyone got wise.

Anyway.

The iPad 2 is comfortably fast. I haven't once had to pause and wait for it to process anything. It keeps up with my stream of consciousness and smoothly carries out tasks just as fast I can think them up. Right now I'm typing with it comfortably in my lap. I find it ironic that I can do this on an iPad just fine but not with a laptop without at least some sort of hard surface for it to sit on so it won't overheat.

I'm really glad the keyboard is so comfortable. It makes editing documents on apps like Roambi, Pages, and Keynote (which cover your basic necessities from Microsoft Office) incredibly easy.

So far, the only thing I'm not all that impressed with is the camera. Here's a still of my phone:

It actually doesn't look all that bad when it's that small but when you're setting up the shot on that big iPad screen you can tell the difference. The video is fairly good and I imagine if you're on facetime with someone it'll be fine so long as you're in a well lit room.

The iPad really is a remarkable machine. I only whine a little about the camera because I can't find any real issues with it overall. A few years ago, it was difficult to produce visual displays this thin let alone a fully functioning computer. Eugh, what an exciting time to be alive!