Month: April 2010

iBought an iPad

andertoons

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So, as everyone knew I would, I got myself an iPad. After a few days I have to say I love it so far, so here’s a quick look.

As I’m a cartoonist, let’s examine Marvel’s app first:

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Um, WOW! Comics look gorgeous on this thing! And downloading the first couple of free samples went off without a hitch:

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I’m hoping Marvel gets new titles up regularly. If so, I can see using this app more than I probably should. Seriously, Marvel, get this going.

As for creating cartoons on the iPad, I’ve only really dug into the SketchBook Pro app…

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…but I was amazed at what I could do in just a few minutes:

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It’s much more powerful than I’d expected, although I’m not sure I’d consider doing actual cartoon work on the thing. But I’ve got an iPhone/iPad friendly stylus on the way, and I can’t wait to continue playing.
 
 
I downloaded the first issue of Time (even though I’m more of a Newsweek guy), and I really liked their interface:

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It read well, and navigation was intuitive and fun. Ditto for the NPR app:
 
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I know there’s a lot of complaining that the iPad is just a media consuming device rather than a real computer, but if you’re going to simply consume, you could do much much worse. Netflix streams beautifully and without a hiccup:
 
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And reading books is a joy:

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I’ll also admit to testing out some gaming. Especially some old school faves:

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So, is the iPad a hardcore desktop replacement? No. A fun, zippy, pretty much get done what you need to get done casual computer? And how!