OT: iPad (Was: Best HP-15C emulator for the iPod/iPad) Message #9 Posted by Egan Ford on 15 Apr 2010, 12:33 p.m., in response to message #6 by PeterP
Quote:
iPad. Now - how is it?
It's a big iPod touch primarily suited for the consumption of visual media as apposed to audio media.
I spend about 80 hours a month in public transportation (mostly planes followed by taxis, trains, subways, and buses). Hauling around a lot of paper to read was getting me down. Last November I actually read a book on my iPhone mostly on NY subways and taxis. So, I proved to myself that I should probably invest in an eReader. Fortunately, the B&N Nook was late or hard to get, then Apple announced, and I waited, and I am very glad I did.
The battery life is incredible, the form-factor is great, the WiFi sucks (SW fix being worked on), the screen is beautiful. Touch typing is actually doable.
All of my publications except two are available in PDF, so I switched over MAA, ACM, and SciAM. Wired will be digital soon leaving only one journal that is paper. But its small and only quarterly.
I no longer use my iPhone for portable video. It was always too small and a drain on the battery.
As for calculator emulators. All the iPhone emulators work, but blown up. Its actually easier to just keep using the iPhone as my calculator. The only emulator I think that will make the most sense would be a 71B. I have the iPad beta of m48+. I need to create an iPad skin for it (no time). Tying up the entire screen just for a calculator seems a bit ridiculous. Hopefully in the future the iPhone OS will have some type of widget support--mini apps that run on top of other apps, but I doubt it.
So far I am happy with it and very happy to dump paper newpapers, magazines, and books.
typos
Edited: 15 Apr 2010, 1:09 p.m. after one or more responses were posted
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