Catching Up On My IPad

So here is a first. Tonight I am writing my blog post from my new iPad2 and I'm pumped. This is multiple-tasking at my best. (Of course I'm watching Dancing With the Stars so might miss a comma or two.)

What have I learned since I bought this entry into the Mac world? Scrabble is a team sport! Who knew?

Seriously, though, I have learned a lot of keyboard stuff which is different in this format. To correct a mistake I have to hold my finger over the screen until a circle appears. I place it to the right of the error and backspace it out. This is the only way I've found, unlike the PC format which gives delete or backspace. There are many little things like that which are gradually becoming easier for me.

My first test for the iPad as a word processor was at a writing conference at the end of April. Being a touch typist who needs a standard keyboard, I went right out and bought the add-on keyboard. It is excellent. As long as I had a table I used the keyboard but when I didn't I used the pop-up screen one. It is fine but slow. I had to watch the keyboard and not the speaker. Nevertheless, I managed quite well.

In the airport I had a lot of time to kill so tried out the Internet with mixed results. None of the problems were the fault of the iPad, just the airport connectivity.

Aps are the way to go, I've found, and kids' aps for the grand babies are fun. They don't cost much and are pretty creative. I found a drawing one that 2-year-old Ben loves. I like that it challenges him intellectually and is colorful and artistic. His favorite is the animals and the loaders he can paste into the pages. This kid can sit and create for 25 minutes at a time. Pretty good for a two-year-old.

All in all, I'm happy with the iPad and the aps I've got so far, as well as the how-to book I had to have. I like to hold that old-fashioned paper thing in my hand sometimes just to remember how we used to learn.