Yes, Really. Ok, not quite yet but we are getting there.
When the iPhone first came out, Steve Jobs told us that it changed everything. I didn’t believe him and stuck with my BlackBerry. At First it turned out to be the right decision. The first iPhones were very limited in what they could do. Now that I have an iPhone 4G, it changed a few things, but not quite everything. The high resolution retina display quite amazing. The camera isn’t quite a replacement for my pocket digital, but is pretty good. The thing I like best, I didn’t discover until I had the phone over a month. Voice control. That did change every thing I did with the phone. The voice that talks back sounds just like the BlackBerry Voice only she is a much better listener and can do more than just “call home”.
The voice control functionality on the iPhone is significantly more robust than the voice Control on my BlackBerry. I can’t speak for the Torch because I got the iPhone 4G first. Admittedly there were some growing pains with the iPhone 4G. Still my biggest complaint is the lack of ability to invite people to meeting. It just blows my mind this simple feature is still missing. Who in the world can have a business meeting with only themselves. What I do is email a second account on my laptop, and then create the appointment on my laptop. Hey I guess Mr. Jobs was right there too, it did change how I make appointments. He didn’t say “it made everything better”, he just said “it changes everything.” The other function I missed from the BlackBerry was the “to do list” that synced with MS Outlook or Google. Everything I want to do goes on to the to do list. Each night I sort out my list deciding what really is going to be done and what was just a fun idea at the time. There is a company called Appigo that makes a pretty decent to do list that will sync with Microsoft Outlook. It isn’t quite as clean as the BlackBerry sync but good enough.
The iPad on the other hand really does change everything. I have to admit I’m still an observer though. My current HP Touch Smart laptop hasn’t quite finished its useful life. I do plan to get an iPad in January along with a hot rod Mac. The Fan on My HP quad is starting to act up. I can see it’s time is coming. For me, three years is a good run for a computer. If you are a windows fan, the HP’s are pretty good.
Just watching how other people use their iPad is truly amazing. The only thing it’s missing is a keyboard. I have seen people using the on screen keyboard using the Columbus typing method, you know, “find a key and land on it”. I don’t have the patience to do that and keep my train of thought on track. Since I am planning to buy an iPad, I have decided to begin training myself to do less writing in public and more reading. I used to work on blogs like this while sitting in airports and other public places. Now I use Dragon NaturallySpeaking and do it from home or the privacy of a hotel room. I’m not sure if the iPad will have the horsepower needed to run a dictation program, that remains to be seen. Dragon has a version for the iPhone I will buy today and let you know. If it does work, I hope we don’t become a world of people standing around talking to our iPads.
One of the most amazing things that I have seen the iPad do, is replace a pilot kitbag. Most pilots carry around a bag of paperwork describing the airplane and all of the airports that could possibly go to. My bag weighs almost 60 pounds. Everything in that kitbag can be put onto the iPad. 60 pounds reduced to 3 pounds( the FAA requires you to carry a second battery). This is a game changer for all pilots. Just imagine what it could do for lawyers, doctors and other professionals.
I’m going to give Steve Jobs this one, the iPad is truly a game changer. It is too bad we can’t sell them on our KuhlToys website, you’re going to have to go to the Apple Store to get your own. Maybe I’ll see you there.
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