iPad I feel like I'm missing out.

This all just means you didn't need an iPad to start off with.

puma1552 said:

I've got a 64 gig wifi iPad 4, my first iPad which I bought last November.

Love it, use it daily and will always have an iPad.

But let's face it, all I do is use Safari.

I've got 18 gigs used and nearly 40 gigs free, but 15 of that is music which I never listen to on the iPad. I've only got a small handful of apps that I almost never use, except maybe my calculator app here and there.

I have one magazine subscription, so I suppose I do that in addition to Safari.

I'm not a gamer and own no consoles, and have no games on my iPad; I've got 10 or so games on my iPhone, but never play them.

I don't like free apps, they are all guaranteed to be full of ads.

I've spent hours pouring through the app store for quality paid apps, but nothing looks like anything I want or need. I like to think of my iPad as a beast of a tool, but the reality is it's a luxury toy so I should probably think of it as the ultimate entertainment device. Guess that's why I put the music on there.

I don't know, I love it and use it daily but can't help but feel I'm missing out on really experiencing the device and all it can do.

Anyone feel the same?

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I don't feel the same way, but I can see a lot of people who just use the iPad for surfing and watching movies for example. Don't buy into the hype. It seems to me like you've given it a fair shot - you've perused the App Store, you know what the iPad is capable of doing, but it is not what you need from it.
There's no shame in having a device that you use lightly.

I've owned several iPads of varying capacity and different WiFi and cellular models and I finally settled for the 16GB wifi iPad mini. I really only use it at home for browsing the internet, emailing, some light gaming and I've got a couple cookbook apps.

nothing wrong with just using it for the internet...

I originally purchased my iPad for a month long trip to Europe so I could avoid taking a laptop, and it performed wonderfully, and was used daily for movies, email, etc.

However, now that I am not traveling, I prefer my laptop and the iPad gets very little use. I mostly use it to read scripts, because it is so convenient to drop a PDF in Dropbox and pull it up on the iPad instantly. Otherwise it sits on my desk.

I got my money's worth on the trip I originally purchased it for so don't feel bad about having it around even though it is not used too often. I think the iPad as a device has many niche uses (medical, reading, cookbook, etc), but for common things like web surfing or email it is not faster or more convenient than a laptop.

I picked up my first pad about a month before you, a mini. It's become so useful, I barely pick up my laptop anymore - for business or personal.

The thing to keep in mind about the App Store is that it's the worst organized library since before the dewey decimal system was invented. You can only browse the top 100 or so of any category and unless it's popular, won't even make the list.

But apps are the key to pad usefulness, that you can do things with specialized mini programs that used to require finding a web site. Instead of a weather site, you install Magical Weather. Instead of a conversion site, you install Converter. Instead of the macrumors forum site, you install tapatalk. And dont even get me started with Credit Karma. Things get faster and easier and more organized.

To break through the popularity barrier, you have to rely on the (partially hidden) search system. Type in words and scroll through the entire list of results.

puma1552 said:

Love it, use it daily and will always have an iPad. But let's face it, all I do is use Safari.

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You use it every day, looks like you're not missing out on much. If you aren't using the space, try to swap it for someone with a smaller capacity iPad.

You don't have to use it for more than Safari.

The problem may be trying to restructure your normal workflow to incorporate the iPad.

I too just got an iPad last October. I thought I would be one of the first on the bandwagon, since I used a Newton "back in the day," but I couldn't see how I would use it regularly.

The more I use it, to do tasks I used to think I needed a computer (or something else), the more I appreciate its strengths and weaknesses.

Right now, I use it the most to read PDF's (using iBooks) and watching videos (I'm taking some Coursera classes). It also is more foolproof using my companies web conferencing software than our regular Windows computers.

My wife has taken to the iPad like a duck to water. She wanted to do web surfing and social networking sites/software.

I would make a different argument...if all you do with a laptop or computer is surf the web and write emails...you'd be better off with an iPad.

Of course, it isn't better at everything. Anything you need a large processor for, or a large screen for, you will be better off with a computer. Right now, I only use my main computer for my statistical software, and complex documents (and writing long replies to forum posts).

Oh yeah, in my opinion, 99% of the App store apps are just cr-app.

About 80-90% of the time I spend on my iPad is spent reading, either by surfing the Internet or reading ebooks. That said, two apps that makes my iPad more of a productivity machine are File Browser and Dropbox. They give the iPad a rudimentary file system. File Browser lets me connect to shared drives on my wifi network, so Ican shuttle files to and from my computer and my iPad. Dropbox does the same, only it syncs folders rather than copy files back and forth. Once you have Dropbox, a lot of apps sync to it. If you read a lot of PDFs, GoodReader is a good app for that, and it also acts like a file system.

I also use Zite and FlipBoard to find articles to read, and I have a media playing app that plays most media formats, not just the iTunes compatible ones. Last, I use FaceTime and iMessage to talk to my mom and my coworkers.

Also, try http://appshopper.com/. It's a better way to search for apps than on the App Store.

I use mine as my only Mac, and have done so since the first launch, I use it way to many hours a day

Have you looked for Apps related to the websites you visit? Some of them are significantly better than using the webpages.

For news have you tried apps like Flipboard?

Try free Apps, they're not a lifelong commitment. If you don't like it, delete it.

puma1552 said:

It was actually a stopgap; I have a MBP and my wife had a netbook she got sick of using, so since she was stealing my MBP all the time I decided to pick up an iPad rather than a new MBP last year (had other financial goals so didn't want to spend a ton on a new computer at the time) so for now this is my laptop 75% of the time (buying my wife a new Haswell rMBP soon and I'll get my machine back finally).

So in that respect I did and I didn't need an iPad, but now that I have it I think even once I get my MBP back I will still use the iPad a lot for its convenience. But then again who really needs an iPad, it was a market that was created.

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Umm... frankly I do. My home iPad gets vastly more use at home than my rMBP does because it is FAR more convenient to use around the house. My work iPad is utterly vital at the moment with the amount of paperwork I'm handling and, as it's a mini, fits into the map pocket of my coat for when I have to travel between buildings and the rain is coming in horizontal. I can think of a dozen reasons why I would much rather have an iPad in both personal and professional use than a laptop.

And here's the thing, 'need' is a pointless measurement in the first place. How many of us 'need' anything more than an i3 CPU f'instance? Sure we want the extra speed that more powerful laptops give us but need? No. I want to buy and use devices that provide the best possible user experience (within my budget, obviously) and by that criteria the iPad remains the best computer I've ever bought (and my first computer was a C64 so this is going back a long, long way). It's used for hours every day, it's a joy to use, battery life is ridiculous, it's light (though roll on the iPad 5!), it's VASTLY cheaper to equip with software than any computing platform ever was before it, gives me access to forms of digital media I'd never use on a laptop or desktop and needs almost zero maintenance. Sure I've got an iMac for gaming and heavy duty photo work with a rMBP as the work machine (and for doing initial photography work away from home) but they're specific to those tasks and a few others. The general purpose workhorse is the iPad and I don't see that changing any time soon.

Hello... said:

I use mine as my only Mac, and have done so since the first launch, I use it way to many hours a day

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⬆ This.

I completely use my ipad for work and relaxation. As a teacher I develope all my lessons on my ipad. I have more invested in one study app than the cost of my iPad. It's amazing to grab one small device and have a huge library in my hands.

Reading PDF's are great. The iPad has really added to making my travel and study so much easier.

My poor MacBook hardly ever gets used now.

I use mine mostly to read books either bought via Amazon/Kindle or from the local library.

I preach Feedly as my main reason in having an ipad. It's the best damn news aggregator ever. It finds virtually any site with an RSS feed and offers many different layouts. Yes you can get the same thing on safari on a Mac but its just so much more sleek and useful on an ipad.

It's a shame you don't game because there are a ton of great games that take advantage of the amazing screen.

If CNN is your thing then the app is infinitely more beautiful than the main site.

Same goes for AOL app

puma1552 said:

I've got a 64 gig wifi iPad 4, my first iPad which I bought last November.

Love it, use it daily and will always have an iPad.

But let's face it, all I do is use Safari.

I've got 18 gigs used and nearly 40 gigs free, but 15 of that is music which I never listen to on the iPad. I've only got a small handful of apps that I almost never use, except maybe my calculator app here and there.

I have one magazine subscription, so I suppose I do that in addition to Safari.

I'm not a gamer and own no consoles, and have no games on my iPad; I've got 10 or so games on my iPhone, but never play them.

I don't like free apps, they are all guaranteed to be full of ads.

I've spent hours pouring through the app store for quality paid apps, but nothing looks like anything I want or need. I like to think of my iPad as a beast of a tool, but the reality is it's a luxury toy so I should probably think of it as the ultimate entertainment device. Guess that's why I put the music on there.

I don't know, I love it and use it daily but can't help but feel I'm missing out on really experiencing the device and all it can do.

Anyone feel the same?

Click to expand...

Just bc u use the device differently doesn't mean u are missing out or not using it correctly.

I use iPad mini daily for safari and email. The only other app I really use is Zite and Facebook. I do 90% of my emails on my iPad mini. This is how I use the device. U don't have to conform and do things like everyone else. Who cares if you are using it differently? You are using it!

If you are only using so little of your 64Gb iPad, why you want to buy a rMBP? Seems it would be another overkill purchase?

Without my iPad sitting in front of me, it is a good exercise to consider what I do with it all of the time:

• Read books (I travel quite a bit, and this is a godsend)
• Regularly read and store PDF's - manuals, work documents that are not confidential, etc.
• Read the Wall Street Journal and skim over local newspaper
• Facebook
• Read magazines (I have three that I have subscriptions to)
• Watch football games (NFL Game Rewind)
• Watch TV on my Optimum App (when the kids are watching something else)
• Check emails when the PC is off and I need to respond to something that requires more typing than is comfortable with my phone.
• Check weather and traffic as needed (weather bug and google maps)
• Play some games with the kids (not many as the PC is my main gaming system)
• Check movie reviews and occasionally buy tickets (imdb and Fandango)
• Shopping comparisons (Amazon, eBay, Newegg)

And then probably 10 other minor things I am not thinking of right now.

There are so many "regular" things you can do with a Tablet (not just an iPad) that I get surprised by people who say that they can't figure out what to do with it. My wife is like this, BTW. Meanwhile, she is much less informed and less interested in news, technology, etc.

R

puma1552 said:

...
I don't like free apps, they are all guaranteed to be full of ads.
...

Click to expand...

Not all free apps have ads. And as for the free apps that do have ads, some of them are not intrusive. And remember if it's free, all you've spent is some of your time if you don't like the app. Also, in the case of some of the free apps, you can try them out before spending money on the paid ad free version.

puma1552 said:

...
I've spent hours pouring through the app store for quality paid apps, but nothing looks like anything I want or need.
...

Click to expand...

Maybe you're not looking the right way? What types of apps are you really interested in?

Since you enjoy surfing, you must subscribe to more quality magazines. Google will be your best friend while researching which magazines to subscribe to based on your area of interest. Casual surfing is fine , but nothing beats the interactive magazines that ipad has these days. Some of them are free as well with great content.

I believe everyone can enjoy one or other sort of gaming. Again, since you spend a lot of time surfing, i guess you are sort of an information whore and leaning towards intellectual side of things. You can enjoy basic puzzlers which are plenty in quality like cut the rope, train crisis, bad piggies.

In a way I can relate - although I use my iPad a lot, I have almost NO need for local storage. I could easily make do with 8GB of storage and would love to see a 100$ price cut along with it.