Since the Air and the rMini first surfaced last month, much of the discussion on these boards has been about why one might choose one over the other.
There has been little discussion of why a person might choose both.
I thought I'd share my thoughts on this, and would appreciate other perspectives.
Like many users, I went from the iPad 3 to the first mini because I was so compelled by the drastic drop in weight and the beautiful form-factor of the first mini. But I was also profoundly disappointed with the screen. So much so that I gave up after about two months and sold it on craigslist without looking back. My assumption was that once the retina screen was added to the mini it would be the ideal device. I counted the days.
Then the Air appeared. Reading about it and seeing the pictures didn't mean anything to me. I wasn't in the market for another 9.7" iPad. But when I popped by the Apple store the day after the launch and held one in my hands, I was amazed. I knew within a few seconds that I wasn't leaving the store without one. At least to test it.
And then, of course, I grew completely attached to it -- and agonized over whether it would make sense to have both, since I knew I'd be buying the rMini for sure.
But then a funny thing happened: over the course of the two weeks I spent with the Air waiting for the rMini, the Air began to change my work habits significantly. I started to do so much more with the Air than I ever did with my iPad 3.
I teach and write, so I spend most of my day reading docs, editing, and writing (or commuting to and from class). With the new Pages and iCloud, I've begun to do most of my first-draft writing on the Air, and with Siri and the lighter weight of the Air, I'm also doing a lot of the editing.
With the arrival of the rMini, I've been using both about equally -- some days tending to use one more than the other. I've been able to do everything on the rMini that I do with the Air except type at length using the on-screen keyboard. But at certain times, the lighter weight of the mini seems preferable (if I'm going to focus on reading, doing short edits, annotating a PDF), and at other times, the Air seems best (first drafts, typing on screen while on the metro, posting to my course moodle, etc.).
But the short of it is this: the new iPads, coupled with Pages, have gone much further than any previous iPad in freeing me up from a mac or desktop computer. They're changing the way I use a computer more noticeably than ever before.
The iPad is becoming a much more powerful, useful computer -- and on this basis, it makes sense to think of the iPad generally (big or small) as a set of tools to work with in various capacities, rather than having to make a basic decision at the outset about what *kind* of iPad to have ("Am I going to use this for creation or consumption...").
I do both on both devices. Am I the only one?
There has been little discussion of why a person might choose both.
I thought I'd share my thoughts on this, and would appreciate other perspectives.
Like many users, I went from the iPad 3 to the first mini because I was so compelled by the drastic drop in weight and the beautiful form-factor of the first mini. But I was also profoundly disappointed with the screen. So much so that I gave up after about two months and sold it on craigslist without looking back. My assumption was that once the retina screen was added to the mini it would be the ideal device. I counted the days.
Then the Air appeared. Reading about it and seeing the pictures didn't mean anything to me. I wasn't in the market for another 9.7" iPad. But when I popped by the Apple store the day after the launch and held one in my hands, I was amazed. I knew within a few seconds that I wasn't leaving the store without one. At least to test it.
And then, of course, I grew completely attached to it -- and agonized over whether it would make sense to have both, since I knew I'd be buying the rMini for sure.
But then a funny thing happened: over the course of the two weeks I spent with the Air waiting for the rMini, the Air began to change my work habits significantly. I started to do so much more with the Air than I ever did with my iPad 3.
I teach and write, so I spend most of my day reading docs, editing, and writing (or commuting to and from class). With the new Pages and iCloud, I've begun to do most of my first-draft writing on the Air, and with Siri and the lighter weight of the Air, I'm also doing a lot of the editing.
With the arrival of the rMini, I've been using both about equally -- some days tending to use one more than the other. I've been able to do everything on the rMini that I do with the Air except type at length using the on-screen keyboard. But at certain times, the lighter weight of the mini seems preferable (if I'm going to focus on reading, doing short edits, annotating a PDF), and at other times, the Air seems best (first drafts, typing on screen while on the metro, posting to my course moodle, etc.).
But the short of it is this: the new iPads, coupled with Pages, have gone much further than any previous iPad in freeing me up from a mac or desktop computer. They're changing the way I use a computer more noticeably than ever before.
The iPad is becoming a much more powerful, useful computer -- and on this basis, it makes sense to think of the iPad generally (big or small) as a set of tools to work with in various capacities, rather than having to make a basic decision at the outset about what *kind* of iPad to have ("Am I going to use this for creation or consumption...").
I do both on both devices. Am I the only one?
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