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Resolved Bought my first iPad, what's the point?

J

joewillmott

macrumors regular
Original poster
May 22, 2012
170
0
England
My retina mini arrived two days ago. My main reasons for buying are to use as a second monitor on the go, and to test my apps on... but what else am I meant to do with it?

It looks nice when browsing, but a lot of sites display wrong. I don't really play games and no apps seem very appealing to me, just a waste of time. What else am I meant to do with it??

Highly considering returning it and buying a cheap tablet that will still work as a test device and external monitor, which sucks because this thing is beautiful.
 
Just a bunch of sites display horribly, parts of the page in the wrong place and stuff. I don't care as I browse on my laptop, not the iPad. But because of this, I don't really get what to do on my iPad?
 
The point for many of us, that its a tool to increase our efficiency and/or our ability to work.

I'd say if you don't have any need for it, and based on your post that is the case then return it.

What sites do not display correctly, I much prefer surfing on my iPad then my phone.

I use my iPad mini for reading, playing some games. Using apps to manage my karate techniques and katas. I also use the various iWork and iLife apps for spreadsheets, documents and photos.

To each his own, I only suggest you research what fits your needs best and if a tablet isn't doing that then return it.
 
joewillmott said:
It looks nice when browsing, but a lot of sites display wrong. I don't really play games and no apps seem very appealing to me, just a waste of time. What else am I meant to do with it??
Click to expand...
For what it's worth, my first iPad was a gift and I felt similarly. My wife and I now have three iPads between the two of us.

My uses for the iPad grew pretty slowly. There were very few scenarios where it seemed obvious that the iPad would be useful; instead, I thought to try using the iPad and found that it was quite helpful, and then I'd try using it in other scenarios.

My iPads are now paper replacements (using Notability and cheap styluses - still waiting for a really nice stylus to be developed) and e-book/PDF readers. By tethering to my phone I also use them for web and news viewing when I'm out and about. At home it's occasionally more convenient to take the iPad and look something up or deal with an email while my computer is doing something else.

Basically, if you're not finding opportunities to use the iPad immediately, my experience indicates that it doesn't mean you'll never find opportunities to use it. Of course, it's up to you whether you feel that it's worth it or whether you'd go for a cheaper tablet, if any tablet at all.
 
joewillmott said:
Just a bunch of sites display horribly, parts of the page in the wrong place and stuff. I don't care as I browse on my laptop, not the iPad. But because of this, I don't really get what to do on my iPad?
Click to expand...

I can honestly hardly remember the last site that didn't display properly on my ipad. That was an issue in 2010. Today a site has to be WAY behind the times not to work on the ipad. Have any examples?

For home use, my laptop and iMac feel really clunky for browsing and casual use. Who wants to sit at a computer desk at home all day? And my laptop (brand new Haswell Thinkpad T440s with 6+ hours battery) just feels enormous to carry around the house. It takes up more room, is semi-permanently attached to the charger, etc.

My iPad is the best tool for browsing, reading, magazines, music, and videos (the latter two extended around the house via Airplay in a way that's nowhere near as convenient from a full computer), sharing pictures, video calls, referencing recipes, etc. When the ipad goes 15-20 hours and a week between charges, is always ready to go the instant I want to use it, and takes up no more space on the counter than a magazine, it's the laptop that feels like it's full of compromises today.

Like was said earlier, an ipad is the kind of device that tends to grow on you. You have decades of getting used to regular computer experience, so an ipad will likely displace that usage a little bit at a time. For me, over about 3 years, it has displaced about 95% of my home computer usage. I can even type at approx 80% of the rate I can type on a real keyboard.
 
Ledgem I really hope the same happens for me, as I would like it to be a useful part of my life!

Other people that I am too lazy to go through names and quotes: they aren't major sites that display wrong, just design sites that were created with desktops in mind I guess. The apps I am testing are my own, so can't really say too much about them. I planned to use it for productivity and thought it would be aces, but now I actually have it I just feel a bit lost.

Returning it crosses my mind all the time, but I will try and get a few weeks use out of it and see if it proves itself useful, if not just sell it on I guess. It's just that horrible feeling in my belly of "I did not need this as much as I thought".
 
joewillmott said:
Ledgem I really hope the same happens for me, as I would like it to be a useful part of my life!

Other people that I am too lazy to go through names and quotes: they aren't major sites that display wrong, just design sites that were created with desktops in mind I guess. The apps I am testing are my own, so can't really say too much about them. I planned to use it for productivity and thought it would be aces, but now I actually have it I just feel a bit lost.

Returning it crosses my mind all the time, but I will try and get a few weeks use out of it and see if it proves itself useful, if not just sell it on I guess. It's just that horrible feeling in my belly of "I did not need this as much as I thought".
Click to expand...
If you dont need it, then you dont need it. Nothing you can do about that.
 
joewillmott said:
My retina mini arrived two days ago. My main reasons for buying are to use as a second monitor on the go, and to test my apps on... but what else am I meant to do with it?

It looks nice when browsing, but a lot of sites display wrong. I don't really play games and no apps seem very appealing to me, just a waste of time. What else am I meant to do with it??

Highly considering returning it and buying a cheap tablet that will still work as a test device and external monitor, which sucks because this thing is beautiful.
Click to expand...

Here's a question for you. If you bought an iPad to test apps, how are you going to do that on some cheap tablet? On your website you mention flash and iOS based games, neither of which can be tested on an android tablet. And surfing is horrible on all cheap tablets (personally I hate the wide aspect 7" screen) so it wouldn't be too useful for web testing either.

Just playing Devil's Advocate here and raising some questions.
 
The point is to research and know what your buying before you buy it. From music creation to art, It can be done on the iPad along with you usual media consumption.
 
joewillmott said:
My retina mini arrived two days ago. My main reasons for buying are to use as a second monitor on the go, and to test my apps on... but what else am I meant to do with it?

It looks nice when browsing, but a lot of sites display wrong. I don't really play games and no apps seem very appealing to me, just a waste of time. What else am I meant to do with it??

Highly considering returning it and buying a cheap tablet that will still work as a test device and external monitor, which sucks because this thing is beautiful.
Click to expand...

Is this made up?

What apps are you testing?
And using a table for an external monitor? Huh?
 
I suggest you return it. You wanted a second monitor on the go, that's what a smartphone is for.
 
nostresshere said:
And using a table for an external monitor? Huh?
Click to expand...
The iPad can be used as a secondary display. It isn't optimal because there's no choice but to run it through the wireless (leading to limited bandwidth and poorer refresh rates/screen quality), but for displaying static information (spreadsheets, PDFs) it's perfectly acceptable. It works through VNC and software that enables the host computer to recognize the VNC connection as a secondary output, instead of a mirrored display. You can use software like ScreenRecycler (what I have, originally purchased for converting older computers into tertiary monitors) or Air Display (newer, designed with iOS devices in mind).

While it isn't particularly useful for things like running video on the display, it's useful for when you're in a pinch. It's also one of the only ways to get a secondary display when you're on-the-go, assuming you have a wireless connection that allows devices on the network to interact with each other.

thatgirl87 said:
I suggest you return it. You wanted a second monitor on the go, that's what a smartphone is for.
Click to expand...
If you're thinking about using ScreenRecycler or Air Display with a smartphone, it's possible, but a poor choice compared to an iPad. The iPhone's screen size and resolution are decent when held in your hand, but terrible when placed alongside a laptop.
 
Buy something because it satisfies a need. You dont buy something then try to shoehorn a need into your life you dont really have.
 
I remember when the iPad was first launched, I wanted one, but wasn’t sure what I’d actually use it for. By the time the iPad 2 had launched, I’d done some research, and knew exactly how I was going to use it.

For people to make recommendations they really need to know what your interests are, but here are a few general suggestions, which hopefully should give you some ideas -

Content discovery - Use Zite to find articles on subjects which are of interest to you. Also try Flipboard.

Games - I know you say you’re not interested in games, and by that I assume you mean video games, but most people are interested in some form of games, even if it’s just crosswords, or sudoku. There are a load of logic and puzzle based games available.

Music - Try Spotify to listen to music. Unfortunately Pandora Radio is not officially available in the UK. Songza is also worth trying out.

Newsstand - Unfortunately Engadget’s Distro magazine has now ceased, but there are still some genuinely free magazines on Newsstand, such as Sport, or AUX, for music.

Personalised newspaper - Use Feedly and Mr. Reader to create a personalised newspaper. Mr. Reader allows you to connect to your Feedly account and view web content without ads.

Podcasts - To subscribe to podcasts use Downcast. You can then watch, or listen to these, when you’re offline.

Radio - try TuneIn Radio to listen to stations from around the world.

Random content - Digg is usually good for finding more random stories and videos.

Saving content for offline reading - Use Pocket to save articles for offline reading.

TV and Film - There are numerous free streaming services, depending on where you live, such as BBC iPlayer, Crackle, Demand 5, 4oD, ITV Player, Snag Films, TED and TV Catchup.
 
joewillmott said:
My retina mini arrived two days ago. My main reasons for buying are to use as a second monitor on the go, and to test my apps on... but what else am I meant to do with it?

It looks nice when browsing, but a lot of sites display wrong. I don't really play games and no apps seem very appealing to me, just a waste of time. What else am I meant to do with it??

Highly considering returning it and buying a cheap tablet that will still work as a test device and external monitor, which sucks because this thing is beautiful.
Click to expand...

You wasted money and time.
 
What's the point? Reading and watching content on the go leisurely or whenever without having to deal with the annoyances or hindrances of a computer for reading or checking out websites.
 
Reading, watching video, casual web browsing, social networking, spotify, etc.

Granted, you can do all this on your iPhone, but since I picked up my rMini on Friday, I have been using it way more for watching videos and web browsing then I do on my 5S.

This is my second iPad. I owned the original, and sold it after awhile since I was using it as a eBook and it was too big for me. The rMini is the perfect size for reading an eBook while listening to music while doing some light web browsing and watching Vimeo, YouTube, Netflix, HBOGO, etc.
 
What are you supposed to do with it? Four words: Duolingo on the crapper.

How else can you learn a foreign language during 5 to 15 otherwise wasted daily minutes?
 
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