A "1-Click" lesson

Anxious to use my iPad as an ereader, and desiring lots of choices (sorry, Apple iBookstore, get me loads of romance novels and I'll be back), I downloaded the Kindle App for iPad. I'd already explored the site and decided on my book choice, an Australian novel not readily available here, or at least, not in my small town world--and won't I be surprised if it's featured at the local Big Box--but that's not the story.

It was way too easy. 'Want this one?' 'Yes, I do.' And I hit "1-click", something I never do on the real Amazon site. Next screen: 'Pick where you want it d/l'ed.' I did. Zip, zip, zip--it was there!

To back up a minute, I'd hunted down an Amazon gift card for myself, so I could debit my purchases by gift card like I do iTunes. I hadn't been asked to enter any numbers. So, maybe it was just a sample on my iPad?

Nope. "Turning" pages revealed I had it all. Back to the store, find my account, and it's been billed to my credit card on record.

Now, that's fast. That was 1-click too easy.

So now I have a gift card and a take-home lesson.

And a book to read.

iPad and me

It's probably not the wisest move to buy the iPad, sit for an hour in the store to get it synced up to iTunes (I was greedy and wanted a LOT of photos transferred and I wanted backup if something went wrong), and then head out of town. That, of course, is exactly what we did.

So my iPad and I spent our first days together in a hotel with free, but uncertain/sluggish wifi. I was so disgusted with it by Saturday afternoon, that I went downstairs, sat near the business center, and signed up for the 250MB 3G service. While I'm not particularly afraid of running out of MBs since we don't have 3G service here, I will watch my usage.

Now at home, I have wifi, so I should, according to this article on macworld.com this morning, just turn the cellular data switch to off. I think I'll do that when I switch it on in order to read the USA Today which I downloaded yesterday afternoon sitting just feet from my modem and seeing a full set of bars.

Obviously, I have much to do to get iPad the way I want it. First off, I need a name for her, then I need to make her a little sleeve to wear while in my purse. Which, btw, I had to buy a new one of in order to accommodate her. And Apple is out of their covers which I was going to buy. Now, they had them the day I ordered the iPad, but there must have been one heck of a rush in the intervening week since the guy at the Apple Houston store told me they were backordered for a month. I did purchase a little molded cover for her back, but she needs something to protect her front.

An iPad's owner's work is never done.

What recession?

I suppose the recession of the last two years is over. I base this on the fact that Apple has sold over 1 million iPads in the first month and that it has taken me 9 days to get the one I ordered from the store. That means there's a lot of unreserved, unneeded-for-necessities money out there.

My husband wants to know what I need one for. Well, that has been the problem with them, now hasn't it? What is it for? Not a phone. Not a laptop. There have been--see the preceding paragraph--over 1 million people willing to find out. And, as of tomorrow morning, there'll be 1 million and one.

I'll let you know what I need it for. Stay tuned.

The Fortune-less Fortune Cookie

In a word: bummer.

At the mall to update and upgrade my MacBook from OS Tiger to OS Snow Leopard, and afraid to do it on my own, I'd spent nearly three hours semi-occupying a young man's time while the computer did all the work. I played with the iPad, the reason for doing this update, and studied its accessories. The fact that one cannot have an iPad on a Mac unless one is running OS 10.5 somewhat irked me, but I bit the bullet and laid down my money, and that was that. Now the fact that I don't have an iPad because they're out of them is annoying.

Take a deep breath. Get back to the subject line.

So I eat at the Food Court. I've had the quickie Chinese entries before and they're adequate and I was hungry. And there was a fortune cookie on top!

Except when I opened it, no fortune. I felt a bit like the characters on Flash Forward, the ABC show where if you didn't have a vision during the worldwide blackout, you didn't have a future. Did I not have a fortune?

I was tempted to go ask for another, but really, what if it were empty too? So I crunched my cookie and was confident that it had far fewer calories than the offerings of the ice cream place behind me. Nothing like a little righteous indignation to set one on the dietary track.

Why I'm waiting on iPad 3G

I readily admit to being an Apple-ista, Mac-ista? Love the products. Have never had any other kind of computer. But, I don't jump on the bandwagon the minute it leaves the barn. I wait.

I waited on the iPhone for two months. I let them work the little bugs out. Now, I have a 2 1/2 year old original iPhone which doesn't get 3G (a moot point since WE don't get 3G where I live), but has a wonderful contract with the phone company. To upgrade, I'll have to have a not-so-wonderful contract (by comparison) so I'm sticking it out until my iPhone won't phone no more.

The iPad went on sale today. Yippee! And since it's not a phone, there's no extra fees for use. It gets by on wi-fi, so you'd better have one of those at the house or have access to it, like at Starbuck's and all those "we have free wi-fi" cafes and stores. In a month, the more expensive 3G version comes out and I'm waiting for it.

Why? To defeat the hotels. Granted, getting 3G access means signing on (and paying) the phone company for its use. But the way I understand that "feature" is it's an on-again-off-again thing.

But it gripes me that hotels, the more expensive the better, charge for wi-fi. Even my favorite Homewood and Hampton Inns have stopped having free wi-fi in the rooms. Go to the office center or the lobby. So, I'll just hook my iPad to the 3G network (and yes, I know I'm paying), and download to my heart's content. While I can access my email now on my iPhone, Safari is really tiny and slow. I want the real thing when I travel.

Who knows, if enough of us do it, maybe we'll get our free wi-fi back in moderately priced hotels. Until then, I'll see Apple at the end of April... or maybe May. Let them get the bugs worked out.