Ipad

This week I bought an iPad and I was really excited about the possibilities the iPad can offer. It's like an iPhone, which I have been interested in purchasing as well, because it has all the applications an iPhone has and more and it offers a much larger screen and the ability to use a Bluetooth enabled keyboard, allowing one to type lengthy documents at the same speed one would on a laptop or desktop. The applications are especially exciting, particularly when it comes to photo. The well-known app Instagram allows me to take photos or import photographs and use filters to create vintage effects, which is very appealing; however, I've found that this app works best in conjunction with other photo apps, such as Camera360 or photo booth. There does seem to be an abundance of apps that do the same thing or nearly the same thing, especially when it comes to photo effects. There are really so many camera and editing apps it's difficult to make a decision about which ones to install. I found myself obsessed with taking pictures using the mirror or kaleidoscope effects on photo booth and then using Instagram to make them look surreal or vintage. I have posted examples of some of these pictures I speak of. I have found this to be a lot of fun, however, the camera quality on the iPad is so low that one could not take detailed, clean images. On the other hand, if you are going for the vintage look and you are planning on putting a filter on your pictures, the grainy quality doesn't really matter. Some other things I found exciting and useful were the flashlight, softbox and Hellophoto apps. Working with film, I found that the flashlight app makes a great lightbox so that I can easily view my negatives. Softbox allows one to use the iPad as a lighting device for a studio set up, which I have not gotten a chance to try out. Hellophoto allows you to convert your negatives to digital format, which I have also not been able to try out because it requires the use of an iPhone or another iPad.

Now this brings me to the not so exciting or useful things about the iPad, which eventually led me to make the decision to return my iPad. Some of the apps require you to have access to an iPhone or a macbook, such as Hellophoto. Also, if you want to hook up a printer, camera, scanner, or another computer, you have to buy an adapter.

On top of that I can not just hook up any printer or scanner, it has to be compatible with the iPad and the printer I own is not one of those, go figure. Also,that keyboard I was planning on buying, it's 70 dollars and those adapters are about 30 a piece. In short, the iPad is a little inconvenient if you want to do any serious work, but it is fun.