iPad Travel Experience

ByMike Moffit

This past week. I took a substantial leap of faith. That’s right, I left my MacBook Pro at home and traveled with my iPad and iPhone only. Overall iPad was able to keep up with my digital note taking, research and communication needs. There were just a couple of times when I was glad to borrow Matt or Kali’s notebook (literally just a couple of times).

I used iPad to take copious notes. Since I was typing these notes in an auditorium during lectures, I was glad to have the silent keypad versus the louder, clickier keypad on my MacBook Pro. I found the keyboard was good enough to allow me to keep up with typing as the presenter spoke. What I really missed on the keyboard were arrow keys.

I was able to send a few dozen emails, update the blog, send some Tweets, and IM from iPad as well.

Moving from event to event, I loved how iPad is unobtrusive, simple, and lightweight. It was also incredibly handy for passing around and sharing a document (such as the conference agenda, which we all seemed to keep forgetting). As I’ve mentioned before, iPad is a fantastic ebook and document reader, and I was glad to use it for that on the plane, outside the hotel sitting in the sun, and in my room at night.

One small problem with iPad on an airplane is the period during takeoff and landing when “all electronics must be turned off and stowed in the overhead compartment.” Maybe that’s the airlines way of forcing us ebook readers to study the Sky Mall catalog. Once the plane was underway, it was great to read on iPad.

The only other notable issue with iPad was using it with Google Analytics. The charts drawn up in Analytics are currently rendered in Flash, which is annoying. I use a couple of apps to help me see Analytics stats, but so far none really provides the granular view as Google Analytics on a webpage. I bet this will change soon.

One of the awesome things about iPad was its long battery life. I easily made through every day on a single charge. During the first day, it seemed my battery was draining faster than expected, but Kali noted that my screen was on max brightness. After dimming it about 25%, the battery use slowed way down. I never worried about running out of juice.

Managing the screen brightness is the best way to extend iPad battery life. Apple notes:

“By default, your iPad has Auto-Brightness turned On. Auto-Brightness adjusts iPad screen brightness based on ambient lighting conditions; lowering brightness in low light conditions helps to extend battery life. You can adjust brightness yourself; go to Settings > Brightness & Wallpaper and drag the slider to the left to lower the default screen brightness.” See more iPad battery conservation tips on Apple.com by clicking here.

Regarding multitasking (or the inability to multitask) on iPad, in most cases I appreciated having just one active application, as opposed to the my regular computer that typically also has iChat, Twitter, and email all open at the same time. It helped me focus, and it has made me more aware how distracting those applications can really be.

In many cases, I’d probably only bring iPad on four day or shorter trips. On longer trips, I’d either bring iPad and MacBook Pro, or just MacBook Pro with iPhone as backup. I also might bring a bluetooth keyboard for longer writing tasks. Guess I need another trip to test that out!

Similar Posts

  • Dear Friends,

    I have just returned from Washington, DC where the annual Apple Specialist Marketing Cooperative conference was being held. As with most events like this, while the presentations were great, it was the networking, private meetings and late night informal conversations that meant the most.

    The Apple Specialist community is very open and supportive of each other and we share ideas on operations, marketing and community. The ASMC had scheduled some social events and I was able to catch the performance of the Capitol Steps and laugh a lot.

    There is a vendor fair at the ASMC conference and unlike places like Macworld or CES, this is a small and very intimate gathering of decision makers from Apple Specialists and vendors where deals are made, products are introduced and relationships are built.

    Kali, Ed and Matt joined me at the event this year and I think all of us made new friends, gained valuable insight and reestablished old relationships. Personal relationships are so important in business–they are everything. We look at the relationships we build with our fellow Apple Specialists and the vendors as an integral part of our “people” commitment in the way we measure our success–people, planet and profit. How you treat others is always reflected in how you get treated yourself.

    An old friend of mine works for Apple, Ted Moorman. There is a funny story about Ted and I. About ten years ago there was a meeting where Steve Jobs came to speak to the Apple Specialists and other resellers. There was a long line for checking in to enter the room and as I was picking up my badge, this tall guy says “Don? Of Don and Pat?” I looked up in surprise because not many people know that my wife Grace changed her name from Patricia about 40 years ago.

    Now, I have to admit that I did not recognize Ted but he remembered me and reminded me that we went to the University of Illinois together and then the light went off and we began to talk about old times. He even updated me on mutual friends that I had not seen for 40 years. When I got home, Grace, who seems to have a much better memory of old times and friends than I, filled me in on even more details. It is very interesting that we both ended up in the Apple world. Ted’s a Kibbles & Bytes reader so here’s a shout out to you, Ted!

  • It was warm and sunny in DC but pretty chilly by the time we landed in Burlington. Ed and I were at the final ASMC dinner drinking wine and chatting with our friends from New York, Austin, Oregon and Montreal and sorta lost track of the time.

    Ed suddenly says, “I think we need to get to the airport…” and sure enough, we were late. We had a car to return, but the timing turned out to be perfect as we made our way through security. We did the perfect walk-on to the plane without having to wait a minute.

    There is snow in the forecast for Mother’s Day, I sure hope that is the last time for this season!

    Thanks for reading this issue of Kibbles & Bytes!

    Your Kibbles & Bytes Team,
    _Don, Kali & Ed_

  • Mac Treat #124: Quickly Select Audio Inputs from Volume Menu

    If you use different audio input devices with your Mac, (such as the “Blue Microphones Snowball”:http://www.smalldog.com/product/42648/blue-microphones-snowball-bundle-with-usb-microphone-and-tripod) you’ve probably had to go to System Preferences to change your selected input device. If you’re using Mac OS 10.6 Snow Leopard, however, all you have to do is hold down the Option key as you click on the volume control in the menu bar at the top of your Mac’s screen. If you have audio input devices such as microphones, USB input boxes, etc, these will show up in the drop-down list.

    Time to get a microphone and kick off your karaoke career!

  • App of the Week: iExit

    Lately, my husband and I have been taking a lot of road trips. Navigation has become a lot more interactive since we have gotten our iPhones, and we are constantly trying out new apps to use when we travel.

    AllStay’s “iExit”:http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/stat?id=19XpSnZWhPI&offerid=146261&type=3&subid=0&tmpid=1826&RD_PARM1=http%253A%252F%252Fitunes.apple.com%252Fus%252Fapp%252Fiexit%252Fid349052631%253Fmt%253D8%2526uo%253D6%2526partnerId%253D30 (link opens iTunes) is one of those apps that renders others redundant. On my iPhone, I have a page reserved for apps that are helpful for when I travel–trip planner-slash-flight tracker, Metro line info (used this yesterday), restaurant finder, etc. While I do keep a couple of specialized apps on that page (such as the Starbucks finder), for the most part, I like for an app to be sophisticated enough to do several things.

    *iExit (a steal at $2.99)* does just that, by combining food finders with gas station info and so on, but I find that the organization by exit makes so much sense. It takes advantage of the GPS features of our phones, and it has proved to be an excellent tool when we’re on the road. We’re usually the kind of travelers who appreciate very short on/off pit stops, so a huge benefit for us is when an app quickly and accurately lets us know not only what’s available off that exit, but __how far it is.__ All locations off of an exit feature mile distance and directional data in a list or a map view. (We like to pick places under .5 miles!)

    The image icons are crisp and clear, and the layout makes the information very easy to manage. Perhaps more importantly, though, the main reason this app is so nice is that along with being extremely fast, it lays information out in such a way that you can view all upcoming exits and the businesses off of them in a list. When a highway splits, you will see the directional options listed inline as well. For example, I was traveling on I-89S in Vermont, and about 30 minutes prior to the White River Junction split of 89/91, I could continue viewing my trip with exits available on I-91S.

    However, there are some features that iExit is missing. Notably, there is no way to star or ‘favorite’ a particular exit. It’s great to be able to remember an exit for future use–you know, that the ramp was an easy on/off and that it had three of your favorite places in one location. Plus, a notes section would be nice to use for when you want to remember why it was so nice. Maybe the bathrooms were especially nice or that it’s the best way to take a scenic shortcut.

    I brought these suggestions to the attention of the developer in an email I sent, and to my surprise, he responded back to me within five minutes… not with a canned response, but with a thoughtful, comprehensive email thanking me for my input and adding some insight to the development he’s currently working on. (Yes, those features are already in progress!) I was very impressed that this was not a huge developer that may or may not ever ‘hear’ me or even update the app consistently.

    It’s a work in progress, and so far, even with about 85% rating of usefulness in my mind, it was worth ditching three separate apps in favor of iExit. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some travel plans to get back to…

    “Read more, check out the screenshots or buy iExit here.”:http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/stat?id=19XpSnZWhPI&offerid=146261&type=3&subid=0&tmpid=1826&RD_PARM1=http%253A%252F%252Fitunes.apple.com%252Fus%252Fapp%252Fiexit%252Fid349052631%253Fmt%253D8%2526uo%253D6%2526partnerId%253D30