iPad Air: Perspective of a New Convert
Since small, mobile tech is so ubiquitous these days, it’s almost hard to imagine how different things were only a few years ago. For most of the 2000s, I actually didn’t even have a cell phone. Around 2004 I started to get really into Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) that were basically the precursors to today’s smartphones. At that time, Palm was king but there were a large variety of WindowsCE devices that were also popular. I was really excited by Palm’s operating system, Palm OS and the power that these little handhelds packed at the time. While friends were busy with tiny-screened flip phones, there I was with a full color VGA screen at 320×320 resolution and a 312MHz Intel processor. This sounds paltry by today’s standards, but even then, it was outpacing full-sized desktops of only 5 years prior. I really loved Palm OS, and I held on to my little device all the way to 2010 when I graduated from college. Of course, by then it was really starting to show its age. The first iPad came out that year.
Over those years, Palm had also fallen out of favor in the tech world, and while the newly released Palm Pre line running WebOS was a cutting edge take on what a mobile operating system could look like, Palm itself was in no position to market it or fix the hardware problems. So with a somewhat heavy heart, I abandoned Palm for one of the slick new Android devices that were starting to come out. I used that device for nearly four and a half years. There were a lot of things about Android that I loved: the openness and diversity of hardware, relative ease of development, and ease of customization. But there were many things that made it hard. The open hardware ecosystem led to a fracturing of the Android OS. I also never felt that Android OS was as solid as Palm OS had been, and it was nowhere near as capable as WebOS.
Then something happened in late 2013: Apple released iOS 7. Immediately I knew this was the mobile OS I wanted. The multitasking looked like it had been lifted straight out of WebOS. Even Control Center looked similar to things I had seen and loved in WebOS. While it was still iOS at its core, these new features suddenly made iOS 7 something I was really willing to bet on. Plus, with Apple hardware (something I had always thought was great), I felt like new devices to come out would really be winners. I don’t remember where I read it, but I recall reading something about Apple bringing in a number of engineers and designers from Palm as it disintegrated. That would explain many of the WebOS-like features in iOS 7.
But could I really make the leap to Apple? I’ve always been an open-source fanboy. I run Linux full time at home. I tinker with electronics and like to have full control over everything I use. I had always felt Apple was too closed off, and felt like their philosophy wasn’t really compatible with how I used technology. But the allure of iOS 7 was just too great, and with the release of the iPad mini and mini Retina, there was now even a form factor that I liked. After much back and forth about it, I decided that I could make the leap to Apple. I tested a number of things using an old iPad 2 we have in the office. Things like streaming a random video from a server (something I like to do a lot), being able to SSH into machines, and being able to use alternatives to FaceTime like Skype (almost none of my long distance friends are iPhone/iPad users).
I was pretty sure I wanted the iPad mini, but when I went to look a them, I realized that the iPad Air wasn’t really that “big” looking, or feeling. Since one of the things I definitely wanted to do was watch movies, a bigger screen on a device that didn’t feel that big was a plus for me. So I went with the Air. After more than a month of using it, what do I think? I think it’s awesome! Being able to sit comfortably on my couch and browse the web with what is essentially a desktop-class browser is so nice, and iOS 7 is all I expected it to be and more. It really harkens back to my days on Palm OS. It just feels rock solid and snappy. When I’m out and about, I don’t want to be fiddling with all kinds of settings and interfaces. I want the device to just work. Palm OS was great at that, and iOS 7 is too.
How does the Air jive with my open source Linux lifestyle? Pretty well actually. Naturally, I don’t have to sync it with iTunes, but thanks to a WindowsXP virtual machine, syncing is not really a problem. I especially like being able to sync over wifi. One app that I find extremely useful is FTP Client Pro. This lets me download and upload files (photos mostly) from any of my computers or web servers. I also like the VLC app. It has a ton of features but one of the best ones is that it allows the iPad to work as a UPNP (Universal Plug-n-Play) device so with my Mac mini running a media server such as Plex, or in my case Serviio, I can stream movies and shows quickly and easily anywhere in my apartment.
I realize writing this here is probably “preaching to the choir”, but if you know anyone out there who’s been hesitant about making the jump to Apple, take it from me: If I can do it, anyone can do it.