Just got an iPad for my birthday.  Amazing toy, tool, whatever…  Watchfire Music is developing an app for the iPad, iPod and iPhone that will blow some minds and bring further inspiration to the masses, so I thought I ought to own one.

I had heard that it was an unnecessary toy – a sort of in-betweener somewhere between the iPhone and the computer, a toy for rich kids, but I’ve had it for a week and excuse me if I now write an ad for Apple.  This thing is fabulous.  Try to wrestle it from me and you’ve got a fight on your hands.

The Missus got a Kindle about four months ago.  She just about sleeps with it under her pillow.  She won’t leave home without it.  She’s a big reader on the train she rides to Boston every weekend and swears by it.

I downloaded the free Kindle app for my iPad.  Now we can share some of the books we read.  I dropped my book I was halfway through reading the other night getting off the plane.  Never knew it until last night when I settled down to read for an hour or so.  Couldn’t find the book.  So I downloaded it in literally 15 seconds into my iPad and got cozy.

I take it out onto my terrace at night and hold it up to the sky and as I turn and look to the heavens, it teaches me about the constellations and points out Cassiopeia to me with its GPS system and then tells me all about it.

I’m not crazy about listening to music on my computer.  After all, I sit at a computer all day and stare at the screen in an office chair.  Last night I sat back in my favorite recliner, plugged my phones into my iPad and listened to music while I cleaned out my email with my iPad in my lap.

Tomorrow I’m going to sit in that same easy chair and watch a movie that I’ll download from Netflix into my new friend.  The screen is so clear and the sound, with a good pair of phones, is killer.  I can crank it and not disturb the Missus as she sits in the same room with me and reads her Kindle.

Some people say they just love the feeling of holding that book in their hands.  Bah humbug!  I love to hold my iPad tablet – it’s the same size but lighter.  The pages turn with the swipe of a finger and when I put it down to re-fill my Pepsi glass, it remembers what page I was last on for me.  For that matter, it remembers even when I turn it off.  No more folding back the page corners or losing the bookmark.  I can sit in the dark in bed and read comfortably while the Missus sleeps next to me and the light won’t disturb her sleeping.

It’s a slick, sexy piece of design that is just blowing my mind every time I turn it on.  It’s not perfect yet, but as the world catches up to Apple, I predict that it will totally replace the computer for off-time relaxation.

I like to take five several times a day and sit quietly and play several games of Solitaire on my computer.  It both relaxes me and keeps my mind sharp.  Now I can move to my easy chair and get a break from my office for that relaxing break.  And look Ma, no shuffling!

I’ve downloaded about 20 apps that enhance my life in wondrous ways and those apps were found, explored, bought and downloaded all in about 20 minutes.  That’s about a minute per app and most were free.  Total cost of the 20 – less than $15.  It’s a wonderful world.  And I thought Disneyland was cool!

I left it on working and in sleep mode for 3 days and when I looked, the battery was at 53%.  I’ll recharge it about once a week.

I’m just not a small screen guy.  Give me a big one anytime.  I prefer the movies over television, I’ve got two 24” flat screens in my studio that work as one, I like as big a screen as affordable on my computer.  So the iPad is the one for me.  No more struggling to read the small print.

Yeah, I’m sold.  Apple’s got a real winner here and everyone’s now clamoring to catch up.  This is a great company finally making their big move in the world.  I just hope they’re ready for it and don’t blow it like Verizon did.  Think customer service, Mr. Jobs.  Please let that expand along with your earnings.  Lead the way in the world with your technology, but don’t get out ahead of the people.  Don’t forget us little folks.  We’re the ones who enable you to make your splash.

In the meantime, thanks for the splendid ideas, the gorgeous design, the efficiency of life and the fun.  BTW, I created this post sitting in bed listening to Stravinsky as the Missus slept on next to me all on my new iPad.

For more inspirational music, thoughts and ideas from Peter Link,
please visit Watchfire Music.