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This is not about miracle diets or losing weight. Just saying.
When the iPhone 6 launched, I bought both models. To me, the iPhone 5 models where close to being too big to live in my pocket already, and I feared that the 6 and 6 Plus would feel ridiculously big and clumsy. As usual, Apple knew what they were doing, and although I found both the 6 and the 6 Plus to be slightly too big, neither were clumsy. My reasoning was that if the phone’s gonna be big, it might as well be too big proper.
I was a little bummed out when I got my Logitech Tablet Keyboard for iOS. People who follow me on Twitter or App.net have heard me complaining about the less than stellar plastic sleeve that turns into a stand. As a stand, the Tablet Keyboard is something of a failure since it risks sliding around on a flat surface such as a tabletop. I’m using said plastic thingy as a stand for my iPad mini as I’m writing this, and although it does work, I really wish I could motivate myself to go upstairs and fetch the excellent Compass stand from Twelve South.
This isn’t about stands though. This is about batteries.
I’m a happy iPad mini owner. I swapped out my iPad 3 for a mini with cellular. Yes, the screen is a lot worse compared to the retina iPads, but you don’t have them next to one another do you? Yes, the processor is a step down, but other than a few laggy games that doesn’t bother me much. And yes, it is light and sexy and I totally get the reasoning that this is the iPad as it was supposed to be.
Except that it is not. It is an option, treat it as such, for now.
I’ve been away from home and office for about two weeks, my first trip after swapping my trusty iPad 3 for an iPad mini. I also brought my 11” MacBook Air for occasional work and necessary book editing.
This is my first longer trip in quite some time where I choose not to bring a bluetooth keyboard, for use with the iPad mini. My reasoning was that I wanted to travel light, and since I brought the Air I’d rely on that one for any unplanned writing.
That failed miserably. To me it is so much easier to get started writing on an iPad, it is more accessible. I’m even tapping this on my iPad mini, rather than pulling out my Air. Peculiar perhaps, but not really news to me.
The reason I thought this would be less of an issue with the iPad mini is that the screen is far from ideal for editing. I go through and edit everything I write, and I’ve found that selecting words, inserting the cursor on a specific place and similar actions are a lot more cumbersome on the iPad mini compared to the full-sized alternatives. With that in mind, I figured I’d consume on the iPad mini, and whatever I felt like creating would be destined for the Air.
I learned three things from this pseudo-experiment:
So how did I do? Well, despite me not opening the Air for anything but client work and the necessary editing to meet my deadlines, I still managed to write a few blog posts, an essay, an article, and three short reports, all on the iPad mini. It would’ve gone a lot faster with a bluetooth keyboard, or using the Air, but the best tool is the one you’ve got with you, and want to use, so there you go.
On the plus side, I’ve gotten pretty good writing on this small bugger, getting close to the speeds I have on my iPad 3. At least that’s something.
Traveling. It is such a bore when done during the Holidays, capital H. People everywhere, noisy and sometimes utterly unbeknownst of how they bother their fellow travelers. Luggage are getting in the way, and all those bags of Christmas present at that. I ventured into the second class carriage and it was even worse, as it usually is. I’m just glad I didn’t plan on getting any work done on this trip.
I’m writing this on my iPad mini. It works well enough, and since the device is so small the lack of proper table space isn’t an issue. It is hunt and peck typing though, but it is better than sitting cramped over a laptop. Although to be honest, I’m just too lazy to bring out my 11″ Macbook Air that sits in my bag in the compartment above my seat.
I used to be able to get a work done traveling by train, which is my means of transportation right now. By air is impossible for me, always has been, but trains usually offer more room for this sort of thing. These days I’m so worked down to the bone that trains have gone from an opportunity of getting some work, usually writing, done, to a chance to catch up on sleep. I’m 40 minutes from my destination and aside some texts, this is the only thing I’ve written today. I have slept for three hours straight though, after a nice reading session, so there’s that.
I’ll spend the Holidays (still capital H) resting up. The new year kicks off with a busy writing and editing schedule, I’m even starting two weeks behind which is far from ideal but that’s the way it is. Reloading my batteries is more important than the minor work I could squeeze in the coming week.
That includes this site, by the way. Don’t expect any updates until next year.
I bid you a great Holiday, no matter what and how or even if you celebrate it, and a Happy New Year at that. Let’s talk soon.
The iPad mini is a nice little piece of hardware, light and featuring an overall nice design. It works surprisingly well in both portrait and landscape mode, something I was a bit worried about due to the small form factor. As for writing on it, well I’m tapping away at it right now and it works well enough, I’ll be doing speed tests later.
One thing that really does bother me however, is the lack of a retina screen. Sure, the iPad mini might share the resolution with the aging iPad 2, and thanks to the smaller screen each pixel is smaller, making text look less jagged than on the iPad 2. If I had never seen a retina iOS device I might not have been bothered by this.
But I have, and I am.
Apple is rumored to have placed an order for a whopping 10 million iPad Mini units. This long time rumored 7″ sibling to the successful iPad is said to be announced at an event in October, and hit stores in November. 10 million units are to get Apple through the fourth quarter, and is twice the amount of Kindle Fire HD’s ordered by Amazon, all according to the Wall Street Journal.
The patent war with Google-Motorola, among others, have made Apple invest more in its patent portfolio than in R&D. Read the The New York Times feature iEconomy for an interesting insight in how a modern day successful technology has to keep up with the patent system.