I just bought a huge GameBoy / I don’t know what to do with my iPad

(Photo: cype_applejuice)

I wrote a pretty positive review of the iPad a few weeks ago for the CU Independent where I gave into Apple’s claims of how magical the iPad is and all of that bullshit…

Now I’m eating my words.

The honeymoon phase has worn off with me and my iPad and I’m bored. At first it was cool, like one of those computers from Minority Report or Avatar. Now it’s a touchscreen that floats from my bedside table to my desk and it only moves when I need more space next to me.

So I concede: I don’t know what to do with my iPad.

The problem is, I’ve been using my laptop longer and I’ve had my iPhone for two years now - I’ve got my routine set up. Some tasks go to the Macbook, some go to the iPhone. There’s no need for an intermediate! If you think you need an iPad at this point, you’re probably wrong.  

I think the disconnect comes from how closed the iPhone OS is. I want access to the Finder; I want to be able to download files and open them in Photos or Videos or Pages, etc. The AirSharing HD app is a $10 excuse for what Apple should have included all along.

If Apple wants to join the Mac OS and the iPhone OS in a device like the iPad, then give us some room to work with. Let us use the iPad as a computer, otherwise the it’s nothing more than a big iPod Touch.