I like my iPad (64Gb WIFI), it has quickly become the go to device for both my wife and I. It would be for my kids too if I let them use it, but I don’t. Both kids have iPod Touches. They had them for over a year before I got the iPad. I used them a little, enough to get a feel for the touch interface and when the iPad was announced I quickly started referring to it as the iPod Touch, large print edition. Now that I have one I see that it has a few capabilities that the iPod’s don’t. The iPad hasn’t replaced the other computing devices in my life though, it has a niche of its own. I love it for being able to look up things on the net without the hassle and wait time of booting up a laptop. Yeah, I could have a laptop/netbook always powered on and sitting beside me but it wouldn’t be the same. The lack of a keyboard is actually an advantage for the way I use it. Its very handy being able to just pick it up, hit the button and swipe the screen and launch a browser to look up random information. I recognize a face in a TV show I am watching but can’t remember what other show that person was in. So I quickly surf the net to find out the actors name and list of credits. I also like it for playing games and other small amusements. While it can get tiring holding it in one hand it it is still far easier than trying to balance a laptop and type on a standard keyboard. For those times when I do need to type more than a URL or enter a password I head downstairs to my trusty desktop computer and use it.

I recently bought a new cell phone (Nokia n97 mini) and some of my friends were asking me why I didn’t get an iPhone. My answer is that I have the iPad for running apps, I just want my cell phone to make phone calls and send text messages. For that a real, non-virtual, keyboard is what I want and the slide out qwerty keyboard of the Nokia fulfills that for me.

One day in the not-too-distant future, hopefully within my lifetime, there will be a computing device that can truly be all things for all people. For now though I have a set of devices that meet some specific needs. There is some overlap between them but for the most part I have favored devices I use for particular tasks.