Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Cheating on my iPad 2....?

It's a thing of beauty.

Shiny, sleek, new.

Jaks likes it, too. Cat thinks he's people...

Well, new for now.

My iPad 2 will probably become old news in just a few short months, considering how quickly Apple likes to make sequels.

Oh well.

For now, I've been loving the ability of my iPad 2 to multitask along with me.

School, blogging, cooking, internet-ing.

I keep a planner app on it that keeps track of all of my classes and assignments for me and gives me alerts the day before assignments are due.

My iPad also spends lots of time in the kitch with me.

My food blog would probably be nonexistent if it were not for my iPad.

I find awesome recipes online - because all of my cookbooks are still trapped in the backwards lands of the Midwest - and then email them to myself, open them up on my iPad, and get to work in the kitchen.

It's the perfect size for reading recipes - it doesn't take up too much room on the counter and the smartcover also acts as a stand that keeps my iPad just upright enough to be readable from multiple angles - the standing while washing hands and looking over shoulder angle, the stooping to rescue burning food from the oven angle, the head buried in the fridge angle - that stand has me covered.

Mama needs a fancy new iPad to go with that KitchenAid Stand Mixer...
But my food blog isn't the only blog to get some lovin' from the iPad.

Amazon recently started offering craft books in Kindle editions!

Glory hallelujah!

My crafting blog rejoices, and so does my hermit-ness.

No longer do I have to, gasp, leave the house in order to get new patterns!

And I don't have to wait 7 - 10 business days to get books delivered!

I now have four crafting books right on my iPad, through the free Kindle app, and can access printable versions of all of the patterns.

NEW BOOKS!!!!11!!1!!
And it would be a travesty if the only books I had on my iPad were crafting books.

Considering I'm taking all online classes, and I, as per usual, procrastinated when it came to buying my textbooks for this semester, I decided to get all of my textbooks as e-books this year.

Have iPad, will buy overpriced e-book rentals!

In all honesty, the format is awesome.

I don't have huge, ugly textbooks taking over the house, I can easily navigate to the pages I need, and I can search for specific phrases which makes taking my online quizzes that much easier.

Oh, and the most important plus, no more papercuts.

So why am I pondering cheating on this technological marvel?

Because that damn sleek, shiny, new design makes it impossible to use my iPad how I want.

My dream was to get an e-reader so that when the boyfriend and I moved to Florida we could lay by the pool together and read our textbooks and study outside in the sunshine and not develop the pale glow of students that never leave their dark apartments due to intense studying sessions.

I was just, uh, studying the lymphatic system...
My dream was to get a cute little case for said e-reader and tote it along with me to the beach.

To wear my little black swimsuit and my retro sunglasses, to throw out a beach towel, to whip out my little e-reader and lay on the beach reading. Something I could never do back in the Midwest.

Stupid, shiny iPad.

I can barely see the screen when I'm sitting on my covered, shady porch.

I went to the pool on Monday and I actually envied a girl who was studying outside with her traditional textbooks sprawled around her.

What I wouldn't give to lay outside and tan while studying!

Okay, so I probably wouldn't give up my first-born child. But maybe.
Fresh air!

Sunshine!

Leaving the dark confines of the apartment!

I joked with the boyfriend that getting a dedicated e-reader that I could use outside might cure my seemingly agoraphobic state as of late.

He was not amused, hah.

In all seriousness, though, for as much as I love my iPad 2, the reason why I bought it is the least-used function on it for me.

I bought it to be an e-reader but I hardly ever use it for reading.

I use it like most people would probably use a netbook or even a traditional laptop.

Which brings me to...


The Kindle 3.

It's so tiny! So portable! So.... matte!

Sure, it doesn't have all of the fancy features of the iPad 2. Well, I don't need it to. In fact, I don't want it to.

I want an e-reader.

I want something small, light, portable and not distracting with the clutter of a ton of apps.

I don't want it to be focused on browsing the internet and playing games.

I want it focused on reading.

Olivia Lee over at Count My Bones recently had a post about having the 'rich kids blues'.

Uh, and how!

I feel like that phrase sums me up perfectly right now, haha.

Oh well, for practicality purposes, a dedicated e-reader, like the Kindle 3, makes the most sense for how I live and what I want my technology to do.

The iPad provides tons of functionality and has a multitude of uses, but when looking at it as just an e-reader, it kind of falls short for what I want.

Being a marketing major, I revel in all things marketing-related.

I'm a proud BzzAgent, a consumer member of a word-of-mouth marketing firm - basically I get offers to join 'campaigns' where I get to try new products and then give feedback and tell friends and family what I think of the products, the good and the bad.

And my dream of dreams may actually come true!

BzzAgent is starting new daily campaigns, where instead of being one of the few chosen to participate in a campaign, you get to sign up for campaigns that you're interested in and then justify why you're freaking awesome and deserve to try out equally freaking awesome products in return.

Guess what the first one is!

Kindle3Kindle3Kindle3Kindle3Kindle3!!!!

I'm completely excited!

I'd love to get chosen for this campaign - so wish me luck! Fingers crossed! Break a leg and all that jazz!

Oh, and if you actually made it to the end of this monstrously long post, you are seriously amazing and have gained all of my love.

Time to catch up on all of your blogs! I'll update soon with weight progress (pssst, I went to the gym again last night!!!)





A bientôt, lovelies.

- parisienne.love

7 comments:

  1. Oh, man, that screen would drive me crazy; I love working outside. I'll even type papers blindly on a laptop just to be in the sun. Leads to some crazy editing inside, but it's worth it. Kindle screens are great, in that way. No reflection. I hope you're chosen for the campaign!

    Thanks for hunting down my blog! I'd forgotten that it wasn't on my profile, I've put it back up now, but it means a lot that to me that you made a point of finding it, anyway... xx

    ReplyDelete
  2. I am in love with my Kindle :) So much less cumbersome than a real book. Good luck with the campaign. (Oh, and now I want an iPad.... rich kid problems, indeed.)

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love my kindle :) but I too want and Ipad- not sure if I should go for it- or just an iphone (I have always been a android user) but there are so many apps that I would love to have.. hehe

    Meh... if you can afford it, then why not get them all? :P

    ReplyDelete
  4. I was going to get an iPad and went against it because I'll just buy a new laptop instead. I do hate how Apple makes a newer version straight away though. They did it when I bought the iPhone.

    ^ Reading that makes me sound like I am super rich or something haha.

    Fingers crossed you get chosen.

    ReplyDelete
  5. *Glances at bookcase stuffed with textbooks*

    *Wets self laughing*

    XD

    ReplyDelete
  6. Your cat is just hilarious! Personally, i don't like the ipad much, just a bit annoying to use. A lot of the high schools around here give them out instead of textbooks now...ohhh how things change ;)

    ReplyDelete
  7. I really don't get why the ipad has that shiny screen. And most of mac's computers have it too, I think. The ipad looks fun, tho!! I've tried playing with Boss's ipad, but my attention span (or lack thereof) and total lack of technological prowess caused me to lose interest in under a minute.....

    Hope you get your kindle or ereader thingy!

    ReplyDelete