iPad 2

When the first iPad came out, my hubby was excited. He wanted one, and for a whole year we joked about getting him one but never did. It was too expensive and we had enough electronics to keep us occupied. Still, I must admit that it had definite appeal. We didn't get one because I just couldn't justify buying something so expensive when we really didn't need it. As far as I could tell, it would have been mostly a toy. I never considered getting one myself because I figured I'm pretty happy without one and really don't need one. So, as we were still in recovery from wedding and Christmas expenses, we never seriously considered getting an iPad.

Then the iPad 2 came out. Again my hubby was drooling and dreaming. Our finances were looking healthier, but it was still too expensive. My attitude had not changed towards it either. It was still nothing more than a really, super expensive toy. I just could not justify spending this much money all at once on something that seemed so frivolous to me.

Then my coworker caved and bought an iPad 2. He brought it to work and every so often, would run over to me and our boss and excitedly show us something it could do. That was when I really fell in love with it. Financial conservatism be damned! I want one! I really, really wanted one!

After checking our accounts and calculating that hubby and I could, indeed afford one each if we remained frugal for the rest of the year, I decided to take the plunge. I went to hubby and said, "Let's go get them!" Hubby first looked at me a bit incredulously. After all, I'd been saying no to a lot of frivolous spending for a good loooong time. He didn't hesitate long, however, before looking up the locations of Apple stores we can check out.

So we went to the Apple store that day and made our purchase. For a few days, I was embarrassed that we had caved and tried to hide the device or refrain from telling anyone what we had done. It was like a dirty secret and I was ashamed. Eventually, I realized it was silly to be acting this way and hid it no longer. What a wonderful feeling it was to be able to talk about the iPad with other iPad owners! We haven't been iPad 2 owners for long, but here are my impressions so far:

- They're purty!
- Love the multitasking feature!
- Lotsa games look great on them and some are free
- I downloaded a free finance app and have been tracking our expenses there. So far, it's been good to have
- It's also an e-reader, which is great because getting new books doesn't take up actual space in our apartment!
- Unlike the iPhone, you can actually type on the touch keyboard, which is perfect for emailing
- Google Maps is a hundred times better on the iPad than on my very old iPhone
- It has made me impatient and frustrated when using my out-dated iPhone
- My recipe application is so much easier to read off the iPad. No more squinting at my iPhone to find out what the next step or ingredient is in a recipe
- Web browsing on the iPad is better than it ever was on my iPhone
- Did I mention the games?
- Am thinking of getting a stylus to use with a sketch/note-taking app so I can draw/write directly onto my iPad. Saves paper!
- You can actually remote into a desktop PC and do work while away from work, which is only handy if you're a workaholic
- You can show people your photos and they'll look nice on the screen!

That's all I have so far. There's lots more that can be done. It's all about downloading/using the right app. So really, yes it's a toy, but it's not just a toy. It can be a personal organizer, a video blogging device, an e-reader, note-taker, task manager, GPS, research tool, music player, video player and so more all at once. Cool, right?