Apple Ipad Feedback Please

[Ms. Bee]

(03-04-2013 23:47)nedb Wrote:  iPads are heavier than a simple book reader, like a wifi or cellular Kindle. An iPad is heavy like a Kindle Fire, which is too heavy to be a book reader as far as I'm concern. I don't much like the iPad (or Fire) for reading books.

~clip~

A few other apps that make iPad so amusing are StarWalk, Tilt Meter, Theodolite, Exit
Starwalk is great, evocative of Apple's design philosophy and the many unimagined things a hand-help computer ought to be able to do when it has chips for compass, tilt, etc. You run the Starwalk app, select the layers of info you want to see in the display, hold it up so the camera can see the sky, and it orients its nighttime sky map on the display to the heavenly bodies you're pointing the camera at. Virtually everything in the night sky (and below the horizon, if you point it at the ground) is identified and labeled on screen--planets, constellations, nebulae, comets, stars, ..., and it tracks as you swing it around. It knows where all the satellites are at any given latitude/time of day and displays their tracks and directions.... I get a big kick out it.

Theodlite adds geodetic info to pictures you take (lat/long etc). Tilt Meter tells you how far, in degrees, the ipad is tilted from the axis of gravity--I use it to level the coach

--Ned

Thanks for your great post, Ned.

I use the previous edition Kindle in a book cover, with the special non glare ink for reading and my library. It also holds up well visually in sunlight. Don't really need a Fire as I have the iPad, so that would be redundant, but last Xmas I bought the entire family, my kids, sisters, sister in law Fires and they all love theirs. They can read, email, internet, fast scroll etc. It's a pretty nifty device!

Although iPad has the kindle app, I agree it is too heavy to hold for any amount of time comfortably, so in this regard the Kindle, especially previous version works very well and is non tiring on the eyes.

I love the sound of that Skywalk app you mentioned here. We have such an incredible display of stars up at the BB farm as we are far away from any city lights.
Can't wait to try it out, and also Theodlite. Thanks!!!

Darrell also uses the Tilt as a level. When he first got his iPad he was really tickled with that!

Suppose the iPad 'knows' as it can flop the display up, down or sideways.
Amazing stuff!