So, on Friday last week, on a public holiday (Freedom Day), I went and ticked off another of those annoying, I’ve-never-done-that-before, items.
I went to a iStore (actually Digicape Claremont) with m’mate Chris M who you might know :) on a launch day, and bought a brand new iDevice. A new iPad. A black, 64GB, wifi-only iPad, to be precise. Yay me!

I’ve been using a first-gen 32GB wifi model for a while now, and it has slowly (mostly as apps improved) become the mainstay of my photo-editing workflow. Now quickly, before the zealots start throwing Molotov cocktails at my obvious stupidity and blatant heresy, let me say… No, I’m not a pro photographer. No, I don’t shoot a gajillion pics every shoot. No, I don’t shoot a Nikon D10million with 87MP uncompressed RAW images. I shoot a combo of iPhone and Nikon P300/P500 images, all JPG, all 12MP or under. And the iPad (even the first-gen), works just fine for ME. Thank you. Now settle down.
So, you may be asking, if the first-gen worked so great, why upgrade, right? Well I’m glad to respond, that the three major reasons I had, have all been very nicely addressed, and my experience with the device has improved hugely, because of them. So let me tell you about the reasons in a bit more detail. Full disclosure. I’m a visual artist (photographer). My metaphors lean in that direction.
DISPLAY:
This is actually quite simple. It really can’t be conveyed in words, without doing a Steve and just blathering on and on in superlatives. It does exactly the same as the iPhone Retina display did, when it launched. It makes everything else look like crap. It gives the rich feeling of really high-quality printing. Illuminated. Sharp edges. Velvia (deep rich, saturated) colours. Surf with SuperBlue whites. Viewing the same image on the two devices, side-by-side, makes you feel like you NAILED the focus on the new one, and the other, you JUST missed it. It’s still a great image, but dammit, it’s just … soft. Huge win for the Retina display.
SPEED:
The new iPad is faster than my first-gen. Duh. But, it’s not faster in a blow-your-hair-back kinda way. It’s faster in a never-keep-you-waiting kinda way. It’s like they had a got an Apple Genius to find all the pauses and hesitations, the ones that first-gen iPad users have become resigned to (and just lived around), and simply deleted them. All meat, no potatos. This is most apparent (to me) in photo-editing apps, which open files, apply filters, and generally go about their business with a very zippy, very pleasing, haste. Even Photoshop Touch (with it’s built-on-Air innards) runs very smoothly. Win.
DESIGN:
I absolutely ADORE the curved back of the first-gen iPad. How it hints at the same radius curve on the iMac. Sensuous. Gorgeous. To look at. To hold? Not.So.Much. I never completely feel like I have hold of all of it. It’s just a glimmer of doubt, but it simmers all the time I have the damn thing in my hand. “Don’t drop it…careful”. I felt the same way about the iPhone 3G I owned. Gorgeous. Felt WONDERFUL in the hand. Until I dropped it. Twice. The second time, the water did it in, proper. The new iPad is FAR less graceful. It’s thinner, with nicely radiused edges, with a flat back. It’s apparently put on a few grams since the second-gen, as well, but that doesn’t matter to me. It’s skinnier, lighter, and better shaped to hold onto, than the first-gen. Win, win, win.
ODDS and SODS:
- Why not a 3G (4G, LTE) model? The blindingly simple iPhone personal hotspot (which I have already) versus almost a grand an a half more. Boom.
- Why the 64GB model? Couple of reasons. Retina display means apps need Retina-ready graphics. Apps get bigger. Logarithmically bigger. Also, I want my whole iTunes librbary on the thing, and some movies and video podcasts. Oh, and did I mention? I take PICTURES! That.
Right. That’s enough from me. Hope I helped clear up some questions around the new iPad. If I didn’t address yours, sound off in the comments. k? Thanks for your time.
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