I got an iPad. (Thanks, Mom.)
I realize I’m behind the curve on this iPad thing. It took me a while to understand the point. What do I need with a weird in-between machine that is neither phone nor laptop? Or so I initially thought. But I get it now. I won’t try to explain it here. If you have an iPad, you already know. If you don’t have an iPad, well…I’m sorry but you won’t understand until you’re lucky enough to get one.
I’ve only had the iPad about a week and I’ve hardly scratched the surface of its usefulness, nor its ability to waste my time. I have much to learn yet, but one of my biggest iPad discoveries so far (on both the usefulness and time-wasting fronts) is Instagram. I installed Instagram on my iPad three days ago and have been obsessed with it ever since.
The Melville Cat. My first Instagram photo.
I don’t totally understand Instagram yet and I’m not sure how to describe it. Basically, it’s an app that allows you to take simple photos using an iPhone or iPad, edit the photos on the spot with funky effects, then share them via various social networking tools. I actually find Instagram a bit bewildering and annoying to use. And yet, I love it. I love it so much.
I decided to carry my iPad around this weekend and document life through Instagram. Here are some highlights.
The Melville Cat watches the sunset.
Young competitors fight in an amateur tournament at the Hillbrow Boxing Club.
An aloe and a blooming lucky bean tree behind the Lucky 5 Star.
Cactus flowers in a pot. It’s the first time this cactus has bloomed since I moved here two years ago.
My bedroom window, Sunday morning.
Lucky, dressed for a Sunday afternoon on the town.
Ninja, my friend’s dog, takes an afternoon snooze.
Melville motorcycle.
Aloe tree outside Picobella, one of my Melville hangouts.
Jozi skyline at sunset.
It’s liberating to snap photos with this strange little machine and post them right into my blog, without having to deal with bulky camera equipment, memory card readers, or PhotoShop. In fact, this entire blog post was written and photographed from my iPad. I think that’s pretty cool.
But as a friend pointed out to me at the boxing tournament on Saturday, I have now become one of “those people”. One of those people who walks around with an iPad in front of her face looking like a total dork. Sadly, he is right.
I suppose I’ll have to get an iPhone soon so I can Instagram more discreetly.
I’m alerting you to the fact that I had trouble to click through to your blog from the notification email… it just hangs and it began with girl boxers kick ass.
Oh no. That is very disappointing. So much for the magic of the iPad. Thanks for telling me.
Heather, I’m so glad you are enjoying the iPad. I had no trouble getting your blog from the notification email, even with my iPhone. It worked fine from my computer, too.
Thanks, Mom. Apparently the issue was the “read more” link at the bottom of the notification email. Not sure why that happened, just a small iPad glitch I guess.
Offspring #2 looks at life as one large Instagram opportunity. Love these!
Thanks Emily. You should borrow Offspring’s phone and do some instragramming of your own! I think you’d enjoy it.
Great photos, and no trouble getting them on my computer. The ipad will be next in my future!
Thanks Ellen, good to know it worked for you. Yes, go get an iPad! I’m very grateful to your sister for getting me one.
So…I got an iPad right about when you did…and I hafta admit that I don’t think I love it. (I turned in my Foundation Mac and had to come up with a replacement. The keyboard is so dang small…and I’m just finding stuff a bit harder to do. Me thinks I’m going to swap it out for a MacBook Air. Sigh. But so glad you’re loving yours! And ps, I think the blooming cactus (after 2 years!) is emblematic of a whole lot…don’t you think? xo
Hey EP! Thanks for the comment. It’s funny — I thought I would hate the iPad keyboard and was actually thinking I would get an external keyboard to go with it. Turns out I don’t really mind the small keyboard at all — go figure. Although I do agree that the iPad is NOT a replacement for a laptop. There are some things that just need to be done on a real computer. In fact, posting my blog from the iPad was not super-easy and I’ll probably continue to do that from my laptop. But I love having the iPad for smaller tasks, especially for my calender, checking email and FB, for books and music, etc. I’ve been using it as a journal, too! Hope all is well with you and talk soon. xo
I’ve not yet tried Instagram. However, I can report that Sara swears by her iPad. I, unfortunately, don’ have one. Happy Labor Day tomorrow, Heather.
Hugs,
Kathy
Thanks Kathy, I hope you and Sara enjoy the holiday. I totally forgot it was Labor Day until I saw your comment! Just a normal day here
I-pad? Yes, in some bizarre twist of fate I won mine while expressing an interest in a one year contract in Hong Kong – getting used to it now, but stubbornly still do most of my “stuff” on this stand alone machine. Liek the “mini-Instagram project” idea. Good photos, thanks for this blog.
My pleasure! Glad you enjoyed it. Good luck with your iPad.
FYI, I haven’t completely figured out Instagram either; but have it on my Droid along with some other photo apps, and can occasionally do some pretty cool stuff. Will be taking a three hour course next month at CarrollCC in cell phone phoography. Can’t wait.
A cell phone photography class! That’s so cool. Let me know how it goes. I want to try Hipstamatic soon too, but you have to pay for that one.
Two others that I have, that were either free or very cheap are photoshop express and pro HDR Camera