10 minutes with the iPad

Since I LOVE technology so much, and I love Apple sooo much…I’m gonna join the other geeks out there and write up a quick post about the iPad! This will be the only one though (I don’t promise).

Just to bring some up-to-date: I am a business educator at Wilmot Union High School. I am so lucky to work with such an awesome business & technology department that centers curriculum around preparing and educating our students for the 21st century and beyond. From SmartBoards to iPads, we do whatever we can to stay on the edge of technology by utilizing products that will help us as educators, help students learn, or both.

How I got it

On Saturday (4/3), I received an email from my department chair saying that our iPads have arrived at the school and somehow ended up in the Fitness Center. So I happily picked them up as soon as I could on a very happy Easter morning!

My first 10 minutes

I was not extremely excited when Steve Jobs first announced the iPad, mainly because it seemed to be a larger version of my iPhone. However, my first 10 minutes with the iPad had me a little surprised.

The form factor and build is amazing. Apple never ceases to amaze me when it comes to the look, build, and feel of their products. The iPad is no different.

The single most awesome thing about it…is it’s speed and response. Compared to my iPhone 3g, it’s way faster! When I flip the orientation, the screen adjusts way faster than the iPhone. The touch response is also way quicker and more accurate than the iPhone. I was using the Maps app to pinch to zoom and drag the satellite view all over the place. If you get a chance to play with one of these, you’ll notice a dramatic difference in speed and response compared to the iPhone.

The selection of apps that come with the iPad is slim! I assumed there would be the alarm clock, calculator, weather, and stocks apps like the iPhone, but no. This was a little disappointing.

For educators

The iPod has been incorporated in schools as a tool to engage students. The iPad will too. Not only does it do all of the same great things the  iPod Touch can do, but it also provides a resource for new textbooks, or iBooks.

I use a free app called Touch Mouse to turn my iPhone into a wireless mouse & keyboard for my computer connected to a SmartBoard. While my laptop sits at the back of the classroom and the SmartBoard at the front, I can be anywhere in the room to type and control the mouse. With this app on the iPad, it can easily be passed around among students to demonstrate and take control of whatever is on the SmartBoard without even leaving their seat!

Here are some other great iPad apps for the classroom that I found in my first 10 minutes: Constitution for the iPad, Elements, World Atlas HD,

For photographers

This cool device will be great for photographers too. I can see this being used to show photos and slideshows to clients. The clients can easily hold this in their hands and navigate through the photos on its beautiful screen while sitting at a table or on a comfy chair or sofa. It will also be a nice way for photographers to take their work on the go. Just take the iPad along and you’re ready to display your best albums anywhere you go.

Cool app for photogs: CameraBag for iPad

Will I buy one?

Here’s the thing… I live by my iPhone, and I am really looking forward to the next version. I will be saving my dollars to buy that next. Additionally, if you follow the rumors about the iPad or have experienced the brief history of the iPhone, we know there will be another version of the iPad out soon. When the iPad version 2 is released…I will probably have to get one!

Drobo

Imagine for a moment, that the hard disk drive(s) that is inside your computer you are using right now, fails. All of your data vanished. Your photos of countless memories, documents, spreadsheets, presentations…all gone. What feelings would you have if this was true? It’s time to get serious about backing up!

A couple years ago, I purchased a Western Digital MyBook 1Tb external hard drive from a CompUSA store that was closing. I created 2 partitions on the drive; 1 HFS+ and the other NTFS. I used the HFS+ partition for Time Machine to backup my macbook pro. The NTFS partition was primarily just for storage.

Here’s my bad move: I stored my raw photo files on the NTFS partition, and nowhere else. That’s right, I am admitting that I was not backing up my digital raw files! I didn’t want to put them on my local hard drive because I knew the space would get eaten up very quickly from the large raw files.

So I learned this lesson the hard way when the MyBook decided to die. All of the raw photos I’ve ever taken with my Canon 50D -gone. I tried several ways to retrieve them, and no luck.

Since this incident, I’ve beefed up my backup and data protection. I now use a Drobo by Data Robotics, Inc. I first heard about this sweet device on “This Week in Photography” podcast. I bought the model that holds up to 4 drives. It’s very awesome because you can easily add space, mix & match drives, and have peace-of-mind knowing it can manage a drive failure.

Adding space is easy. All you need to do is pop in any SATA I/II hard drive. That’s it! I purchased 2 – 1Tb WD drives from NewEgg that were on sale.

Drive brands, sizes, and speeds don’t matter. You can use any drive as long as it’s SATA. I am going to use a couple older drives I have laying around, along with the ones I ordered from Newegg.

One of the best parts about the Drobo is that it can manage a drive failure. The light will flash red, indicating a failed drive, and all you need to do is replace it with another. Drobo uses it’s own beyondRAID technology to store the data redundantly, allowing it to handle a crashed drive.

Data Robotics is offering a $50 mail-in rebate for Drobo purchases during March.

Be safe. Backup your data. Have it in more than one place.

Links:

• Drobo
• Drobo $50 mail-in rebate
• Drobo – TigerDirect.com ($329.99)
• 1Tb HDDs – Newegg.com ($99.99)

My sister Gia got engaged to James in late 2008 and decided to plan for a destination wedding in January 2010. I was privileged and honored to be able to design & create their save-the-date. Last September, the three of us spent a really enjoyable hour or so shooting pictures at my parents’ residence on Lake Elizabeth in Wisconsin. Having a Key West-destination theme, I wanted to include the lake as much as possible.

The color of the bride’s maid’s dresses are the bright pink color that I chose for the background of the front and back of the piece. I chose a single fold 5″x5″ because it’s not a standard size…it’s different. I wanted it to stand out from the normal pieces of mail. I really like the size, however, it is a little more costly to mail. I also really like the tall portrait shape of the inside and how well it worked with the photo of the couple walking on the pier in the background.

In addition to the save-the-date, I was also very honored to be a part of their wedding in Key West by standing as a groomsman. The wedding was beautiful and every minute was a blast! I’m looking forward to doing their invitation for the reception which is to be held in June.

I thought I’d share a few of my favorite photos from the shoot. Let me know what you think! You can also view my MobileMe album.

[For the photogs: Canon 50D, 24-105mm f4L, Aperture, macbookpro]