Mr C bought an iPad pretty much the moment he could, and we had fun for a while playing around on it. Mostly, it was in his custody though, and about a week ago, I noticed he really wasn’t getting the most out of it.

So, I commandeered it. I have an iPad now!

I’m still playing around with it, learning things, figuring out how I’ll use it and where, but here are five awesome things I have noticed so far:

1. I loaded up the iPad with the first series of Friends. Now, I can watch an episode wherever I go. Awesomeness. It’s like the old days when you would get home from school and there would be an episode of The Simpsons followed by Friends on Channel 4. Those were the days. If The Simpsons was on iTunes too…
2. I took the iPad to last night’s Evening with Joe, and I hadn’t really been prepared for taking notes. At the last event, I had a laptop hooked up to wifi so I could live comment the entire thing. This time I was more of a listener than a typer, but I wanted to note things so I wouldn’t forget. I wrote in the default Notes application, which was rubbish. I need to find something that works better than that. But even so, it was super easy to just sit and type rather than scratch around for pen and paper.
3. I’ve already talked about how the Kindle is changing my reading habits, and having the app on the iPad is just another step along the way. I downloaded the Kindle app for Android too, so I’m not sure there’s a device left in the house without a book on it in some form or other. I’m not completely sold on iBooks yet, but the pdf function in there is lovely. Plus, who can turn their nose up at some free Winnie-the-Pooh?
4. I’ve been using the iPad to watch the BBC iPlayer, where I would usually be watching it in one corner of my screen. Aside from freeing up space on the screen itself, it means you can position the video anywhere you like, and it adds years to the life of your Mac - Flash is the bane of my life at the moment. It’s a shame it doesn’t do live stuff (it’s clearly capable of doing it, as the World Cup is the only thing on there going live at the moment), but even without that, I’m loving it as a catchup device.
5. I’m currently investigating the use of Things on the iPad. Stupid name, great premise. You have a desktop version of the to-do list software, you can get a version on the iPad and the iPod. Then, they all sync up together. It’s beautiful, but quite expensive. I’m working through the free trial at the moment, and wondering whether to invest in the full program. We’ll have to see.

So, that’s it so far. Five ways the iPad has improved my MFC lifestyle in only a week. Can’t wait to see what else it brings!