My Top 10 Reasons Why I Bought an iPad 2

If you have been following me on Twitter for a little while now, you would probably know by now how much in love I am with my new shiny iPad 2 that I bought in Madrid almost a month ago, after having tried in multiple places. I guess that’s one of the perks of travelling on a regular basis, that you keep trying to get your hands on it at multiple venues, till it eventually happens heh Anyway, I am sure you may still remember the blog post I put together over here, almost a year ago, when I bought my iPad v1 under the title “My Top 10 Reasons Why I Bought an iPad 2“. Well, since a few folks have asked me what that experience has been like with v2, I thought I would venture today into putting together this particular blog entry, as a nice follow-up, where I can share with you folks my “My Top 10 Reasons Why I Bought an iPad v2“.

Now, apart from all of the reasons that I mentioned on that other previous article, and which would still very much apply over here, since I, too, feel the iPad v2 is an evolution, more than a revolution, from v1, there are still a bunch of reasons why, like I said, almost a month ago, I decided to take the plunge and get my hands on it and so far I haven’t regretted it a single time, which is why, after all of those weeks, I thought it would be a good time for me now to put some of them down over here and share them across with you all, so that you would have an opportunity to judge whether it would also be worth while a purchase for yourself or not, whether you already have v1 or not. So let’s get things started with those reasons as to why I am sold, big time, on v2:

• Speed: By far one of the most noticeable new features from the iPad v2 is the speed of execution, not only from an iOS perspective while flipping through pages of Apps, but also when opening them up to do whatever the task; even the most complex and resource intensive ones are handled in a matter of one or two seconds. Even when switching up between Apps, a la multitasking, is now a complete breeze, resembling pretty close what you could get from your personal computer. Ohhh, and if you like playing fancy games, like I do, on the iPad with some heavy graphics, that overall experience has been improved tremendously with these new speeds! Totally recommended if you are a heavy gamer!
• Quality: What can I say about quality that hasn’t been said already about Apple’s products? I am not sure why, but when I first got my hands on an iPad v2, I, like plenty of other people, I am sure, started drooling all over the place. Somehow it felt like I was holding excelling quality right there in my hands and felt pretty much like a labour of love, even beauty, to the point where I still get that feeling some times despite the novelty having worn out a bit already. Yes, good quality products would do that to you. They would also even help you talk about them openly like I am doing over here, so for those vendors out there wanting to delight their clients with their products, start with bringing top quality to them. The rest will come!
• Design: Yes, good, … oh wait!, great design still sells big time! At least, it does for me, to the point where for a good week I have both v1 and v2 sitting next to one another, side by side, and the difference in the perception of a great design has been very noticeable all along, making v1 feel old. v2 is much slicker, rounded, feels lighter, rather elegant, smart even (Bought the white model, which probably add up a bit of glamour to it altogether, who knows!) to the point where v1 felt like a brick during the time that both of them lived next to each other. Pretty much the very same feeling when I moved from my old MacBook Pro 15” to the MacBook Air 13”. Yes, great design still makes a huge difference! And surely wish other vendors would notice, too! 

  So there you have it! What makes a good product enchant your customers? Well, I am sure many many things, but excelling quality and great design surely look good to me already! Can you imagine that for Enterprise Social Software? Will we ever reach that stage? … I surely hope so!

• Cameras: As you well know, this was one of the features that everyone was missing on v1, but that we all knew it was going to become a reality sooner or later. And while for most folks it’s been a bit of a disappointment, since the quality doesn’t seem to be that good (Specially the front camera), I am actually enjoying it quite a bit. Now, I do realise I can’t take good quality pictures with it, and I’m happy with it, that’s what my iPhone 4 and my real camera do and rather nicely anyway, but the cameras on the iPad 2 surely make for a superb add-on when doing videoconferencing, a la Facetime. It works and the quality, so far, at least, with me, has been rather good! Almost like being there!

• Games: I travel quite a bit, which means that I get to spend plenty of time offline and totally disconnected (Last day and a half has been that way thanks to patchy wi-fi connectivity at the hotel I am staying at and a non-working 3G Modem card that wasn’t activated in the first place, back when I was provided with it! Oh well … ); and while there are a whole bunch of iPad Apps that I use on a rather regular basis, there are times when one is confronted with long hours of business travelling and prefers to spend some time exercising the mind, and several other talents, playing games, as Jane McGonigal mentioned a little while ago on a recent TED Talk under the title “Gaming can make a better world“, and which I have blogged about it over here in the recent past). Well, playing games on the iPad 2 has been taken into a new level, specially, when more and more of the v1 games start adapting to the new capabilities from v2, specially in terms of speed of execution, improved graphics, and overall look and feel. Again, if you are a serious gamer, the iPad v2 surely is worth while the money!
• Friends: Yes, that’s right! I totally wasn’t expecting this one, but the moment I shared with my close friends the fact I was going to buy the iPad v2, that very moment that my v1 had already a new owner! In a split second something magic happened: a common shared experience amongst friends with a passion for that same shiny object. It was no longer a matter of me talking about the wonders of such device and so forth, but now it was a shared experience; we can exchange hints and tips, Apps, tricks to get the most out of it, we can both enjoy each other’s experience with it, making those relationships even so much more engaging, to the point that when having coffee, and talking about things, they are both on the table ready to extend that shared experience even more! Priceless!

• Price: Yes, indeed, that’s another one of the perks of getting your hands on v2. The price is still good, in my opinion, for what you are offered. I got myself the 64GB 3G white model and, once again, just like I did for v1, I haven’t regretted it yet. In fact, this time around it feels even a lot cheaper. Like nearly half the price! See next reason for more details on what I mean …
  
  
• Early Adopter: Like any bleeding edge early adopter, I just couldn’t help it myself, I had to buy it. You know us all. There is a new shiny object out there and we need to have it. We must have it. Well, another advantage of doing that, and very much tied in with the Friends reason, mentioned above already, is the fact that I am helping covert others and become early adopters themselves by passing it on. And just like v1, v2 has already gotten a new owner waiting for that transfer, once I make the jump into v3, whenever that happens. There is nothing more gratifying that seeing you stopping from being the HelpDesk service for everyone, because everyone now would be at the same level you are already: an tablet, a computer, whether v1 or v2, that works! No longer HelpDesk skills required and supported from yours truly! Yes, I know! It feels great!! And, again, like I have mentioned under “Price”, at half the price from here onwards!
• The Apps: Indeed, still the Apps! The main single reason why I went to the v2 versus trying other alternatives that few other folks have been talking about already like XOOM, PlayBook, etc. etc., with not so many very good prospects, judging by the reviews coming along so far, indicating exactly the main reason why the iPad is the killer device: the several thousands of iPad Apps that one has got instant access to in a matter of seconds to do almost everything! That, to me, is still priceless and an ecosystem that, as an customer, I enjoy quite a bit realising fully that it would probably be far too difficult to leave behind over time, and somehow that thought hasn’t bothered me at all so far. And I doubt it would ever will, to be honest. Getting plenty of benefits already from the several dozens of really nifty, powerful, beautiful, immersing experience that lots of these Apps have been providing us all along.
• Mobility: Indeed, with the iPad v2, the dream of the mobile world is now, more than ever, at our fingertips. Once again, I keep travelling lighter, or, at least, as much as I can, and there isn’t a single time that I don’t take it with me, wherever I may go. For business use, for quick reference, for annotations, quick recordings of thoughts to pick up and revisit at a later time, for reading books, PDFs, whitepapers and other articles, for playing games on the go, for being able to do some of the most amazing things by just downloading an App on the go and start using it instantly and without having to worry too much about it. It just works! No matter even how fast paced you may well be, it will still catch up and big time! Something that I cannot say for some other advanced high-tech devices. 

And that’s it! Oh, wait… I almost forgot, there is another good reason why I eventually got my hands on it that can be explained, very easily, with a single word and a very very short video clip in order to understand how I feel about it overall and why I am certainly going to have a blast with it for the next few months, till v3 comes along… The word, magic, the video clip, this one:

Regrets? Do I have any, you may be wondering, right? Well, so far, only one of them. Funny enough it doesn’t even have anything to do whatsoever with the iPad itself, but with the accessories, specially the iPad cases. That has been, probably, my only regret. The fact that I made some investment on having multiple cases for v1, to help accommodate multiple needs, and now I’m finding out, the hard way, that none of them would fit in nicely for the v2. Which means I am on the hunt, once again, for a good solid iPad v2 case, since I am not too convinced about the Smart Cover just yet. I have seen a couple of rather interesting cases already (like this one or this other one), but I still haven’t decided. Perhaps I would go out to you folks and ask you kindly to drop by a comment with your favourite and maybe one or two reasons as to why that iPad case is your favourite. Any takers?

And that’s it (Again)! Those are some of the main reasons why I decided to get my hands on an iPad v2 and so far I don’t regret it a single bit. It’s been totally a complete blast so far! It’s been an absolutely wonderful experience and highly recommended, whether you own a v1 one or whether you are thinking about purchasing one for the first time; and, best thing of it all for me though, is that it would also give me a great opportunity to pick things back again and keep it rolling for “My Top 5 iPad Apps of the Week – Week #N“. It’s been a long while and over the last few months I have acquired a whole bunch of new iPad Apps that I am sure you, too, would enjoy quite a bit! Thus stay tuned for more to come, since I am going to resume that series shortly as well!

For now, that would be it for me. How about you though? What are your main reasons as to why you decided to jump in and get yourself v2 of that shiny new object that seems to be inside everyone’s head at the moment? Care to share a thought or two in the comments as well? That would be just wonderful, and very much appreciated, as it would help provide some further insights to other folks who may want to dive in, but may not be that sure just yet. At least, for now. Perhaps we can all help influence that change. What do you think? Want to share them across?

Ok! Let’s do it!