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I had to bring in my MacBook Pro for minor hardware surgery. The trackpad needs replacing. So now I am left with my iPad as my as my main “computer” for the next 3-5 days. In fact, I am using it to write this post.

This is the ultimate test that I can give the iPad. Up to this point it has been an awesome media consumption device. Watching movies, playing games, reading books, and surfing the web works flawlessly on the iPad. In the next 3-5 days, though, I need to finish up a psychopharmacology paper, work on a manuscript that I am preparing for publication, and I need to fulfill my regular blogging duties.

It’ll be interesting to see how the iPad holds up as a content creation device. I also get a chance to see what it’s like to pair my bluetooth keyboard with it. It’ll be interesting to see how it handles writing an academic caliber paper. Also, I will be using Papers a lot during the weekend for both my paper and my manuscript. It’ll be interesting to se what it’s like switching back and forth between the two, sans true multitasking capability.

I’ll be sure to let you know how the iPad holds up.

How many of your have been using the iPad as you main computing device?

When I first used the CameraBag on my iPad the first thought that came to my mind was, “why had I not gotten this app for my iPhone?” CameraBag isn’t perfect, but it’s super fun to use and play around with. 

The iPad doesn’t come with a built in camera, so this app might make more sense as one that would be mainly used on the iPhone since that device does have a built in camera. Still, CameraBag is very useable on the iPad if you sync photos to your iPad. 

CameraBag is a photo filter app that emulates cameras and film characteristics of yesteryear. It comes with 10 stock photo filters, including: Helga, Colorcross, Instant, Magazine, 1974, Lolo, Cinema, Silver, 1962, and Mono. 

Using the app is very straightforward. You select the photo from you iPad photo library that you’d like to apply the effect to and you’re set. CameraBag automatically starts off with the Helga filter. From there, you basically just swipe either to the left or right to select the next filter. There is also a drop down menu that you can tap and then select your filter of choice. You can also mix and match filter border and crop options. 

CameraBag recreates the magic of film in a fast, intuitive, minimal interface: choose a photo, choose a filter, and you’re done. 

Digital cameras have replaced film for all but the most die-hard photographers, but something was lost in that transition. Before the digital era, a photographer’s choice of camera and film had nearly as much artistic impact as the subject matter. Rediscover the fading, tinting, blurring, chemical processing techniques, and “happy accidents” which gave film photos life.

What’s the fun of adding cool effects to your photos if you can’t share it? Luckily, CameraBag allows you to do just that. There is an email option that you can tap and the photo is then saved and then placed into a new email message. From there you can send it to a specific friend, or maybe send it to autopost to Flickr (like I did with the photos in this post). 

If you want to just save your photo, you can do that as well. The photos are saved to an album in the iPad Photos app, which you can later sync to your Mac. You can save the photo using a number of different resolution options. 

What do I wish this app had? 

CameraBag comes with preset crop options based on the filter, but, I wish CameraBag came with true crop and resize options. As is, I can’t select an area of a photo that I want, crop it and then apply an effect. If you want to crop a photo and then apply an effect, then you need to crop in another third party app, like Photogene, and then jump back to CameraBag to apply the effect. 

I also hope we see a few more filters added to the app in the future. Some filters that are available on the iPhone version of this app is not available on the iPad version. 

Final Thoughts? 

CameraBag is an incredibly fun app to just play around with, especially if you love playing and modifying your photos. I found myself spending an hour playing with this app the first day that I downloaded it. 

Granted, everything you do on CameraBag can be done in Photoshop on any Mac. Doing it on the iPad just feels so much more fun. I’m not sure why, it just does. CameraBag is simple, easy and enjoyable and definitely worth checking out. 

CameraBag for iPad
Company: Nevercenter Ltd. Co.
Price: $2.99 

Apple makes some awesome hardware, and to say they are innovators is a gross understatement. The have designed and created some of the most influential and game changing products ever. But as an accessories manufacturer, they just aren’t that good. All you have to do is look to the lame iPod nano socks that they released a few years ago and actually still have available in their store.

So I was a bit skeptical when I picked up the iPad case designed by Apple. By all accounts, it looked like a solid product when I examined it’s official product page. With a lack of case offerings, I decided to go with the “official” iPad case.

Having used the Apple iPad case for nearly a month now, I have a few thoughts about it that I’ve outline below.

1. It’s hard as hell to get the iPad into the case. It’s even harder to get it out. This is probably my biggest gripe with this particular case. I cannot easily slip it in or out. iPad lube anyone?
2. The case itself is made out of a rubber type material. It’s grippy. It feels okay to me.
3. You can flip the cover backwards so that the iPad is able to lay tilted tilted at an angle for typing in landscape mode or stand up for video viewing. When you lay it down it provides the perfect typing angle. However, using the case to prop up the for video watching purposes is not so great. In this position, any slight shake or movement will tip the iPad over. Having said that, I was able to watch an entire movie using the Netflix app while the iPad was propped in the stand-up landscape position without a fall.
4. It’s impossible to use the Apple iPad dock when the case is in use.
5. Accessing the volume and screen lock buttons can be a struggle at times.
6. Finally (and themost selfish gripe of all), why does the case not come with the iPad? I remember my 3rd generation iPod coming with a an Apple branded case. Why not the iPad? 

At the end of the day, the iPad Case by Apple is a useable case with some misgivings. I have a feeling that I might end up doing what I did with my iPhone. And that is go case-less.

Nude electronics just feel so much better.

Apple iPad Case
Company: Apple
Price: $39 

So Andy Rubin, Vice President of Engineering at Google has been quoted in the popular NY Time Tech blog, Bits, as saying:

“I’d be happy if that happened and someone wrote about it,” Mr. Rubin said. “With openness comes less secrets.” - Andy Rubin, Bits.

Rubin is of course referring to the recent 4th gen iPhone prototype that was lost and then posted about on Gizmodo. 

To which I wondered, really? Would I want that? Would I really want a fully open system running on my iPad, iPhone, or even Mac for that matter. If I were running a company and had a product that I had been working and developing for months (or years for that matter), would I want it to be leaked without my knowledge? Let’s see. 

The Macintosh environment has always been a closed system and for the most part, it has done very well as a closed system. Sure, there was the dark period of the 90’s, but hey, we can put the blame there on mismanagement. 

If the iPad/iPhone were a fully open system I am afraid that the inevitable problem would be that of stability and quality. If open systems were the end all be all of all tech products then why doesn’t everyone use a Linux machine? That’s a fully open system. Anyone can develop for it. It’s free. And yet, adoption numbers by “regular people” has been relatively low. Sure, geeks love it, but what about the other 98% of the population? 

An open system would cause confusion. Apple’s closed system has given us the future and so far it has worked out. Apple has lived (and almost died) on their closed system. The first time around, they lost that battle to Microsoft. This time around they have developed a mobile system that is so familiar to the lay person that they are poised to take full control of the mobile market. That familiarity comes from the closed system that they have so patiently developed since the first iPod was released. I personally like the current way that Apple runs things. 

As far as Rubin not minding a prototype Android being found and then written about, I have this to say. You wouldn’t mind because no one would give a damn about your prototype Andoid phone. Do you seriously think a prototype Android phone would garner as much media attention like the prototype iPhone did? I don’t think so. Your open system might dominate based on just sheer quantity of handsets running your OS, but you could never compare to the cohesive nature of Apple’s closed system.