If you are following me on twitter, and you should, you’ll know that I was thinking of selling my iPad 2 to buy the iPad mini. That crazy idea came to me after playing around with the mini on an Apple store, and realized that the form factor of the mini is simply amazing. So, I did sell my iPad 2 and went running to the closest Apple store, only to find out the there is no stock for iPad minis (16gb wi-fi that is). That was 2 weeks ago.
Let me tell you first what I used to do with my iPad. Mostly I was using it at bedtime, to read some last time news and maybe watch a couple of videos on YouTube. I didn’t really like the iPad as an e-reader, as I found the screen too tiring for my eyes. Also, I used it to watch some movies while in bed. Finally I tried too much to make the iPad a part of my daily routine, and utilize it to boost my productivity, but that totally didn’t work for me. In fact I still believe that you can’t beat pen and paper when making notes or drafts for your project.
Two weeks down the road, still no tablet, still alive. The first day after I sold it, I missed it when I went to bed; but I used my Samsung S3 to read some news, and then slept earlier than usual. Second day still missing it, but used my kindle to read my book and slept like a baby; earlier than usual. Third day just slept. Now after two weeks I have to admit I’m questioning the need for a tablet. In fact I’m trying to remember what made me buy the iPad on the first place. The answer is, the originality of the tablet, the design of the gadget and the uniqueness it made you feel (I know I sound like an idiot or a fanboi). Nowadays though, everyone has an iPad (or any other table), it’s not original and it’s not innovative, plus it doesn’t improve my life anyway in any aspect. All and all, there never was a need for me to buy it on the first place.
Do you need a tablet? That’s a question you need to ask yourself. I guess it all has to do with how much you are going to utilize it. One of my colleagues uses his iPad daily, makes notes on it, creates mock-ups, and tracks his finance and his daily routine. If you are like my colleague, and you think you can maintain that, then go for it! A tablet will improve your life massively. If you are like me though, and you only use your tablet before you go to bed, or when you are on your sofa watching TV, or on the occasional trip then you probably don’t need it, especially if you own a smart phone with a big screen (like I do with the Samsung S3). A final thing to consider is what other devices you own. I own a kindle paperwhite (that I adore) and my smart phone. Those two gadgets do most of the stuff I need and overlap with a tablet, apart from the annotation ability of a tablet which is superior in comparison with my kindle, but I can l live without it.
So to wrap it up, I’m not going to buy the iPad mini; I’ll stay without a tablet for some time and see how it goes. I have a sneaky suspicion that nothing will change, until Apple releases iPad mini 2nd generation with a retina display and a decent processor, at which point many things will change! Until then I’ll stay with my S3 and my Kindle.