What can you actually do on an ipad?? All IPF members.

[therealriley]

Hi all,
Over the past few weeks I have been reading the noobs posting about there lovely new iPads and people needing help in all kinds of areas with iPad 2 and 3.
I think apples biggest issue with the iPads is not giving enough information on what you can actually do on an iPad, and how it can be integrated into your life and not just for gaming.
So that leads me here where I hope with the help of IPF members we can create a list of things we have found we can do on the iPad things like for example jailbreaking, edit and create word documents, integrate with your work, view your cctv cameras on the move, website html editing, use it as a recording studio, learning how to play instruments like the piano etc, use gps satellite navigation, media centre, a metal detector! (go on try it search in the AppStore for it it's free and actually does work haha) basically all the things some of us may overlook but many new users would not realise is even possible.
With the millions of apps on the AppStore it's so difficult to find out what the iPad is capable of through lack of understanding if you don't know what you are looking for or did not know was possible.

This is aiming to be an educational thread to help open up the iPads to be used to their full potential by everyone not just those in the know, remember once people know it exist they are more likely to search to find out how to do it themselves. Even if it's something most people know it may be something a new user does not know so please have a variety of answers if possible and the more information on it like price, app size, what extra accessories you need etc to give everyone a good chance.

As always let's keep the comments clean and constructive and let's see if we can get a good list for everyone to use not just the noobs

Thank you all

 

[twerppoet]

Actually, if you nose around Apple's iPad site, follow the links, read through the tabs, and watch the TV commercials there's a wealth of suggested uses for the iPad.

Apple - The new iPad - Explore a world of apps made just for iPad.

Apple has never been a slouch at advertising.


Other than using it to help out here on the forum I can't think of anything I do that they haven't covered; at least in principle.

Not that I'm trying to put a damper on this thread. You never know what interesting things might be learned.

 

[AQ_OC]

Yesterday I used my iPad and iPhone to give a lecture. I used an app called Conference Pad. I used the vga adapter sold by Apple for the iPad to connect the iPad up to the overhead projector. I opened up a copy of the lecture in PDF format in dropbox, then transfered that over to Conference Pad. Oh, and before doing this had put both the phone and the iPad on Bluetooth and took both off of Wifi, because this won't work over wifi at work (works fine at home over wifi). Anyway, I bring the file up in Conference Pad on the iPhone...the iPad sees the iPhone...I select my iPhone on the iPad and then the file transfers over to the iPad and displays on the screen. This frees me up to walk around the room while giving the lecture. If you hold your finger on a spot on the screen then you get a big red dot on the image, which is supposed to be like a laser pointer. Using the iPhone means you have a tiny screen to control. It's ok for changing slides, but not for highlighting points on the screen. Also, the bluetooth is slow, so there is a delay. This didn't happen on wifi, but I could not get the wifi to work on campus (very complex environment on campus).

Now I'm wondering if could use the iPhone as the device whose image is displayed and control it using the iPad (anyone done this?). Or if I had a 7-inch iPad...hmm....

Frankly, I think this is a good idea for a thread. Advertizing material is never a real as real people reporting real experiences.

 

[Seadog]

I agree with the intent of this thread. However, things do not always work out as well in practice. With all the abilities of the iPad, it soon becomes difficult finding specific applications among thousands. It is one of the main reasons why we have so many duplicate threads here. I do not want to discourage the thinking, but please be aware of the limitations of this type of medium.

 

[therealriley]

I understand all your feedback. I have intended on keeping it for a one stop thread to just get some ideas going. It's great to see how people can use it in so many ways and I'm sure those that want to post will do. I love the fact that it can be used to help in education. My main point was for people to understand how they can do the same at home, and I hope it can help in all walks of life. I appreciate there's many other threads lost in old post but the idea was to centralise the information into one place. For instance my friend loves her iPad and had no idea there was apps out there to help her sister with her special needs, after much searching she was amazed and now her sister has a new iPad for herself. My friend would often travel 30 miles to work every time he had an issue with his security and often went to his work alone after attempted break ins, now he can view his CCTV cameras from home and also had no previous idea this was even possible. I have also set up wireless printing for him which again he did not think was possible and seen it as a serious flaw with the iPad.
While I agree apple do have many adverts but I find many of the things on the adverts I would not be interested in using. And there is so much more possibility in this device for those in the know.

 

[Seadog]

Most people who visit here are already past the Apple advertising stage, and are doing due diligence research. One thing that you might try doing. Keep a brief title for each use and then post the comment number on the right upper corner. You might also consider going through some of the popular uses and post links to those threads. Like:

iPad as vehicle GPS:http://www.ipadforums.net/ipad-general-discussions/61124-ipad-3g-car-gps-device.html

This could keep the number of repeat posts down due to people not using the search feature. You would just have to update the first post with each addition, which is everyone would start.

 

[Plan B]

Yesterday I used my iPad and iPhone to give a lecture. I used an app called Conference Pad. I used the vga adapter sold by Apple for the iPad to connect the iPad up to the overhead projector. I opened up a copy of the lecture in PDF format in dropbox, then transfered that over to Conference Pad. Oh, and before doing this had put both the phone and the iPad on Bluetooth and took both off of Wifi, because this won't work over wifi at work (works fine at home over wifi). Anyway, I bring the file up in Conference Pad on the iPhone...the iPad sees the iPhone...I select my iPhone on the iPad and then the file transfers over to the iPad and displays on the screen. This frees me up to walk around the room while giving the lecture. If you hold your finger on a spot on the screen then you get a big red dot on the image, which is supposed to be like a laser pointer. Using the iPhone means you have a tiny screen to control. It's ok for changing slides, but not for highlighting points on the screen. Also, the bluetooth is slow, so there is a delay....

Consider bringing your own WIFI router to your next conference then...like a pocket WIFI that's just not plugged into the internet. If my guess is correct, it would be just like being at home, except no router-provided internet connection during the conference.

Or alternatively, you may be able to use a personal WIFI 4G device. That would allow you to do your conference without bluetooth's latency, and also to have internet to boot...albeit at added 4G cost...

 

[AQ_OC]

Consider bringing your own WIFI router to your next conference then...like a pocket WIFI that's just not plugged into the internet. If my guess is correct, it would be just like being at home, except no router-provided internet connection during the conference.

Or alternatively, you may be able to use a personal WIFI 4G device. That would allow you to do your conference without bluetooth's latency, and also to have internet to boot...albeit at added 4G cost...

Good ideas. Thanks.

 

[HappyPelican]

I think this could be a quite useful thread which has great potential. My iPad is like an extension of hand let's give it chance.

My old iPad 1 has basically become a key learning tool for my son. It's loaded up with educational apps and games. My new iPad is used for keeping track of bills, groceries, medications, appointments etc...

We use FaceTime for talking with distant family which is awesome!

My iPad has all but replaced my laptop.

 

[KevinJS]

Where to start?

I use the Tiger Woods Golf game, not so much because it's a great golf simulator, but because it helps me to formulate a strategy, for example, laying the ball up short to make the next shot easier, instead of just whacking it off the tee and hoping for the best. So my iPad is being used in this instance to help with a real world situation.

I don't know of any other book with built in background music. And instant information on a wide range of subjects is handy.

FaceTime, Skype, iMessage and HeyTell are great tools for keeping in touch at a moments notice.

With Notes and Pages always to hand, I can write stuff down on the move, before it gets a chance to disappear into the black hole between my ears.

Google Translate is pretty handy. I occasionally like to read in French, so being able to look up a word without losing track of what I'm reading is useful.

If anyone recommends a piece of music to me, a few seconds on YouTube guarantees to find a version I can check out.

More for the iPhone than the iPad, it's useful to be able to Google a business, find their website and hit the phone number.

Hope some of these are useful to you.

 

[s2mikey]

Our iPad2 is basically an extremely portable laptop that serves us with great gaming, surfing, and various other tasks. It cannot replace our main laptops but to me the biggest use of the iPad is simply how incredibly portable it is and how amazingly long that battery lasts. It makes taking your computing with you so easy and second nature. It has also helped out my youngest daughter with math since there are some great math apps that she actually enjoys using instead of us having to hold her at gun point to get her to practice. She was struggling badly with math and we are no help. One good math app later and even the teacher commented that we must be spending a lot of time with her on math practice. We just went long with it but then did admit that there was an "app for that".

We could live without the iPad but we would miss it terribly.