I don’t need one.
I know, I know it’s new and fun and it will change the world in many good ways. I love the idea of the ipad. And I love to follow the dynamic discourse about it.
This David Pogue review of the ipad is great. And today’s review by Laura Miller at Salon.com sells some rippa points: it’s serene to read from (no cluttery icons on the page), it prevents mulit-tasking (because you can only really work to one screen at a time – hoorah) and it promotes absorption. I like that Laura acknowledges the ipad is a one-dimensional communication – it’s for media consumption only, and not giving feedback. As she says, we need to listen more. Hell, yeah!
“Even the most creative individuals will tell you that they have to spend some time simply soaking up the world around them, including the work of other creators, or ultimately the well runs dry.”
But all that said, right now I don’t need it, so I won’t buy one. I have a Mac notebook and an iphone and they work very well together. I don’t need to duplicate the functionality (albeit with a few fun add-ons) right now. In fact, I’ve put off replacing my ipod because my iphone is doing the job for now.
It’s a bit like the way I won’t buy a new singlet until the three I own are threadbare. One intimate step further: I don’t wear a new (clean) singlet, until the one I’ve been wearing is TOTALLY in need of a wash. In fact, sometimes I’ll wear the same outfit, day after day, until it’s done. Then I move onto the next outfit.
It’s tempting to buy into the Next New Thing. But it’s far more empowering to make conscious consumer decisions.
It’s a waste of resources and energy to own and juggle duplicate things. It clutters life in so many ways.
