James Wallace’s iPad has a dedicated spot in his camper.
Wallace, who rebuilds airplanes in the Flagstaff, Ariz., area, has his iPad mounted in his van for camping trips, where it acts as a giant GPS and music player. When he parks for the night, the iPad turns into an entertainment hub, allowing him to watch videos and respond to any sudden urge to look up online information.
“It’s a giant iPod that you can read without squinting at it,” Wallace says. “I love it.”
Apple’s iPad made its debut in April as an in-between product that left many analysts at first wondering what exactly folks would do with it, since it is neither a laptop computer nor an iPod or iPhone. Apple has sold more than 2 million so far, exceeding expectations.
And it turns out that one of the big pluses for many people is taking it on holidays as Wallace does.
Since the iPad is lighter than a laptop and easier to tote, it works well for travelers on planes, especially when the person in front of you reclines the seat. Since Wi-Fi is so prevalent in hotels, the iPad doubles as an in-room entertainment machine for games, movies and e-books. Overseas travelers can take advantage of the many translation apps, which both figure out the phrases and convert them into digital speech.
The downside: It’s another big thing to lug while on vacation, the screen is hard, if not impossible to read in strong daylight (by the pool, on the beach) and many Web sites can’t be viewed on the iPad, because Apple refuses to support Adobe Flash software, which is used for much online video (such as Hulu and Comedycentral.com).
But the pluses apparently outweigh the minuses for many consumers. Two months after its release, the iPad is still hard to get….