Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Armor All! (And the iPad performed well on a trip)

Eureka. Armor All is the only thing I’ve found that keeps my rubbery iPad case from looking all nasty. I’m hoping it also may prevent the attraction of all the gunk it seems to invite to its surface. A few people in a Mac forum thread recommend it but advise using it sparingly.

I’m still happy with my iPad. I bit the bullet and decided against taking a netbook along on a trip last week. The iPad was a champ. My son and I used Google maps on it for navigation and 3G coverage held up in probably 99 percent of every spot from Brooklyn to Woodstock. I’d heard AT&T’s 3G is not as reliable outside the Chicago area, but no problem. It’s nice having a screen larger than a phone’s screen so the navigator can zoom in on a map section and quick give the driver a visual idea of what’s coming up. I’m not sure it would be a safe substitute for a real GPS device if you were driving alone in unfamiliar territory—no voice cues and too much fingerpainting needed.

No problems at all with our all-Apple devices except one that must have been caused by the airline’s wifi restrictions. My son missed most of the Bear’s game, having found a radio station’s .pl streaming file that worked until we got on the plane. He had to settle for ESPN’s live web coverage, which is pretty cool. It gives text updates and illustrates the current field position.