My time with the iPad is drawing to a close. It's been a good run, but we weren't meant for each other. It's time for us to see other people/devices. Also, I'm pretty sure that the library staff wants their iPad back so that other people can check it out. Therefore, these are my closing thoughts on the device.
In case you haven't heard, Amazon released an E-book reader called the Kindle in 2007. When the iPad was announced, certain news sources immediately dubbed it the "Kindle Killer." iPads are really, really cool, but the Kindle is a superior digital reading device. No contest.
The iPad will play YouTube videos, ABC videos and games, read the news and even show you the pages of a book. After all that, the iPad still won't do a very good job for notetaking.
The iPad is heavier than it looks. Not a lot... it's Apple-product heavy. Sort of like the iPhone is a little bit heavier than you would think by glancing at it. It's also shiny. Very shiny. After I picked up "my" iPad at the library, I took a quick look at it in the Learning Commons. Minutes later, a couple of people were asking me where I got it, which model I chose, and a number of other questions I wasn't ready to answer.