The Geek: My iPad History
My iPad History.
I have been an early adapter of the iPad, having the first gen model even before it officially came out in the Philippines (incidentally, it was officially released in the Philippines on the date of my Birthday 17 December 2010).
I originally got the first iPad out of curiosity, not out of mobility. Prior to this, while I had a MacBook stashed at home, I had taken to carrying around a netbook since 2008 (back then it was all the rage) to do all my media consumption, I.e., playing windows games, internet surfing, listening to music and reading ebooks, while on the go. Mid 2010, I was able to snag a Kindle Keyboard and I was in love with it. It was too flimsy tho.
I got the black (only colour option available then) 64gb WiFi edition iPad 1 in 2010 in preparation for my Europe trip in spring 2011. I splurged on the internal memory and decided to forego the 3G version to save some moolah, as 3G connection at the time was too slow and I couldn’t justify the price bump on my student budget! I figured it would be a lot better than having to lug around a laptop. I also picked up the iPad Camera Connection Kit with it and I used it to steal photos from my travelmates and save it on my tablet. It served that purpose and so much more. I had music on the go, long battery life, and a pretty solid media consumption device while I was travelling. This also allowed me to travel to Europe without lugging around a heavy laptop, thereby allocating precious luggage space and weight to other essentials. Although, for the life of me, I could not find a photo of me with this particular iPad without having to open my vault and take out my hard drive of really old photos.
The iPad Camera Kit proved to be an indispensable travel companion, as I was able to transfer my travel photos immediately from my camera or iPhone directly to the iPad 1 and have bragging rights over the very young social media at the time (yes I was, and I guess, still am, a basic b**ch).
However, around that time, iPad 2 had been announced, albeit unreleased yet in the Philippines, and I was itching to get my hands on it. Suddenly, my iPad 1 felt chunky, slow, and quite lacking in features. While I still had a perfectly good iPad 1 at the time, I was mesmerized by Steve Jobs’ (all hail Steve Jobs!) showmanship and just had to have the thinner, sexier ipad 2 with its snazzy Smart Cover, front and back facing cameras and white bezels. I just had to have it!
As soon as I reached home after my spring 2011 trip, and the minute the iPad 2 was made available in the Philippines, I literally camped outside one of the official apple resellers stores to get my hands on the latest model. So off i went and bought the iPad 2, and gave the iPad 1 to my Mum (she was so happy, but also, had no idea how to use it and had to call me or my brother every time she needed to switch to another app!).
This is another thing I love about the iPad. My boomer Mum and aunts have always been afraid of technology. They never learned how to use the computer or the laptop properly, except for playing solitaire, which was my Mum’s only motivation for learning how to boot up my ancient PC at the time. With the advent of the iPad, my Mum and aunts have become tech savvy almost overnight, learning to email and share embarrassing photos of their kids (including yours truly) through Facebook. Now I am so impressed that they are even able to make Zoom calls and download ebooks almost entirely on their own!
Anyway, I got myself a 64gig white WiFi version iPad 2, with its corresponding pink Smart Cover. I was in love. The Apple magic keyboard (Bluetooth) was a bit out of my price range at the time and so I made do with a usb mini keyboard and the usb iPad connector that came with my Apple camera connection kit. This basically saw me through my final year in law school. I was able to download cases (and illegal reviewers, shhh!) input my codal provisions and basically became one of the most tech-savvy law students at the time.
The iPad 2 kept me happy for a long, long time. Even when newer, better, and faster models came out, I did not feel the need to upgrade. It was perfect. Along with the Blogsy for iPad app, it became my daily driver for all my leisure activities, most specifically, for my now defunct blog. I was still using the usb keyboard/camera kit combo at the time until I upgraded to a Bluetooth full size keyboard that was originally for desktop use. It was awesome, although it was a bit bulky for me, so I gravitated more towards the compact usb keyboard I had. The iPad 2 even saw me through my Master’s Degree in Sweden, where I would take it to school with me as my daily driver. I picked up an iPad 2-specific Bluetooth keyboard (which doubles as a screen cover when not in use), and along with my beats headphones (I had both the studio pro and the solo), I would read papers on it, take notes in school, do collaborations in group projects using google drive, do the first draft of my own papers in it and only reaching for my MacBook Pro when doing the last draft, especially with format editing as word processor formatting on the iPad was (and still is) a nightmare.
The iPad 2 was also with me as I travelled and sat in posh coffee shops around the world pretending to write novels. I was mostly on Pinterest (okay, okay. I was on facebook. Happy??). Of course the iPad 2 was also a portable media storage and consumption device for me. At this point, I bitterly regretted the fact that I did not get the cellular version, as it could’ve been handy with all the travelling I did.
I used the iPad 2 for a good 4-5 years, only replacing it when its screen smashed beyond repair in early 2015. I was absolutely devastated when the iPad 2 gave out on me.
In January of 2015, my best friend surprised me with a gold iPad Mini 3 (128G, WiFi) and a portable 3G modem. This was right on time too, as i broke both my iPad 2 and my Kindle Keyboard. While I marveled at the smaller, more portable form factor of the iPad Mini 3, it became mostly a gaming and media consumption device for me. its size was perfect to read ebooks (and boy, did I read a lot of ebooks on that thing!) And listening to music. However, it was an okay devise for watching videos, and completely unsuitable for typing for long periods of time, even with a Bluetooth keyboard. I also bought the new iteration of a camera connection kit, now sold individually for the USB and the memory card reader, which again allowed me to transfer photos from my ageing digital camera.
It was also right around the time when I stopped blogging, for personal reasons. It was that point in time when I wasn’t heavily using word, and even though I bought myself an iPad mini keyboard case, the size was too cramped for it to be productive. I had to cave and get myself a semi-full sized iPad Bluetooth keyboard. I had no complaints with the iPad mini. It became my main media consumption device and it saw me through various travels. It was, however, average at best. And it did not encourage text-based content creation (typing). Not that it made it difficult, it was just not very conducive to typing. I also felt it stunted my creative growth a little. Aside from its size, it offered me nothing new from the iPad 2. And between you and me, i would not have replaced the iPad 2 had it not been smashed beyond repair. That’s how much I loved that thing. Again, this iPad mini now belongs to my mom.
Fast forward to late 2015, the iPad Pro 12.9 inch has been announced, and to be quite honest, coming from an iPad mini, i was not impressed. I did not like it at all, mainly because of its size. It was too huge for me. Although, the announcement of the keyboard and the smart pencil intrigued me. I have, since the iPad 1, wasted a significant amount of money buying third party keyboards and styli without really being satisfied with any of it (the iPad 2-specific Bluetooth keyboard from Sweden was more than decent tho. It was awesome). When the iPad Pro 9.7 was announced, i wanted it. Finally, the right size, as it was the same size as my beloved iPad 2, and it had the accessories I’d always wanted for a tablet! The only reason I did not pick up the 9.7 pro was financial incapacity. I had bought a 12-inch MacBook gold in early 2016 to replace my 5-year old MacBook Pro and it practically killed my savings. (I was then just starting out in Dubai). But ooooh boy, I was salivating over it. So much. I promised myself to get the next model if it came out in 2017.
And then 2017 came and along with it, the 10.5 inch model was released. I’m not gonna lie. I initially had some reservations. The 9.7 was for me, the perfect size, judging from my beloved iPad 2. When the 10.5 came out, I seriously debated with myself if it makes sense to pick up the 10.5 model or the 9.7. I was leaning towards the 9.7 for two major reasons: a. It was in a size I had previously proven to work for me, and b. It would be significantly cheaper than the 10.5.
However, I was curious with the new features in 10.5, especially its pro-motion display and its supposed speed, screen vibrancy, and all around goodness. In the end, curiosity won and I could not be happier with the choice I made.
In 2017, I bought the 2017 10.5 iPad Pro, mainly because i was obsessed with the Apple Pencil and the Smart Keyboard. I felt like Apple has finally put an end to my search for the perfect keyboard companion for the iPad. A search that has been on going for me since the original iPad1 came out!
The 10.5 pro changed my life, I used the pencil mostly to annotate my documents, and it, along with GoodNotes4, changed my life. I was also happy with the keyboard attachment and it helped me re-realize my love for writing. It had it faults, like I couldn’t get a good quality case (at least here in the UAE) that is compatible with the Smart Keyboard and I was stuck with either letting it go naked from the backside or switch to an available third party case which would render my Smart Keyboard unusable. Despite this, the 10.5 iPad Pro became my companion device in most the travelling that I did and this is when I started toying with the idea that it can be a laptop replacement device for me, considering that my 2015 MacBook has been gathering dust, and I mainly use it for more extensive word processing, as well as accessing my external hard drives.
But alas, just like the iPad 2, all good things must come to an end. After 3 blissful years with the 10.5 iPad Pro, it finally gave out on me, battered, abused and completely shattered. Just like my last relationship. LOL. Kidding aside, the iPad Pro 10.5 served me well before finally succumbing to bend-gate, shattered screen and malfunctioning batteries.
The 10.5 iPad Pro took its last dying breath sometime in Feb2020, and while I was tempted to buy the latest iPad Pro, i held myself in check. At the time, the latest iPad Pro available was released in 2018, and i didnt want to buy an essentially two-year old device at almost full price, when a refresh was just right around the corner. But as I have established the fact that i am completely dependent on my iPad, i had to have an interim device. So I bought the 2019 10.2 iPad, the cheapest most basic version in 128 GB, gold WiFi. Yes, i need to have big internal memory in my devices. What attracted me most about the 10.2 iPad is its compatibility with the first generation Smart Keyboard and pencil. It’s like a more daft version of my 2017 iPad Pro! Full review for this will come soon.
As soon as the iPad Pro 2020 11” was announced in 18 March 2020, i preordered the thing along with the Second Generation Pencil and Smart Keyboard Folio. Full review coming soon, and no, i did not get the gimmicky floating “Magic Keyboard” as I could not justify the price tag (there’s this game i am currently playing with myself called how long until i lose all self control and purchase the Magic Keyboard which i am salivating over).
I will also make a post about why I intend to keep both the 10.2 iPad and the 2020 iPad Pro with me, Stay tuned for that. But til then,
Stay Wild, Moon Child!
XXOO The Geek
EllaLand 
One thought on “The Geek: My iPad History”