Random Grandma's iPad Thoughts

Here's Grandpa Ted before D-Day.

I've had a few days to set up an iPad for my grandmother.  Here's my first impressions:

• The iPad is awesome; this is the future.  Right now I still need a laptop, but my next laptop might be my last laptop.
• I like the portfolio-style cover we got for her (the one made by Apple).  I've never felt the need to have my iPhone's screen covered (a silicon case is sufficient), but for the larger iPad, it just makes sense to close it like a book and protect that huge screen.
• For watching video and reading books, I love the size and form factor!  I haven't played many games on this iPad but for some types of games the large size may be a hindrance.
• Great apps: the landscape layout for Mail is perfect but the crossword puzzle on the USA Today App is also pretty good.

And here's how we're setting up the iPad for Grandma:

• Dustin bought a WiFi router and set it up at her house Saturday.
• We bought her a second plug-in and cable so she can recharge the batteries in more than one place in the house.  The portfolio case we bought should protect it from accidental drops or spills.
• She'll be able to read books, browse the internet and read our blogs, get the weather, send and receive email, play solitaire, scrabble or solve crossword or sudoku puzzles, and lots of other things, i.e. as much as she desires to do.
• I've set up her email, added contacts to her address book, added pictures to the photo album, and generally arranged things to help ease the learning curve.  Shannon and I will give her the guided tour on Monday but it should be fairly straight forward.
• I've tried to stick to apps that accomplish what she identified as tasks she did on the old computer or would like to be able to do.  If this was my machine I'd add a lot more bells and whistles but it's not.  Who knows what she'd like to do with this computer?  I'm hoping she'll play "Words with Friends" (an online version of Scrabble) or Solitaire on it.
• I've downloaded several free books onto iBooks for her, including an instruction manual for the iPad and classics by Mark Twain and A.W. Tozer.
• We added a shot of Grandpa on the lock screen (when you first turn on the device) and a picture of the Sangre de Cristo mountains as her wallpaper.