iStuff
I am still using the iPad to write, and it is getting better. As I predicted, Documents to Go updated their app recently, and it fixed a lot of the glitches, including the biggest one, which is the arrow key glitch on the wireless keyboard. Synching is easy, and it has yet to screw up a sync and make me lose work like my old phone used to to (not often, but enough that it was a source of anxiety). I keep waiting for the iPad to fuck up, but so far…
It is by no means a perfect device, but I don’t think I would have made it through my trip to Australia without it. A full laptop would have been too heavy/bulky to carry around everywhere, and my old HP iPaq phone just didn’t have the muscle or the interface to be my only access point to cyberville. The iPad was the perfect temporary computer.
But it sucks for exercising.
I am a writer. By nature, this means I am generally lazy and out of shape, keeping odd hours, eating junk food, and sitting at a computer for long hours.
In an attempt to make myself feel better and stave off future angina, I have been starting to get off my ass and exercise a bit, walking 4-5 miles around the loop of Prospect Park and through its environs several times a week at a good strong pace that keeps my heart rate up.
The problem is that whenever I go, I take my ipad, ipod, and phone, which forces me to take my murse at least, and often my full backpack, which is a pain in the ass and hinders my exercising. But what if I needed to make/receive a call/text? What if I had a good idea while walking and need to write it down? What if I needed to check my email or facebook or twitter? What if I want to listen to music/podcasts/audiobooks? These things all happen frequently. I also like to bring snacks. Usually an apple, a sandwich, and a drink. And sometimes a book (or manuscript).
But today, I got my iPhone.
The iPhone has the potential to the be dream device to serve, at least temporarily, as all the above devices, allowing me to leave them for a few hours in the same way I could leave my desktop for a few weeks so long as I had the iPad. Porting my phone number was a breeze, and all my apps transferred, too, so I have Documents to Go on there, allowing me to theoretically write on it, if I want to deal with the tiny screen/keyboard. I have 4500 songs on it, so I’m not going to run out of music. IBooks will even remember what page I’m on in a book I’m reading on the iPad.
So screw you, iPaq 910 not-so-smartphone. I hope you burn in Hell. I may yet desecrate your corpse, but for now, suffer the humiliation of being relegated to my junk drawer for all the angst you have caused me over the years.
Now all I need to carry to the park is my sleek and moderately stylish black mini fridge bag with the water bottle, conveniently slung from a shoulder strap. I think this will work for a while, but 4 miles is starting to feel like nothing, so I will either need to add a second loop, or stop flirting with real exercise and start jogging.
If I do that, I will need some new running shoes (my Payless sneakers and Costco mandles can’t hack that), and some kind of armband thing like this.
I suck at shopping. Any iRunners out there have advice on shoes or means to secure the iPhone?
