Tech Blog

[#1]

I've had my iPad for, what, more than a month now. I have a ton of apps. I burned through the $60 USD in American iTunes cards pretty fast. Pity I didn't know that while I couldn't browse for iPad apps through the Canadian iTunes store, I could get to them and buy them. Regardless, my iPad is a key part of my computing arsenal. I don't pack up my laptop without it. If I think I'm going to have any time cooling my heels somewhere, I bring it (yes, I have a "murse" now ). But as great as these apps are, consensus is, the best ones are still coming.

Some great ones might come as early as WWDC next month.

Here's a scenario for an app that I can certainly get behind:

I’d love to have the full edition of Scrivener on my iPad. But in truth, it’d be enough if my desktop edition allowed me to prepare a project for use on my iPad.I am nervously eyeing the clock as I write this column. I’m supposed to meet a friend for breakfast in about twenty minutes. I reach over to my iPad, launch ScrivenerPad, reach back to my MacBook, and tell the desktop app to “pack me a lunch” with my current project. The lunchbox contains all of the project data. In this case, the column-in-progress plus every column I’ve written for Macworld in the past few years, plus assorted research. It’s all text, so it’s a depressingly compact file. - Andy Ihnatko

Being a huge fan of Scrivener I can imagine using that app a lot. Since my first, second, soon to be third book are all written in Scrivener (as well as a lot of my other work), I can image dashing off with my "lunch box" of writing to do on my iPad.

Why is getting great apps for the iPad taking so long? Pretty much because developers haven't had them much longer than we have. You need time to make things happen. You need time with a device to understand what it can be and how it could be more than it first appears.

Hmm, maybe it's lucky that iPad don't hit Canada until next week.

[#2]

Cant wait to get my pre-ordered ipad!! now the website says june! thank god im getting mine before lol

How did you manage to buy apps from the us store in canada?

[#3]

Daniel ... not much longer now. Here is the tutorial I used to set up my American iTunes account ... you need an American iTunes card for it to work...

http://www.ipadincanada.ca/tutorials/early-canadia n-ipad-owners-how-to-create-a-us-itunes-account/

[#4]

Does anyone know if Future Shop will be selling iPads?