Apple iPad - yep, i'm an early adopter

Well, this morning I did the nearly unthinkable.
I spent 45 minutes clicking my browser’s refresh button every 30 seconds or so as Apple updated their storefront to pre-sell the iPad. While often an early adopter of technology over the last 3 decades (Commodore 128, Apple Mac SE, Cisco 17xx series routers, Satellite pager, original Blackberry, VW New Beetle, etc), this has been by far the most exciting early adoption ever.

As soon as I first tested out the iPhone in October of 2008, my brain said “boy, if this was 4x the size and had a real keyboard, I would barely need a PC except to run work software on.” Then, merely 18 months later, uncle Steve Jobs announces the iPad…and I was smitten.

Having just bought my wife, Carrie, an iPod Touch for Christmas, I spent the last few months recognizing the diminishing need for desktop software in our home. Recipes, newspaper, paying bills online, credit card statements, mortgage and investment information – these can all be accessed using a simple web browser now. I don’t think she’s opened Microsoft Word for months. It’s all Outlook for email, contacts and calendars - and Internet Explorer or Safari on Windows for everything else. So why be tied down to the power hungry Dell Dimension tower and flat screen….humming every night while I try to sleep.

Oh, and let’s not forget about the Apps! From C25K for her jogging interests to USAToday and the New York Times, as well as a few games….the App Store doesn’t have it all – but it may very soon. And if there is something I am missing…well I am on Chapter 3 of “SAMS iPhone Application Development in 24 Hours”….i’ll make it myself!

So, at 5:33am PST, Apple Order#W68718696 was placed by yours truly. I am positive she will love it. For all the things mentioned and so many more: driving to Tennessee each winter, air travel, rainy Sundays in the spring, wedding photos, emailing friends, trying new recipes and even listening to music or watching a movie…I may sound like a mad dork run amok, but I am pretty confident this thing is not only a building block on the existing iPhone OS and very successful App Store….but also the next step in human-information-technology interfaces.

Hello future – I can see you.

VT Compound un-gridlocked

Brian from B&H Electric spent the day yesterday cleaning up electrical work and connecting our home to the barn’s Kohler 12K backup power generator. We are now connected with Automatic Transfer Switches in both buildings and nearly ready for anything the weather (or power grid) can throw at us. Finally!

 

 

Re-launch of SmartBeetle

In preparation for the 10yr anniversary of the SmartBeetle trip around the fringe of America, I’ve just started the re-launch of the SmartBeetle.com site! While there are only 8 days of travels up so far, I hope to get at least a page or two of the journey a day uploaded over the next 2 weeks.

 

RIP Rico

Carrie and Sue in the kitchen

Cooking chili on the left and apple crisp on the right. After a long
day of leaf peeping, it is time for a nap before fondue night.

Fall foliage westie

Sadie relaxes in the sun with a cool autumnal breeze blowing

Rusty the Logger

At Addison County Fair tonight - yeehaw. Carrie wanted some fair action