The iPad as a Global Travel Companion
The iPad can be a useful friend on the road but it is limited in what it can do for globetrotters. You are sure to be the target of envious looks if you pull an iPad out of your bag at the airport and while you kill time by watching a movie or reading an online newspaper. Your neighbor with a smart phone can do the same but it is not quite as good as on an iPad.
"The best thing about the iPad is its large screen," says Michael Jarugski from Giata, a content provider for the tourist industry. The screen has a resolution of 1024x768 pixels which means it provides a great way to display information compared to smaller smart phones. "Looking at the screen is quite like reading a book."
A few publishers are providing iPad versions of their newspapers and magazines. Project Gutenberg has thousands of copyright-free books to download and Apple's iBook store has all of the latest publications. According to Apple spokesman Georg Albrecht, there are over 15,000 books in the store right now.
Joerg Wirtgen has learned to appreciate the iPad as a useful companion on the road. Wirtgen is a journalist at the German computer magazine "c't" and lists the iPad's plus sides as its light weight, its compact size and its low noise level. The iPad also does not heat up like a laptop and its battery can store a charge big enough to get you to your destination on an intercontinental flight. It also fits nicely onto the small seat tray on a plane.
"It's a very good gadget for the 10 hours you spend on a plane flying to the US," says Heike Scholz. "It's also good for keeping kids quiet in the back seat of a car." Scholz publishes a blog on mobile phones and views the iPad as something to lean back with and enjoy. But on journeys she says it only makes "some sense" to bring one along.
