First of all, let me preface this post by saying I’m not an Apple fanboy. In my 12 years of experience working in the IT industry, I found the overwhelming majority of hardcore tech enthusiasts are not into Apple. Apple’s easy to use proprietary products, visually stunning hardware, and hyped marketing clearly caters to a mainstream and consumer audience.
There is nothing wrong with that, by the way, because this is exactly what Steve Jobs wanted. However, most enthusiasts end up owning the products anyway, simply because we love technology. But for many of us, like myself, it’s also part of our job.
I’m also not an Apple hater, I simply like other products better. Windows and Linux (Android is a Linux based OS) are far superior operating systems mainly for its versatility. Thankfully, all three are quite different and it’s great to be have choices. Competition breeds innovation.
That said, I own a Macbook Pro and got the New iPad, which also happens to be my first tab. This weekend I updated my iPad and Mac to the latest OS, iOS 6 and OSX Mountain Lion.
Friday Night
I unboxed the iPad and started my OSX Mountain Lion update for the Mac. It took over 3 hours to get the Mac updated and I didn’t spend any time on it. I did, however, spend a lot of time with the iPad. I am presently in the honeymoon phase with the iPad and i’m completely enamored with it.
Saturday
I woke up bright and early for my Apple weekend and let me tell you, lying in bed with the iPad is far superior experience than the laptop. By pure design, physically holding a tab is much more comfortable. My wake up routine is a heck of a lot easier: checking emails, social networking, and reading Tech news on Feedly.
The lacking feature, by pure design, is when I had to do typing on the iPad. Typing on a virtual keyboard is a painful experience. But it’s a small complaint, I don’t intend on doing major content creation on the iPad anyway.
I spent some time on the Mac to see the amazing updates that I keep hearing about. After some time, I didn't notice much difference, although I do admit I don’t use the Mac very often to notice these things. The lack of versatility brings my use to a minimum.
I spent a majority of the day on the iPad, which seems to have a magical battery life. As an online shooter fan, the best games on the iPad (and iPhone) are the Nova and Modern Combat series. It’s amazing how these games look and feel just as good as their console cousins, Call of Duty and Halo (or Crisis). As you would expect, controlling shooters on a tablet is clumsy.
As awesome as it is to play an online shooter on a tablet, the lack of physical buttons drove me nuts.
What did seem to work best are strategy games such as Magic The Gathering 2013 and Hero Academy. In fact, these games work better on a tablet than a PC or Console. Games of this genre are where the touch interface rules supreme. On a side note, you really need to get Magic The Gathering 2013.
Sunday
I spent the last day of my Apple Weekend figuring out how the updated Mac and iPad fit in my technology fused life. The Mac goes back to the life it once had, as a secondary laptop that I seldom use. The iPad now becomes my goto device for consuming content and mobile gaming. I’m already thinking about selling the Nintendo 3DS, and the PlayStation Vita is starting to look a little worried.
