IPad Makes Television Portable

Well I'm ashamed to say it, but I already possessed a laptop computer, digital camera, mp3 player, cell phone and an ereading device before I purchased an Apple iPad 2 last week. Did I really need it? Probably not - since I already had everything I needed to get my regular tasks done? The iPad2 really just put everything into one place, er... one device.

However, it became obvious that may not have been the right questions to be asking! If you ignore all the apps created for the iPad, and that's a lot of to ignore, much of what I do with the tablet device could easily be done on other devices. But, the strongest difference now is that you can do everything portably and enjoy doing it as you do it.

Great example: watching tv online

I can watch live TV on both my computer and phone, and I frequently do! Unabridged TV shows and movies? Not so much. The phone's screen is too tiny to make this comfortable to watch. It just does not feel like a device to kick back and relax with. It's the exact reason why I rarely use the internet in my living room - it just feels a bit too large and awkward.

Media Room: Enter the Ipad

Well with the iPad, I've been portably using it everywhere from room to room in a way that toting your computer or television just would never be possible. In my absence last month, I found my self surprised when I turned to my iPad to catch up on my favourite television shows (asides, some of which I had no clue had started again in the summer). My iPad turned out to a nice replacement acting as a portable TV set (as long as I had a net connection - tethering to my smartphone is expensive). Sure it won't compare to my 52' Plasma HDTV set, but it's big enough that I'm not frustrated trying to make out the characters and details on the screen.

Where I was really amazed was the Internet TV or TV over IP (IPTV) that I tested through a neat little known service called Free Tube. The set up worked seamlessly and I was impressed by how fluid my experience was watching television seamlessly through the iPad. It let me watch anything portably that I could view as if I were at home sitting on my couch.

While I won't travel with a laptop pc or tablet or ereader a great deal, but I don't mind having used the perfect tools for the job, depending on the type of travel I'm on. So excuse me while I finish this article, one eye on the laptop and the other watching the latest exploits of Sookie Stackhouse (True Blood)...