Bye Bye iPad

I seem to be in the habit of saying good-bye to technology these past few weeks.  First my Samsung Galaxy S went back to Virgin, and now my iPad (that I purchased on the very first day it was available) has moved on to a new home (where I am sure it will be loved and cared for...).

I never bought the iPad to replace my laptop, even though many of my friends and colleagues who own one tried to do just that.  I bought the sexy little 10" demon because I was looking for an e-reader, and I figured the $200 or so more that I would spend over a Kindle would give me some extra features such as light internet surfing, the ability to send gmail/tweets, and the odd game or two.

For the most part, this is how I ended up using the tablet.  During it's stay at my house I fell in love with "Angry Birds", "Cut the Rope", "Scrabble", "Fruit Ninja" and a host of other small games.  I also loved the apps that pushed newspapers to my desktop, and iBooks, were I read many ebooks ("Sh*t My Father Says", being my first).

So why sell it?  A New iPad, with significantly better specs means that games and apps will all start to be developed for it, and as such, if they do run on the first generation iPad, they will be extremely slow.  If I decide to get an iPad2, it will not be for bragging rights (although those sure are nice when you are the first person in the building with a new toy), but rather for the incremental improvements that should give me evenmore enjoyment that I enjoy with what I like to call my "casual entertainment device".

I am also looking at the Motorola Xoom, which is a strong contender in the tablet market.  I love the power and potential of the Android O/S, and if I can figure out how to find one for less than the $800 asking price, it could be my next tablet.

Usually I have to beg to buy new toys, but with a wife who is going to go through Angry Birds/Scrabble withdraw over the next few weeks, I am sure that I won't face much resistance in buying a new toy for the Perry household.

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