Justine sent me her old iPad. I was skeptical of the Kindle but changed my mind. I am skeptical of the iPad, but it has too much potential to give up on it.

I wiped the iPad and reloaded the factory defaults. There is a map app, a notepad and an iPod app, but not much that I can really use. I use the computer to write programs and write stories. The notepad app is not really good for this.

One app that you get is to go to the iTunes store and buy stuff. This isn’t going to happen. You can also download apps from the app store. I am very short of money at this time. Medical expenses have hit hard in the last couple of months.

One thing that I might do is run some software on the iPad that lets me install non-approved apps to the iPad. There are lots of apps that I could use to write programs and stories.

I just saw that there is a free app to load DropBox on the iPad. I use DropBox.com to store all of my stories. DropBox.com is a program that lets you sync files between different computers. I have DropBox on all of my computers so I can work on a story at home and then work on it again at work if I can find a spare minute. DropBox takes care of making sure it is the same file on both computers.

For $3.29 I can buy a USB connector that allows me to hook devices like a keyboard up to the iPad. It does not work with all keypads, but the simple ones are good. I need to find a compact keyboard that I can carry in my bag with the iPad so that I can work on the bus.

This iPad will be interesting.