Lovin' Me Some 'Apple' Green

When you get your Gracie's Cottage purchase in the mail it's usually wrapped something like this...

...in our signature green, brown & white.

Wasn't it nice of those Apple peeps to make an iPad 2 cover in the color I prefer to call 'Gracie's Cottage green'?

 (That's the cover, folded up at the back.)

 I've been wanting this little gadget for awhile, and actually waited in line for four hours on Friday to get it.  I don't wait in crazy lines for anything, except for a terrific estate sale. However, the iPad 2 went on sale on Friday at 5:00 p.m. and we were leaving for Minnesota at 5:00 a.m. Saturday. I knew the long car ride would give me an opportunity to get familiar with my new friend. I have to give the Apple staff props; they kept offering gourmet cupcakes, Girl Scout cookies, Alterra coffee and bottled water to everyone in line.

The iPad seems like a useful device and I anticipated using it for tracking sales at shows, taking credit cards, managing email and surfing the web. As far as reading goes, I've always been in the camp that says "I like to hold the book in my hands".  It took me about 5 minutes to pack my tent and move out of that camp.

Here's why:

1.  When I'm going on a trip I treat myself to a pile of new magazines. I love losing myself in glorious photos & text, but those puppies add a lot of weight to the carry-on.

2.  My eyes are aging.  Even with reading glasses I sometimes can't make out the caption on a photo.  Or, I can't make out the details of something in the photo.  With the iPad I can stretch the photo or text.  Notice the photo at lower left on the above screen.

Here it is stretched a bit; you can still see the full text box.

At full size I can count every brick on that home.

I can read the text even if I've lost my glasses.  I'm a convert and really don't care if I ever hold a book in my hand again. There are sure to be other unanticipated advantages to using the iPad. If you have one, I'd love to hear how you put it to use in your junking world!