Saturday, February 26, 2011

My Favorite Electronic Kitchen Appliance ~ Part I



First, I want to thank you all for the e-mails, information and comments about my Dad. The wonderful support means a lot to me.  Just a quick update.  Dad's blood sugar levels continue the up and down swings. Learning new concepts is challenging, and they are really trying.  My step-sister, who lives next door, is doing her best to help them.  Dad's leg pain is also preventing him from being as mobile as he could be. He is getting very weak.  I will be making trips to Ohio often. I have hope their quality of life will improve.

On to today's blog post!


iPad
Google Image Search
Venturebeat.com 
There were two iPads at Thanksgiving dinner. Well, not at the table. My brother-in-law's cousin brought the iPads for his two kids.  His four year old girl and six year old boy were astonishingly proficient at using it. Their dad is the comuuter guru at university, so they have a natural curiosity and a live in help desk. Their dad used it to keep up with the news, look at websites, you know the usual way we use computers to keep informed away from home.
   
MacBook Pro
Google Image Search
PRlog.org

MacBook Air
Google Image Search
Bloomberg Business Week


I had been researching what would best replace my six year old hand-me-down kitchen iBook.The iPad was the option the Apple Associate recommended the day before at the Apple Store.  Of course I was being seduced by the sleek, thin MacBook Air. I still had doubts the iPad could handle the web needs, e-mail and moderately complicated word processing and spread sheets. Great rationalization!

I believe in coincidences and life's little quirky moments. Remember this was Thanksgiving Day.  . . Computer Guru showed me how the iPad worked and I played with it awhile. It was easy to learn, fun to use, and it could manage the kitchen tasks fairly well.  Certainly the iPad was the least expensive option. Something to think about.

One day a year Apple discounts computers. The next day was Friday. Black Friday.  The Apple Black Friday Sale.   Coincidence? Yeah, that or I am a terribly impatient person once I make up my mind. I had these on my list to chose from: 16GB (without 3G) iPad was $449,  MacBook Air somewhere around $1,100, and the MacBook Pro in the $1,400 range.  Price won.





The iPad is a handy little gadget.  It's nice to check the news, e-mail, blogs and fourms in down in the Kitchen sipping a cup of coffee while sitting in the morning sun. Okay, it was a dark day when I took this picture. The sun streams in, I promise.














Electronic recipes are great. With the brush of a copule of fingers, the page zooms in to make it readable from across the room.















The iPad sits in a very readable position on the detachable keyboard. A touch of any key wakes it up if it has gone to sleep.  Editing while using the recipe is easy with the keyboard. It would be messy using the built-in keyboard.




~~~~~~~~~~~  I highly recommend the iPad as a kitchen appliance.  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~


That's all for now.  Y'all come back. :-)  In Part 2 I'll discuss ways to use the Web and iPad! 









4 comments:

rita said...

Wonderful tool. I have only recently begun to use my little computer in the kitchen. Wow, is it helpful to follow recipes that way. I especially like the ones with illustrated tutorials, Pioneer Woman-style.
I enjoy seeing your photos that bring back memories of good hours spent there.
I look forward to more!

laxsupermom said...

Hubs is an IBMer so we don't have any of the Apple stuff - even our MP3 players are Zunes. I have used another parent's IPad while at a wrestling tourney, and they are pretty neat gizmos. Thanks for the review and the update on your dad.

Cotehele said...

Rita, tutorials are helpful sometimes! I got a couple of cookbooks for Valentine's day with detailed steps for recipes. I haven't used books in a long time, but I can't wait to try some of the recipes.

Hope to see you soon!

Cotehele said...

Laxsupermom, ah, CG is a Windows man! A small Windows based computer would work just as well if you don't have a kitchen computer.