Rich Kao

As we all know, technology can be a blessing or a curse, a diversion instead of an aid, a time drain instead of a time saver.  I try to keep this in mind whenever I'm thinking about employing tech tools because I don't want to fall prey to a fad.  But in this latest iteration, I can roundly give a thumbs up to the iPad, although it's utility is not necessarily apparent before you use it.  So here are 12 reasons I like the iPad.

1. It's light and a great "take & go" tool. You might say, "But isn't a laptop suppose to be light and easy to carry?"  Yes, it is. But the iPad hits a sweetspot I didn't know I had regarding the weight of a portable.

2. It's feel substantive.  Despite the light weight of the iPad (1.5 lbs), it feels strong and substantive.  The metal housing is great to hold, touch and have in my hand; so much so I deliberately did not buy a "skin" for it so I could enjoy the tactile feel of holding and working with it.  It has the feel of those engineering HP calculators of years gone-by which made you feel you were holding something important vs. the cheap plastic versions.

3. It's snappy and fast.  The processor speed makes tooling around in the iPad really quick and fun.  There is a sense of instant gratification.  You never get that feeling of impatience in the actual iOS environment, unless you're on the internet, which is not a function of the iPad itself.

4. The screen resolution is amazing.  You do feel like you're holding a piece of glass.  You do feel like you have the internet in your hands.  The images and clarity are really vivid and sharp; feels like HD.  It's a joy to look at.

5. The size is right.  I have an iPhone, and it's great, but I don't think of it as a laptop.  I think of the iPad as a laptop b/c of it's screen size (9.7 in).  It really does feel like a laptop experience, not a phone experience.  I don't want the iPad to fit in my pocket.  I've got my iPhone for that. I want it to fit in my briefcase where I have to pull it out deliberately to do my work.

6. I'm reading a lot more.  By golly, the fusion of form and wireless convenience has moved me to a lot more reading.  I pull out my iPad to read regularly, and I'm reading more than I have done in years! I thought for sure I would not like an ebook format.   I guess because I can have multiple books on my tablet, and not have to lug around multiple physical books, something clicked by having a mini-library on the iPad.

7. Except for heavy content creation (sermons, powerpoints) which I do at my desk, the iPad does everything I want from a consumption standpoint - viewing emails, checking facebook, twitter, news, gaming (Scrabble, Boggle, Angry Birds).  It's instant-on feature is great.  No powering up.  Turn on the home screen and you're good to go.

8. The Apps are fantastic.  I now know why some people are alarmed that apps could drive people away from the internet.  A well written app beats the internet.  It's a "specialist" little piece of software that takes over the web function in the area of your choice and executes it much more efficiently.  E.g. Newspaper apps work much better than surfing their sites online.   Games as mentioned above are totally fun to play in digital forms. 

9. Pinch and expand works really well.  There is no lag time in resizing pages, text; it's instant, not like a new or re-rendering of the screen.  This is amazing.  Actually, the whole iOS environment works great.

10. Sharing sites, images, youtube videos, is easier and more intimate.  Sharing stuff on a laptop works for sure, but it doesn't seem quite as personal.  The iPad makes it more "communal," personal, and packs a "wow" when you look at stuff together with someone else.  It feels more like sharing a physical photo album.

11. Battery life is looonng lasting.  On my recent 12 hours trip overseas, I never ran out of charge, while reading two books, journaling, playing games and surfing the net.  Another great convenience factor.

12. It's an educational, productivity, social and spiritual resource tool.  This is the effect of what the iPad does for me taken in aggregate.  To have all these functions in one device is really nice.

A few caveats:  1) The on-screen keyboard is adequate, but not a killer feature.  For those needing to do lots of writing, this may be a downside although you can purchase a keyboard.   2) Safari, the surfing browser, doesn't allow for multiple tabs on the same screen, but forces you to have individual screens for every page.  This is a bit of a pain if you want to multi-task a lot, and toggle through screens; but it's livable. 3) There's no USB port for transfering data.  Again, the iOS is not an actual desktop environment, so you're a bit limited.  There are "cloud" workarounds, which work well, but not necessarily ideal.

So there you have it; 12 reasons I like/love the iPad, (and 3 reason i don't).  Oh, and and one more thing...."Thanks Mom for introducing me to the iPad!"  She was so excited about the usability of the iPad, she evangelized me to it and bought me one!  Long live Moms! 

I saw the DVD in it's entirety today.  I liked it on several levels.  1) Never seen Al Gore so natural and passionate.  He probably would have won the election had he just communicated like he did in this video, vs his wooden campaign style. Refreshing.  2) His use of slides, video, pictures, graphics were outstanding; course it helps to have world class professionals help you craft the presentation.  3) As a scientist, I liked his attempt to draw on science, and speak from depth and data, but not having heard or examined the "other side" I just can't swallow his message hook, line and sinker.  4) However, I liked the overall tone and message that there are things we can do to be good stewards of the earth.  Why not?  Why plunder and pillage and live like it won't make a difference?  Call it creation care or whatever you like, but living in ways that are responsibly materialistic in my mind is a biblical concept.  5) Lastly, where do I land on the global warming issue?  To be honest, my personal experience matches up more with the global warming advocates than those that are against it.   Since my childhood days, I've seen the weather get wonkier, seasons are not as predictable, there are greater catastrophic weather events, sections of the ice shelf breaking off is indeed troubling, and temperatures seem to gyrate more wildly.   This is decidely visceral but my experience would tend to corroborate the global warming theory, not contradict it.  In the meantime, for me to change my ways to be a good global citizen is hardly a hardship, and as far as I can tell, there's only upside to it, and possibly a heroic one at that.

Mobaganda -- no frills substitute for evite. much quicker to use.

Carbon Rally -- 101 ways and more to reduce your carbon footprint.

Free Rice -- 10 grains of rice donated whenever you answer a vocab word correctly.

Mint -- super powerful and easy financial summarizer, planner, budgeting site - all in one.

Great stats & visuals for seeing the world we live in.

Great evening of discussion with church planting expert & coach Kevin York, whose church planting team is overseeing 2000 churches globally with 70 current church plants under way.   Our discussion was a real answer to prayer regarding our direction and determination to "crack the code" in this city.   Some key thoughts about church plants:

> leadership (most growth barriers are not spiritual but structural),

> fire (do your eyes light up when taling about your city),

> coaching (having those that can ask penetrating questions),

> missional (one size does NOT fit all; each plant must be customized),

> humilty & strength (level 5 leadership),

> gospel-centered (it must stumble people),

> and above all, love. 

Kevin is one of the busiest guys around, so to get some time with him was a real treat.