Introduction

The iPad has really changed my life. It changed the way I check my e-mail and browse the Internet; it changed the way that I show off my photos; and it changed how I read books. And I am not alone. The iPad has changed the way a lot of people do a lot of things.

In the fourth quarter of 2011 Apple sold 15.4 million iPads. That is a lot of devices out there, most of them being used everyday. There are now three different iPad models. The original iPad was released back in 2010 and discontinued in 2011 when the iPad 2 was released. The iPad 2 was a faster, thinner version of the original iPad, and added two cameras and support for cellular data networks other than the original AT&T. In March 2012, Apple released a new iPad and called it—the new iPad. At the same time, they dropped the price of the iPad 2. That means that there are two different models currently available, each in two colors and three capacities on a variety of cellular networks. In Chapter 1, I break down all the choices for you and clear up any confusion that you have over the different iPad models available.

Behind the really great iPad hardware is the iOS operating system that controls the device. The iOS is the brains behind the beauty and Chapter 2 covers the ins and outs of the operating system and your Apple ID, including Facetime, Twitter integration, and the really important Setting app.

Getting the most out of your iPad has never been easier than with iCloud. The iCloud service gives you e-mail, calendars, contacts, cloud storage, and automatic sync. Chapter 3 covers this and the alternatives for those that don’t want to go the Apple iCloud way.

The iPad is not only a great way to deal with your e-mail and calendars, but is also a great way to browse the Internet with the built-in Safari browser or other alternatives, all of which I cover in Chapter 4.

iCloud also allows you to download any of your Apple iTunes purchases at any time, and iTunes Match enables you to not only download purchases, but also provides you access to all your music.

Chapter 6 is all about music, television, and movies. With the release of iOS 5.1 you can now re-download all your past music, TV shows, and movie purchases that you made in the iTunes Store. This is a huge leap forward since it means that you can free up space on your iPad by deleting content at will and just re-download it anytime over Wi-Fi.

There is a good chance that you are reading these words on an iPad in the iBooks app. The iPad is a great eBook reader and Chapter 7 covers the iBooks app and both the Kindle and Nook apps, along with the Newsstand where you can subscribe to your favorite magazines and other periodicals.

Chapter 8 is for those road warriors out there who want to use the iPad for business or just use it on the couch to update any document or spreadsheet. Learn how to sync using Dropbox and check out the Office suite alternatives.

There is a huge push by Apple into the education sector, including new multimedia textbooks and a whole new iTunes U app. Chapter 9 covers the new education offerings from Apple.

I take a lot of photographs and the iPad is the perfect device to use to show them off. With the new higher resolution display, the new iPad is even better at displaying your work. The new iPad comes with a higher resolution camera, and there are also some really great apps for photographers on the iPad, including Apple’s new iPhoto app and Adobe’s Photoshop Touch app. Chapter 10 is all about photography.

Apple has improved the video camera in the new iPad, and at the same time they have improved the iMovie app to make editing your videos even easier. Chapter 11 walks you though video creation and sharing. Talking about sharing, Chapter 12 deals with social media, including the way Twitter is integrated right into the iPad operating system. It also covers Facebook and the new Google + network.

There are a lot of different types of apps available for the iPad. As of March 2012 there were 585,000 apps, with 200,000 of those created specifically for the iPad. In chapter 13 I cover a few of the apps used for finance and one of my favorites for small business (the Square app used to take credit card payments.) After the seriousness of the Finance apps discussion, Chapter 14 covers the fun side of the iPad—games, art, and music, including the newly updated GarageBand.

The original iPad changed the way I do things, and the new iPad continues to push the capabilities of tablet computing. Hopefully this book will allow you to get as much out of the iPad as I have.