- The store is off limits - you are not allowed to download any apps onto it, you're stuck with what you got. You do get a good selection of apps(not just the default ones) and I will talk more about that in the "apps" section of this review.
- Internet Usage restriction - I think you are restected to the libary's Internet Usage Policy(available in the Library Board Policy Manual) *. I think this is because they own the device and their are laws they must abide by. In my opinion, you should not concern yourself with this policy, it should be fine for day to day tasks.
- You must be 18+ to borrow one - Also if you break it you buy it and it's not cheap.
- I recommend a guest network - The staff are supposed to remove all your stuff from the iPad when you're done with it. If done correctly, this should protect you from viruses, but I don't know enough about iPads to say for sure. A guest network is a feature of most new wireless routers, it makes a new access point(thing to connect your device too), this new access point can only access the internet and no other devices. (keeping your other devices virus free). You can do some Googling to find out more info and if you want me to talk about this more comment on this post(or do this if you can't).
- A message that you signed into anouther device - You may get one of these, don't worry, all the libraries ipads are "owned" by the same person and it tells you when someone is signed in to another one of "your" devices. (these things were not designed for borrowing)
- Singing into apps - I did try some of the social media apps(and nobody took over my social media) but now that I have thought of it, I probably won't next time if I borrow it. For one thing, viruses, for another if the staff forget to "clear" those apps, I don't want the next person gaining access to my account.
- Note about viruses - I've read the iPad is very secure against viruses but I am still hesitant to use a device I don't have complete controller over for things of a "sensitive" nature.
- Use of Instagram - If you want ot use "Instagram" then you will need to change your password to make sure other people can't sign in with it. The other servies I tried had easy ways to forget my account.
SIDENOTES FOR THIS SECTION
* Yes this is available to the public, so are board meeting minutes, I think that if more companies made this stuff available to the public, there would be fewer scandals. (companies would be on their toes)
My problem with a lot of reviews is what I think is "good" you may think is "bad", so I am going to talk about the iPad and give my opinions on it but I am not going to "rate it", you will have to make your own decision if you want your own or to borrow one yourself.
The display - Well the advertisements say these things look nice and they do. I don't have another modern tablet to compare it too but I am impressed with what I see.
Sound - It's decent, they seem to have "pumped up" the base to make it sound "better". The bad news is, there are no headphone jacks, so if you want better audio you need to use Bluetooth(wireless audio), I don't like this, it's not environmentally friendly(need to power the receiver) and I don't have a usable* Bluetooth speaker. I don't care for the sound too much.
SIDENOTES FOR THIS SECTION
* Some of you may heard I have experimented with using my Raspberry Pi(a credit card sized computer) as a Bluetooth speaker but you can get viruses over Bluetooth so I don't want to risk using it with the iPad.(kind of like the Wifi).
User Interface(the way you interact with it) - I don't like that the icons in my "dock" don't have names and sometimes it feels "too easy to use". For example, when composing an email you either attach a document or insert an image. To me, images are "attachments" so I find this confusing. In other cases, it seems to be made easy to use but less powerful as a result. Not what I prefer as an I.T. guy but maybe most computers are not easy enough to use. You can see what I mean about me thinking "this is bad" but you could love it. I do like all the "animations" apps make but it's only a matter of time before you become used to that, so it's not "worth much".
Apps- Again I only have access to the apps the library has provided me with. They are some productivity apps, internet apps, some games, social media, media apps and "library apps". "library apps" can be used to access the library's services, like Flipster, cloud library, etc. They are some iOS specific apps but they are nothing special. I think all of the apps I want to use I could install on my Android tablet. (that's important for the end of the review).
Apple Penical - This comes with the device, it is powered and I don't t know why they don't just include a "normal" tablet stylus. Leave a comment below,(or do this if you can't) if I am missing something and I'll look into what that might be.
Other thoughts - It looks nice, there is a protective case that comes with it, this makes it heavier but probably harder to damage.
Responsiveness - It is responsive, that is apps start up and operate quickly.
Closing thoughts - iPads are too pricey for me to buy one. It's about the same size as my Android tablet, since I can't use the store and most of the apps that come with it would run on my tablet I don't need to borrow it. It may be faster BUT I would not use it for anything serious because of the security concerns I prefixed this review with. So will I borrow it again, probably not but it was fun to try none the less. One of the great things about my library is giving me the Opportunity to try new things! (Their Vision statement is "Your path to worlds of imagination, innovation and opportunity")
I hope you found that review helpful, informative or fun! Thank you for reading it!
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