Everyday I learn more about the iPad. While at the Lake over the holiday weekend there were two new lessons. Both support previous views that the Kindle is not only a keeper but also a continued necessity. First is that when three grandchildren get their hands on the iPad there is not much chance of getting it back to read. The one year old didn’t quite get it — actually he wanted to eat it — but the 7 and 12 year old grandkids took to it like they had grown up with it. Instantly skillful in new games, drawing apps, music and educational apps, and two handed operations. No training required. Totally intuitive. It is profound in a way to think that they were all born *after* the Internet and the web had been around for years. They have never known an offline world.
The other lesson has to do with the sun. The weather today is near perfect. Blue sky and sunny. I parked myself on the deck and continued reading the autobiography of Edward Gibbon with the Kindle app on the iPad. It went well until the sun reached where i was sitting. The backlit screen got harder and harder to read — had to continually angle it to avoid the glare. Then came the surprise. A temperature warning. The iPad was too hot to function. I knew it was location aware but did not know it also knew the ambient temperature surrounding it. I picked up the Kindle and turned it on. It asked if I wanted to continue reading where I had left off on the iPad. After it synced to the right place I continued reading with joy. The more sun and light the better my eyes can read and the Kindle is as happy as me.