Pirate Journalism

Every since I was a youngling back in the pre-home computer days, I wanted an iPad.

Trek PADDs - The fictional (future) relative of the iPad obviously inspired the Apple device.

Okay. Perhaps I never called it an iPad, but that was pretty much what I wanted. Every calculator, watch, pocket radio or any other portable electronic device I came in contact with became a tricorder-like device to help me search out strange new worlds like Mr. Spock.

As I grew up, I continued in my quest for that elusive device that inspired my imagination. I had the most advanced digital watches, with calculators, computer games and digital phone books. I had scientific calculators you could program. I bought nearly every kind of digital assistant they came out with. When “Pocket PCs” came out, I was right on the cutting edge using the latest models to work and play.

Ipad - The touchscreen device puts a bit of the Enterprise into your hands.

During that time, Star Trek: The Next Generation redefined these portable devices, labeling them PADDs (Personal Access Data Displays). Just as the previous generation of Trek had inspired so many of our advancements, this new Enterprise brought forth a new era of high-tech design, bringing the idea of touch screen surfaces, customizable work stations and even eBooks to popular consumer’s desires.

Just as Kirk’s Enterprise gave birth cell phones (particularly flip-phones), Lazy-Boys and large screen TVs, Picard’s devices, like the PADD, inspired generations of devices like the Palm, Casio PocketPCs, and tablet PCs.

However, it wasn’t until Apple’s success with multi-touch input and the iPhone did things start to really look and feel like what we all saw on Trek.

Then came the iPad. The flat, touch screen device looked like it was smuggled out of the prop archives at Universal Studios, and preformed much the same way as the PADD. Linking wirelessly to networks, it provides personal access to entertainment, communications and even work files. Some people may have mocked Apple for using the “iPad” name, but to anyone who has seen Star Trek, it was obvious what they were going for.

Other naysayers complained that the device didn’t have a market; there was no use for the device. My response was always simple: “Look at Star Trek.”

My iPad fit right into my daily routine. In the mornings, instead of bringing out my 17-inch MacBook Pro, I pick up my iPad, drink my morning caffeine and browse news and e-mails. Throughout the day, I keep up with e-mails and play a few games while waiting for an appointment. In the evening, I can google or access IMDB.com for some bit of trivia as my girlfriend and I watch TV. At bedtime, it turns into an eBook reader (with access to all the major bookstore and eBook services). It can even be my alarm clock, if I wasn’t already using my smartphone for that.

This is not to say that the iPad is going to replace my MacBook Pro (which has replaced my desktop computer), or that I couldn’t (or didn’t) use the laptop for everything I am using the iPad for now. But the iPad does fit in a little better, and even helps as I sit here writing on the MacBook Pro while my e-mails feed onto the iPad.

The iPad is something new that truly fills the technological hole that most (except for us Trek fans) didn’t even realize existed.