Do you remember the first time you used an iPad?

[EmceeGeek]

I bought the iPad 2 because I knew Apple would "bring it" after the 1st gen. I was excited and couldn't put it down! I was amazed even though I felt like it was just a big iPhone/iPod Touch.

 

[Sharon Siciliano]

I purchased an iPad Air about a month ago and I have toruble putting it down. I love how fast it is.

 

[Lone_GreyWolf]

I had wanted an iPad for months but was never able to afford one due to being out of work for so long. When I moved to the Midwest, enrolled in university and entered the campus, all of the students who didn't have Macbook Pros (the non-Retina versions which Apple recently retired) and Macbook Airs had iPad minis for schoolwork. Even though my Mac was almost five years old (a macmini3,1) I was dying for an iPad and had researched over a dozen sites for weeks regarding productivity apps, screen size, hardware, cost, games, accessories - you name it. When I received my student stipend and went to Best Buy to finally purchase one in late January I was practically bouncing off the walls. I wanted to open it right away and see and hold it, but it was thirteen degrees that day; I had to wait until I got it home.

I wrote a blog piece during my unboxing but when I was taking a snapshot of the iPad mini 2's screen when rendering text for a blog entry and when I moved my webcam away my jaw dropped! For me the "oh my God" moment wasn't regarding the games or the apps - it was how the retina display rendered text. Looking at my blog post now, the first sites where I tried the iPad version of Safari were Macworld's Mac mini media center setup feature and then my personal journal on Wordpress. The crisp text just blew me away, and I was really upset that I didn't have time to actually play with it as I had classes early the next morning and I needed it fully updated and ready to use for educational use.

I wasn't impressed with it's handling of Powerpoint slides (and I'm still not) or Apple's refusal to allow it to run Java but every other feature I tested in that first week - from typing up assignments while away from my Mac, to taking notes, to using graphic calculators, to accessing my university's Outlook email, to playing games like Modern Combat 4, N.O.V.A. 3 and SurvivalCraft - made the $600 USD+accessories well worth it.

 

[kimplix]

Got it on christmas 2013. I didn't relise it was an iPad 2 till I actually opened it up. It's actually been pretty useful to me ever since

 

[Tsepz_GP]

1st time I played on an iPad was on my aunts 1st gen, she got it right after release. I liked it but at the same time didn't see the use of it, but after many times of using hers I fell in live with it.

Got my 1st iPad, the iPad 4 in late 2012 and have been very happy since

 

[Evilguppy]

My first iPad was an iPad 3 and it blew my mind. Then I got an iPad 4 with 128 GB and I loved it until IOS7.
That snafu caused me to give up iPad and switch to Galaxy Note Pro, which had some problems and lots of ridiculously cool features... until I stupidly dropped it and shattered the screen.
So as of yesterday, I have an iPad Air, and it's love again.

 

[BlackBerry Guy]

When I first saw the iPad I dismissed it as nothing but a big iPod touch. Then my wife got one so I picked it up an tried it. And as much as it was somewhat like a big iPod on the surface, the use scenarios and experience of it was completely different. I ended up buying an iPad 3 (after being unsatisfied with the PlayBook) when it launched, and later gave that to my kids when I got the retina mini.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Shaheermemon]

I bought my first iPad on 2013 it was the iPad mini first gen Iit was love at first sight


Sent from my iPad mini using iMore Forums

 

[brummi]

Well, I must be too old to appreciate it or understand it. Unlike everyone else, I haven't had too much satisfaction yet. I was given a mini IPad as a gift and to this day I haven't been able to download apps. Its good for doing emails, rather than opening my computer - but thats the only use I get out of it.

 

[ajl]

I remember when the first iPad came out, calling around to every Best Buy within a hundred miles to see if they had any Cellular models for AT&T.

Gruesome work for quite the reward.


Sent from my iPhone using iMore Forums

 

[shanghaichica]

I was reluctant to get an iPad when they first came out as I thought they were just oversized iPhone. I didn't see the need when my iPhone did everything I needed it to do. A few years later I switched to the Samsung galaxy note and started to see the advantage of having a tablet. As I was using android at the time I tried two android tablets but felt that they were lacking and had too many flaws.

When the iPad mini launched I got one and then I understood what the hype was all about lol

I've been using an iPad since the fall of 2012. I use it everyday and it's replaced 95 % of my computing needs.


Sent from my iPod touch using iMore Forums

 

[shanghaichica]

Well, I must be too old to appreciate it or understand it. Unlike everyone else, I haven't had too much satisfaction yet. I was given a mini IPad as a gift and to this day I haven't been able to download apps. Its good for doing emails, rather than opening my computer - but thats the only use I get out of it.

Have you set up an account with Apple?


Sent from my iPod touch using iMore Forums

 

[JobSteves]

I use it everyday and it's replaced 95 % of my computing needs.


Sent from my iPod touch using iMore Forums

ditto x2

 

[rayz336]

I first used it when my university got them and soon after I purchased my own

 

[lyle123]

Yes Dec 2014.My first ipad actually my first Apple product.I came off a Kindle Fire.Still have the Zipad Air.Its a fantastic Tabletcouldnt be happier.

 

[Cap_172R]

First time I used an iPad was back in 2011, a buddy of mine had his and I had a BBRY playbook. Was a blackberry fan back then (still love their devices) but I'm an iOS fan nowadays. Got my own iPad mini 2 as a bday gift last year and after that I got the iP6 for Christmas. Love my devices - couldn't be happier

 

[hearmeoutx]

I remember the first time I used an iPad. I ordered it a few months after they launched it with be intention of using it for school. I had used other tablets before, but I immediately fell in love with how easy it was to work the device. I have always had an iPad since then.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Algus]

Well I had been using an iPod Touch 5th Gen for some time. I got about what i expected when I switched from my Nexus 7 to an Air - everything I liked about my iPod with a better size and form factor for video and comic books, which was a complaint about the Nexus 7.

I've ended up using my iPad Air a lot more than I ever used my Nexus 7 though, partly because of the size and partly because I have a better collection of games and apps. Some of the stuff I like never got ported to Android or got ported very badly (Hi Square-Enix mobile, boy for what you guys charge you think you'd do better development on Android!)

 

[Channan]

When the iPad was first announced, I was one of those people who mocked everything about it, down to the name. "It's just a big iPhone." "i*Pad*, really?" (who remembers rumors of the "iSlate"?)

I just happened to go to Best Buy on launch day. I wanted to check out a phone. Best Buy didn't have any working models, so rather than leave immediately and feel like that was a complete waste of a trip, I decided to walk around. Didn't even realize the iPad just came out since I didn't really care about the product. Found it in the Apple section at the back of the store and started to play with it. 30 minutes later I was on my way home with my brand new iPad. I could never NOT own a tablet again.

 

[jeffb06l4]

I bought my iPad Air in January, so I remember it very well. Before that, I had a Kindle Fire, but it lagged and crashed way too much for me. The iPad Air is pretty darn amazing.