Tip #377 Weighted Wonders; How Do You Like Them Apples?

     You'll have to forgive me - I know that the "How do you like them apples" phrase is a phrase people use in order to gloat. Sorry. I also know that gloating isn't at all becoming, and I'm not exactly trying to gloat - but I am so happy about something I am ready to burst! What's going on? Well, the irony here is that I really am talking about apples - not the edible kind though, but the Macintosh Apple kind. With an enormous and crazy amount of generousity, my father and mother bough me an Ipad this week. Yep, the Apple Ipad 2. My farmer hubby woke up the other day and laughed because I was hugging it in my sleep. Unfortunately, I am not kidding about the hugging it part  - I don't remember doing it, but I actually was using it before going to sleep... I really am an apple geek! Who can blame me though?
     Well, if all of you PC people will forgive me for loving apple, I'd love to share with you some of the functions and applications that it has that I think will be of extra help in the recovery process, be you the one who is ill or a caregiver. My Disclaimer? Please know that I do not work for Apple, or any other computer place/empire/company for that matter. And, while I am focusing on the iPad, a lot of devices will do some similar things. I just don't know which devices do exactly what, since I am an apple addict. I must admit that I have learned via discussion with friends and family that if you know a function exists  (i.e. on the iPad, iPhone, computer. etc.), then you can at least look for said item on yours (i.e smart phone, blackberry, PC computer...). It might not be as good, but still helpful. Then again, I guess it could be that some of the non-apple devices and computers have functions better than the iPad/iPhone, etc... though you'd be pressed to convince me of it, and especially to admit it!
     So why is the iPad so incredible in my opinion? Well, several things; too many in fact to just write one post about it. I think I will keep coming back to this topic in more posts. If you don't want to wait that long you could take a peek at one of my very first posts where I discuss the  benefits of the iPhone since a lot of the functions and capabilities of the iPhone carry over to the iPad. However the iPad is even better than iPhone in my opinion! Much better and many more functions in fact! So, whether you are mac happy like me, or interested or using any other device, here is a brief sample of the kinds of things that the iPad has, and other devices could have (though again, I don't know other brands of devices much anymore). This will be a tiny brief synopsis, but watch for other posts within the weighted wonders (weighted because of the cost) category.
     I'm going to limit myself to two of the great things about the iPad to consider when recovering/caregiving since I've nearly written a tome already! Here goes:

• First, the iPad Apps. I read an article last week that said the iPad has approximately 60 000 apps, compared to the 3 000 Apps by the competitors. That's 20 times the amount of Apps! Why is that significant? Well, for starters there are 75 medical encyclopedia Apps. On average said apps cost between $0.99 and $19.99, and there is a very wide range of them. Among the medical encyclopedias you will find at least one of each of these:

• Anatomy encyclopedia
• General medical encyclopedia
• Paediatric encyclopedia
• Cancer encyclopedia
• Blood encyclopedia
• First aid encyclopedia
• Natural medicine encyclopedia
• And, a whole host of other Apps too, including many alarm apps you can customize to help you remember to take your meds, or to have that medical appointment, to read to you, to type for you when you read, and many many many more!

• Second, it's size it's fantastic. It's big and small all at the same time. Call me crazy, but it's nice to be able to see whatever you need to see, when you need to see it, and lightweight enough to have it wherever you need to put it to use it.
• The screen is big, and it's clear. If it's large screen is not big enough for you, text and pictures are easily enlarged at the snap of a finger (or with a move of two fingers exactly the opposite of a snap to be more accurate!). Your vision may be affected by medication, the condition itself, and/or is just normally not that wonderful and the condition isn't all that helpful on top of it. 
• The device itself is little and lightweight. If you want to put it up to your nose to read something, you can. If you want to use it while sick in bed, it's easy to do so. And, it's little enough to adjust just so you can get comfy and use it all at the same time.

     Okay, that's all for now. If you're not all that technical, don't discount a using a device like the iPad, or a smart phone.Technology can be intimidating at first, but if you are stuck at home because of illness or caregiving for a loved one who is ill then it can open a whole new world to you and/or your loved ones. It's practical, exciting, adventurous, and most of all liberating, and helpful for promoting independence. I hope you'll consider it. You never know, maybe you'll be saying how much you like them apples too...

Happy considering!