Why you need an iPad

7. It keeps the kids occupied – in a good way

One of the problems with plonking your kids in front of a TV or a PC is that you know, in some way, it’s just not as good for them as reading. But the iPad, with its massive range of child-friendly and child-specific apps, brings the best of both worlds.

There’s a booming market for storybook apps – from digitised classics to unique new puzzle books. And these app-books do things for your kids you used to have to do. Kids can tap on words to hear them spoken or spelled, they can have the book read to them, they can tap on pictures or objects in the world, and certain books include mini-games too.

Then there’s the space you save on the bookshelf – not to mention the cost to the wallet. The most expensive apps cost $15-20. Most cost $4. Compare that to $35 for a hard cover picture book. And if you teach the kids not to actually hurl the iPad across the room, those books are indestructible – and they always remember what page you were up to.

Beyond the books, the iPad has one of the best YouTube apps in the business. Here, there’s literally thousands of hours of bite-sized entertainment, from modern favourites to classics like Mr Squiggle and all those Sesame Street skits that were actually funny.

6. It’s a universal remote… and getting more universal by the day!

We feel sorry for anyone who spent hundreds on a universal remote in the last year or so. Well, maybe not, because to take advantage of the iPad (and iPhone) as a universal remote does require an upgrade of key parts of your AV stack.

But if you’re in the market for a brand-new home theatre, you should definitely pick something that supports remote control via an iOS app. Pioneer has some kit that does this, as do others.

Instead of holding an infra-red wand out at arm’s length and yelling at people to get out of the way of the sensor, your iPad-compatible AV receiver links to your home WiFi network. There, the app on your iPad communicates over the network, so no need for line-of-sight.

The iPad’s large screen means the sky’s the limit when it comes to remote functionality. We’re anticipating more and more features as this idea matures. EQ control with the swipe of a finger. Tapping sources. Tweaking the volume with a swirling gesture.

Or even using the iPad as a secondary screen, say, showing the electronic program guide while the TV is still running the program at full screen.

5. Actually, it is a good e-reader

We suggested in our anti-iPad article that you’re better off buying a dedicated e-reader instead of the using the iPad. Well, there will always be folks who hate reading on a transmissive (i.e. glowing) display, but for the rest of us, there’s reason to consider the iPad as a reader.

For a start, there’s that 4:3 display. It’s a fiddle for playing widescreen movies, but websites look better at this aspect ratio, and it’s a far more natural page shape. In portrait mode, 16:9 displays are much too long and skinny!

Also, you can have multiple ‘software’ readers running on it. Apple’s own iBooks store doesn’t stock every title, and they’re pretty expensive. Amazon’s Kindle system has lots of books, but some aren’t allowed to be sold to Australians. And there are straight-up, platform-independent readers like GoodReader that can handle everything from PDFs to Word .doc files. Pick and mix!

The iPad is best for people who normally like to read larger-format (as in page size, not text size – though you can change text size with a tap) books such as hardcovers or trade paperbacks. Indeed, the iPad weighs less than the average trade paperback, and as with all e-readers, it remembers the last page you were on.

That means getting “back into the story” on an iPad can actually be quicker than with a physical book… unless you use one of those fancy ‘bookmark’ things we’ve heard about.

4. It’s one of the best ways to read magazines

Where the iPad really shines for reading static text is with magazines.

Some titles have really embraced the format – US geek bible Wired is a good example – to create something that’s better than a paper magazine in almost every way.

See something you like on the cover? Tap it, and jump straight to that story. Article references a website or some online video? Tap the link and jump out to the browser.

What’s more, when you subscribe to an iPad-edition magazine, you get new issues as soon as they are released. This is great for foreign mags, as there’s no airmail delay, and the mags cost about as much as having them delivered by surface mail… which of course would see them arrive two to six weeks late.

Plus, digital magazines include lots of video, interactive elements, and fun tricks with layout – and think of all the trees you’ll save!