A Day in the Life of an iPad on the Road

I spent Friday working my way back home from New Jersey. Anyone who has ever made the trek from the East Coast to California knows that this journey requires endurance and patience.

Over the course of 12 hours of waiting and traveling and waiting some more, I had my fully charged iPad available to help me pass the time. I'm  amazed at the versatility of this device. So I thought I'd share the many ways it served me on my trip.

Internet Access Point at Newark Airport - Unlike many other airports that offer free WiFi, Newark uses Boingo that wanted $12 for me to connect my laptop to the Web. I would rather use that money for my lunch, so I instead tapped into the high speed Verizon connection on the iPad. As a result, I was able to publish an article on The Digital Story without a hitch.

Read Time Magazine - During the boarding process for the flight from Newark to Dallas Fort Worth, I read the latest issue of Time magazine. The iPad version is quite good. And it's great to have an entire library of magazines ready for the reading without having to deal with the overpriced airport newsstand.

Watched the Movie Frozen During the Flight - American Airlines was offering a few free movies on their WiFi network in the cabin. So I logged on with the iPad, plugged in my red Beats earphones, and throughly enjoyed the Disney production of Frozen. The Retina Display produced a much better film presentation than those terrible screens on the plane.

Answered Email and Checked Bank Balance - Once we landed in Dallas, I took care of a couple online chores with the iPad. I even had to make a bank transfer, which would have been too late the next day at home.

Watched the Warriors on ESPN - My favorite NBA team was playing the Grizzlies for game 6 of the playoff series. Fortunately, the matchup was on ESPN, so I was able to watch it live on the iPad while sipping a coffee in the waiting area. DFW has free WiFi, so I didn't even have to use my cellular connection to  root for Golden State. The video looked great, and the commentary came through crisp and clear on my earphones.

Once we were in the air and on our way to San Francisco, I put the iPad away. It was time to sleep. But after all of this activity, I still had 45 percent battery left. And it fits so easily in my carry on camera bag.

I'm not a guy who particularly like airline travel. But I have to say, the iPad mini has made the experience substantially better.

-Derrick

The Agony and Ecstasy of Price Drops

 Because I follow industry news daily, I have a pretty good eye for deals.

I've had scores such as the Canon S110 for $199 and the Samsung NX3000 with power zoom lens for $289. Those purchases feel great, especially after the price escalates again when the special offer expires.

But I've had my share of misses too. And those hurt. For example, In April, Olympus was offering the premium kit version of its OM-D E-M10 for $875. It included the body with a special leather texture, a $300 power zoom lens, leather neck strap, and commemorative lens cap.

Considering that the standard body alone was selling for $699, and the premium kit had been $1,250, I considered this a deal and bought it. I absolutely love the camera and have already taken many beautiful shots with it.

My enthusiasm was dampened a bit last weekend when Olympus dropped the price $200 on the very same kit that I had just purchased. It is now available for $675 (which is a steal, BTW). The reduced price for the E-M10 was also available at many online retailers.

At first, I said to myself, "That's the way it goes sometimes." Purchasing technology is always a dicey affair. I know people ask me frequently, "Should I buy now, or wait for the next model." The real answer is, nobody knows for sure. My general rule of thumb is, do your research and purchase when you need the item. Beyond that, it's mostly luck.

But for some reason, this price drop bothered me. $200 is a lot of money, and just a few weeks after my purchase. One of our other virtual camera club members, John, had a similar dilemma with his purchase from B&H. He wrote me:

"Great B&H story for you. I was so impressed by the E-M10 body you showed me in SF that I ordered one from B&H (linked from TDS!) - just 3 days before a 25% price drop. I figured that if you don't ask you won't get, and shot off a note to customer service. Within an hour a refund was in process for the difference between the $599 and $449. B&H has a customer for life."

And you know, he's right. It can't hurt to ask. So in the same spirit, I sent off a note to Olympus customer service asking if there was anything they could do for me. They replied right away asking for my order number so they could look in to it. I'll post a comment on the outcome as soon as I hear back. Regardless of what happens, I feel better for asking about it.

My bottom line here is this: On the whole, smart shoppers who do their research will save many dollars over those who impulse buy. But if you do experience a price drop just a few weeks after a purchase, write a polite note asking if anything can be done.

You never know. They may surprise you.

-Derrick

I Know Why We Sometimes Hate Computers

I remember this poster from the 1990s that read something like this, "If you want a job screwed up, give it to a person. If you want it really screwed up, do it on a computer."

I think most of us can relate, even today. The fact of the matter is that computers haven't really made us happier. Yes, they're faster, sleeker, and more powerful. But friendly... not really.

I'm really good with technology. It's been part of my living for decades. And I have weeks where it feels like the silicon chips are conspiring against me. (Or is it something more sinister?)

Where it's particularly annoying is when something that was working just fine, suddenly decides to go haywire. I could see if I was tinkering with it then broke it. But more often than not, this isn't the case. 

Everything is so darn connected that a worker bee changes a setting on a server thousands of miles away, and suddenly you don't have access to your website anymore. A not nice person, someone you don't even know, decides to attack you. Or for some unknown reason, your Internet doesn't work anymore because of a system upgrade by your provider.

More often than not, the reason why we hate computers is because they're not reliable. They mess up our schedules, productivity, and frame of mind.

The problem is, people do too. In fact, they're often behind the technology problem. And there's where the expectation breaks down. We thought that computers might save us from human shortcomings.

And the reality is,

it's still people messing things up.

-Derrick

Greetings Earth from a Digital Photographer

I posted a story today on TDS about a free set of film profiles from VSCO. They allow Lightroom users to apply the look of TRI-X and Kodak Gold 100 emulsions to their digital images.

Just minutes after going live, a tweet came my way stating, "Why not just shoot the real thing if you want the look of film? Lots of us still do!"

OK, fair enough. But I actually have my reasons.

In my own twisted, making obscure connections way of thinking, I thought this was a perfect topic for Earth Day. Because one of my greatest concerns as a film shooter was dealing with those nasty chemicals that eventually found their way into our sewer systems, or even worse, our ground water.

Even as a teenager working on the school newspaper, I had concerns about those chemicals - which was interesting, because I rarely cared about much outside of my own sphere in those days. Of course I know there's proper handling guidelines for photographic chemicals. But I also realize that not everyone follows them.

Yes, I love film. But I like digital even more. It's faster, cleaner, and more versatile. My computer is a laptop that manages energy quite efficiently. And the gear that I'm not using, I sell to others so it doesn't go to waste - and that includes me buying used equipment too.

I know I'm not the greenest person on the planet - far from it. But I do try to conserve water, fuel, and electricity. And I don't like careless pollution. And even though I love the look of film, I make no apologies for using lines of code to produce my images instead of celluloid, D-76, and rapid fixer.

So, hello planet earth from this digital photographer. I'm thrilled you survived another year, despite our callous efforts. And I promise...

I'll try to do even better moving forward.

-Derrick

The New Lightroom Tempts Aperture Users

Adobe released Lightroom CC today with performance improvements and a few slick new tools. They have steadily refined their photo management app for enthusiasts and pros, and to be honest, it's still the best option for those looking to migrate away from Aperture.

The problem of course, is getting there. 

There's no magic button you can push, or single lever you can pull, to move your thousands of images from one application to the other. Adobe's migration tool is clunky at best, and 3rd party options aren't much better. It's not really their fault, however.

It's truly trying to change an apple into an orange. The two systems for handling your files are different, especially the image editing engines, and there's no real getting around it

I like Lightroom CC. It may even become my new go-to app for handling photography. But I'm not going to try to convert years of Aperture work into Adobe's system. I'm going to leave that exactly where it is: in Aperture.

If I decide to make the jump, then I will start using Lightroom fresh and go from there. It's not convenient by any means. But this is the hand we've been dealt. 

And if there is a silver lining, it's that Lightroom continues to get better with each release.

-Derrick