Author: Thord Hedengren

Have you ever wanted to setup an iPad for kids, but are unsure how to do it? That’s what Switch to iPad #73 is all about.

It’s not just me that loves iPads in my family, it’s the little bonus kid too. He’s great with it, as most kids are with touch-screen controlled devices. To him, navigating an iPad app, and figuring out a game from the App Store, is a lot easier than, say, using a controller for a video game console. It’s a different world than what I had when I grew up, that’s for sure.

The kid’s got an iPad, obviously. He’s been using an iPad mini 4, but with the launch of the new iPads, I figured an upgrade was overdue. It was also time to give him a little more control over what he could do on his own with his iPad, so I set it up from scratch.

📧 Switch to iPad #73 is out now. You’ll need a subscription to read this one, which is $5/month or $50/year. I hope you’ll consider it.

This week’s issue of the Switch to iPad newsletter discusses the subscription model. It starts like this:

Are you sitting there, muttering over yet another app that goes from a premium business model, to a freemium one? Quite a few clearly did the other week, when Notability changed their business model, essentially forcing all its serious users to sign up for a subscription. They reversed this decision, grandfathering their current users into a reasonable free tier unavailable for new users, but the harm was, for some, clearly done.

So, let’s talk a bit about subscriptions as a business model, shall we?

📧 Read Switch to iPad #72 here.

The most recent issue of the Switch to iPad newsletter talks about why one should switch, and why that’s something I’m revisiting regularly.

I’m sitting propped up in bed, with chills and a sore throat, as I’m typing this. It’s one of the joys of the iPad, the 12.9” Pro model sitting in the Magic Keyboard at the moment, that portability, it’s one of the things I like the most. However, I could just as well be typing this on the MacBook Air that sits on the sideboard on the other side of the room. It’d work just as well because right now, in the Magic Keyboard, my iPad is a laptop. Literally, a laptop, even, since it’s in my lap.

That got me thinking about why I prefer the iPad, and if that’s still true. I’m in the habit of questioning many things in my life regularly, I think that’s important because it’s all too easy to just accept what you’ve got. Sometimes that’s fine, but if you could change things for the better, wouldn’t you? That includes making hard decisions when need be, and to be okay with things as they are if they’re not worth the hassle.

When it comes to the iPad, and viewing as well as using it as a primary computing device, it’s a fairly simple assessment. I can boil it down to the most common question I get, regarding my choice, which is: Why don’t you just use a Mac instead?

Switch to iPad #71 is out now. It requires an active subscription, so do consider that if you want to support my writing.