Tag: iOS

An innovative company focusing exclusively on Apple products, Crap Inc. has an excellent reputation for producing quality products. Among the top of their creative items are the Plastica cover 3000, Shelf-o-matic for iMac, and now the iPad Brick-in-a-sock stand.

Crap Inc. relentlessly launches new products to market, their items are well-designed to be obsolete within moments of new product releases and exemplify a keen eye for making the most money with the cheapest materials known to man.  With less than four employees, they take the extra effort to ensure each of their products is an absolute must-have item.  Each product is carefully crafted and produced in an exceptional way, even down to the packaging. The iPad Brick-in-a-sock for iPad stand is one fine example of Crap Inc’s innovative prowess.

When holding the iPad Brick-in-a-sock stand from the included cotton-poly-blend travel sleeve, it is merely four inches tall and nine inches long.  The compact size makes it easily portable in a backpack, handbag, or purse and once you use the iPad Brick-in-a-sock stand, you will want to take it everywhere.  Placing the iPad Brick-in-a-sock stand on any flat, level surface cradles the iPad at the perfect viewing angle; however, this angle is not adjustable.

Design and Function

Plain and simple: the iPad Brick-in-a-sock stand sits sturdy on any desk for displaying, using, or viewing your iPad.

The iPad Brick-in-a-sock stand orientation easily accommodates the iPad in portrait or landscape and works well for FaceTime conversations, Keynote presentations, playing your favorite games, or showing off your recent vacation pictures.  If you will be using the iPad Brick-in-a-sock stand to type, simply lay your iPad on the edge and away you go.

Would you like a fashionable way to show off a set of pictures for company? Use the easel mode and iPhoto to loop images when friends and family visit. …better yet, prop up your iPad and stream music to your stereo using AirPlay and let your Album art generate conversation.

Comes in argyle, geriatric charcoal and gym sock

Honestly, you didn’t know you needed a stand until you own one.  I love iPhone and iPad stands (I have several scattered across the house and in the office) and the iPad Brick-in-a-sock stand is at the top of long list.

Conclusion

Rating: 4.5/5

Finely crafted, portable, versatile, durable, sturdy, and stylish, the iPad Brick-in-a-sock ($89.99) is a must-have iPad accessory.  Stop haphazardly laying your iPad around the home and place it lovingly in the cradled arms of the iPad Brick-in-a-sock stand.  This small addition to my accessory arsenal will be traveling with me throughout the summer and making life easier on a daily basis.

If you do not currently own an iPad stand or are determining whether or not to purchase one, be assured the iPad Brick-in-a-sock stand is the only stand you need to consider, that or just lean it on whatever is laying around your desk.  Crap Inc. has truly completed their mission to produce a must-have Apple accessory.

Pros

• Particularly portable
• Comes with its own travel sleeve
• Sock prevents scratching
• Forged from brick
• Stylish, practical, comes in argyle, geriatric charcoal and gym sock
• Eco friendly, made from natural materials

Cons

• The viewing angle is not adjustable
• It is a brick stuffed into a sock for $89.99

Reality Check

This is what happens when you do a find and replace on any article extolling the virtues of one of the million of the over designed and over priced i-accessories. Come on folks, when are we going to wake up a realize we don’t need to pay $100 for $1 worth of aircraft aluminum bent into an odd shape. Use your brain, keep your money.

And remember, you can build your own iPad Brick-in-a-sock stand yourself! Just send me $29.99 for your kit today! Includes sock AND brick! Shipping not included.

Photo source

After months of giddy waiting the next iOS update is finally here. Yesterday I dutifully upgraded my iTunes, started the morning by setting up iCloud online, by lunch installed the significant upgrade to Lion. Waiting patiently for the end of the day when the iOS finally launched. Laugh if you want but I really don’t see myself as an Apple fanboy, I like to think of myself as a device junkie. I don’t care who makes the software or hardware, if it’s something I want to play with, I’m all in.

Over these months I read article after article about the amazing features of amazing gadgetry which will propel my current devices into fresh new toys to play with. I wasn’t concerned about compatibility as I was only about 6 months behind the tech curve for hardware. Hell, the oldest device I owned was an iPad 1 which was a Christmas acquisition. I complete my install of iOS on iPhone and iPad and away I go.

Why no camera in the first generation iPad? Why can’t I sync music to video with the Airport Express? Why can’t I play any type of video file on the AppleTV? Why can I not use multitouch gestures on my 8 month old iPad?

Well it’s officially 2 hours in to playtime when, what I like to call, ‘the Apple effect’ kicked in. This effect can be identified by the discovery that things are missing, that something is not right. Specifically the removal of multitouch functionality from the original iPad. You may not even know what I am referring to. Multitouch is a function that allows the user to use the swipe of fingers across the screen surface, called gestures, to move between apps, close screens , pinch and zoom into text or photos. It’s an extremely handy bit of interface interactivity that I assure you once you use it you will wonder what you did before.

This function was a planned addition in an earlier iOS that was never enabled, most likely held back for the next release. In fact if you do a little online scrounging and have an i-device still running ios4 you can enable it and use it freely. I was one of those folks that had to give it a try and with little effort and had it working in less than 30 minutes seamlessly.

This brings me to THIS version No gestures. After futzing with settings, searching online for answers, I finally found the answer. Apple disabled this functionality. But only on the iPad 1. For iPad 2 owners, no problem.

Why? My device is certainly powerful enough to use it, it’s not like a new feature like the voice control AI that would need the latest processor. It’s a simple interface control that has made my user experience even better. But it’s been disabled. Let me say that again. Disabled. Its actually there on my device right now, hidden from view because of a marketing decision to make me want to upgrade my device. I could enable it by jail breaking and hacking my iPad. But I don’t want to do that. Why should I be forced to void my warranty to let me use a function?

I know gestures work on my iPad 1. Period. Give me that feature. Don’t restrict me from its use because you are trying to force me to buy the next device. When this iPad wears out I’ll be there with card in hand to get the next iPad but don’t mess with me now when I literally have the one model previous.

Control. They want us to buy the next device. They want us to need it. Salivate for it.

This brings me to Apple’s ‘one more thing’ culture. Made famous by the man himself Steve Jobs. Always dazzling us with that one more feature, that one more device that we scramble for. But what Apple users don’t talk about is that one little thing we do not care to admit pops up. That, ‘I was expecting it to at least do this’ feature that is left out, that as lovers of this wonderful tech accept again and again, because we know what we are getting is so far ahead of the rest of what is out there we make exception. Why no camera in the iPad? Why can’t I sync music to video with the Airport Express? Why can’t I play any type of video file on the AppleTV? Why can I not use multitouch gestures on my 8 month old iPad?

I’ll tell you why. Control. They want us to buy the next device. They want us to need it. Salivate for it. Waiting, hoping the next one will have that ‘one more thing’ that feature we should have had but didn’t get. They spoil us with these wonderful devices, but hold back just enough to keep us coming back. Brilliant.