After the review that we wrote entirely on the iPad (which was a chore all by itself) we have not used it to do any word processing. The Pages app is simply too cumbersome and the keyboard, is not fun to use. Despite the fact that we have jailbroken the device with the Spirit Jailbreak we have had no luck in finding a replacement keyboard for the stock Apple one.

I still have the same four movies that I had during the review and have not added any more to the library. I have added six App Store apps and eight Cydia apps. One of the App Store apps I use when I do break out the iPad and the rest just sit there. Of the eight Cydia apps the one I have used the most is vlc4iphone or maybe SBSettings.  I have added a few games, but I never play them as the iPad is simply too big to comfortably use as a gaming device. The touch screen controls are picky, if your thumb moves too far off the “joystick” controller is resets back to center, tilting the iPad is awkward.  Even my kids were not impressed with the gaming on it. Even the Netflix is not used at home, I have it on my TV, the HTPC and my Seagate Freeagent +. Why would I used it on the iPad?

Next, I had thought I would get into reading the e-books and to that end I installed all of the major e-book readers, iBooks, Barns & Noble, and Amazon’s Kindle. However, despite that I have still not bought anymore e-book. I found that using this is again awkward. It is much heavier than a real book and even heavier than the Nook or the Kindle. It is a significantly better platform for e-books in terms of display and performance, but still the weight and awkwardness of the device limits the enjoyment of use.

After that failure, I thought I would use it to maintain things like my firewall (I run a Universal Threat Management Gateway) Or my Home Security IP camera. However, the lack of Flash or proper Java killed the use of the cameras, while other problems with both Safari and even Atom made navigating the Firewall WebUI problematic.

So now we have four uses that I thought I would put the iPad to done and gone. What do I actually use it for? Well, it has now become a very expensive presenter. I only use it when I need to show something to someone. If I can convert it to PDF and put it in local storage I take the iPad along to show off the project. However, I do this on average about once per month. As it is only the WiFI version, I also have to bring along my TRENNet 3G Router.

So in the meantime the iPad sits in the bag I have for it and does nothing. I have even gone so far as to turn it off when I do not need it. I do not surf the web sitting on the couch, I do not read e-books from it (I still prefer the feel of a real book) I do not even take it camping with me anymore. After all I have my ZuneHD and iPhone which are both lighter and more personal to use.

The funny thing is that it is not just me who has lost their interest in the iPad. Even the jailbreaking community has sort of lost its push. For example, right after the jailbreaking of the iPad OS, there were updates almost daily to the core software. We heard from Jay Freeman that Landscape mode was imminent. Now, months later that same message is still there and there has been no movement on this since May 2nd! The packages are the same; developers are not pushing the iPad format. There is no interest this late in the game. Talking to a couple of sources at both Best Buy and one of the local Apple Stores I have found that demand and sales of the iPad are very low. It is not like the iPod and iPhone sales that usually maintain good levels even after the hype. Instead the iPad is just not selling.

So after the Magical and Revolutionary device hit, was found to be not what Steve Jobs said, and the fervor is done. The iPad, like many other tablets, is beginning the long slow slide into obscurity.  Looks like even Apple cannot make this form factor a success. But then again, they have enough problems with the iPhone 4 right now.