Not too terribly exciting. Interestingly enough the iPad fits in my pocket with my phone. I picked this up to let me easily read books for fun again and to read for school when the books assigned allow for it.

I do most of my personal reading through Apple Books. Most of my Academic work is read in Kindle due to the availability and cost difference (Kindle is generally cheaper). I like the form factor since I can easily hold it in one hand. Checking email is easy with Apple’s main program connecting to each of my email accounts and sources. The interface seems solid and I like the smart mailbox feature for what amounts to always on filtering. I’ve been a user of Apple’s mail products since I originally switched to Apple in 2006.

I am sure that there are a lot of things that the iPad mini can do, but I am pretty utilitarian with my technology uses. I am using this for email, reading news, connecting to my academic applications and institution, interfacing with my note taking tool (reMarkable), and my medical records. I do not use it for music, movies, TV, or much of anything else that it is advertised for it turns out. As life changes, I may opt to use it for more activities but I am just not seeing it right now. In the mean time, for a simple trip into a doctors office or something it appears to be saving me some time while I wait. I can easily pull it out and do some real work that I need to get done while I sit there.