iPad Mini

The new 2018 iPads are almost here, and rumors are swirling on when they'll drop, what they'll look like, and what their price point will be. Earlier, in March of this year, Apple bridged the gap between their base-model and their Pro line. We're pretty curious to see where Apple will take their Pro line and how it branches off from the current entry-level iPad. We've rounded up all the latest rumors on the iPad Pro's specs, prices, and internal hardware.

“Mom, you know that psych test I told you I failed?  Well guess what, I actually got an “A-“ on it.   Apparently her ADD can also have an effect on her perceived outcomes on tests.   This is the same kid who thinks she is “bad” at running track, but won a varsity letter in track and field her sophomore year, on a team that has won back to back “big” school state championships.  There is a position of being your own worse critic, and then there is the perception of a kid going to school in a wealthy, white suburb where she is surrounded by a student body that averages 26.3 on the ACT, with the top 400 students achieving a 29.  A respectable 21 on same exam can make a person feel “stupid”.  She doesn’t even factor in that her ADD is a 50 pound anchor around her neck when trying to perform on four hour tests that are comprised of filling in little ovals with a number 2 pencil.  In a competitive world

As my declaration of need for an audio office evoked such a lively discussion in our “comments” section on Facebook, I determined a trek to the Apple Store was warranted.  I have conducted audio experiments in side-by-side comparisons of Bose, Dr. Dre Beats, and Apple standard issue headphones. Dr. Bose won in a landslide.  Noise cancelling will be deferred for now, but sound quality will not, I'm going for the other Doctor of headphones.

As the Memorial weekend brought luxurious weather, it seemed fitting that a paddle on our local chain of lakes should preface a trip to the Uptown Apple Store.

“I need to get a hat.”  Great, Hoigaards, our local, family-owned outdoor store is on the way.

“I was thinking of the haberdashery.”

I seriously doubt they sell bucket hats at the local haberdashery.

It’s a Henry vs Humphrey style debate that plays out regularly

We received the unenviable broadcast text from the high school principal: do not panic, there was a small car fire in the parking lot, it’s been put out and no children were injured.  The wait begins.   Eventually, the subsequent text came from the driving kid assuring us that her car was just fine.  As the Tall, Lanky one just wrapped his role as Francisco Franco and an aristocrat in Evita; we’ve had enough drama in the house for now, we didn’t need to add burnt-out car to the list.

Since I rarely address my children by their given name, unless they are in trouble, I simply had to look up “tall, lanky one in Spanish”.  Alto Lago wasn’t terribly inspiring so it won’t likely christen an iPhone 6 design, no matter how phabulous the phone might be.

Waiting and drama efficiently summarize the mood at Pad and Quill world headquarters these days.  With Angela Ahrendts taking over the helm

Spring is officially here, which means that a quarter of the year is already up. We’ve already seen a few of the things that Apple has done, but what are they planning on for the other nine months of this year?

We’ve had some moody menfolk in the Pad and Quill household of late, and what a span of moods it is.  I’m beginning to agree with the fifteen year old who contends that men do indeed have a monthly cycle.  Mr. PQ is simply thrilled to have booked reservations at both of Tyler Florence’s restaurants in the San Francisco area at the end of this month.  Mr. PQ’s man crush on Tyler is so pervasive I’m beginning to wonder if I should worry.  Forty years of learning have taught me to wield a paring knife reasonably well but Brian is never going to see this any time soon.

At the other end of the spectrum sits the thirteen year old who had the audacity to get sulky on our recent holiday to the beaches of Florida.  Notwithstanding the fact that we had escaped a week of sub zero, snowy days, he also had 6 days

I'm not always known as the grammar expert here at PQ. Not only does Mrs. PQ points this out, but occasionally a friendly customer. I had a general idea what 'curated' meant, but needed to back up with some authority so I went to the Internet...

According to dictionary.com, one of the definitions is the following:

"to pull together, sift through, and select for presentation, as music or website content"

That's about right, I'm going with it. Several months back we wanted to bring in a local artist to showcase their work on our Author Series for iPad Air and Mini cases. The search was not hard as Tamrah Ryan is a good friend of Pad & Quill and has a great eye for design.

The two newest iPads—the iPad Air and iPad Mini 2—were only released a few months ago, but it’s time to take a look at how they stack up against the competition. Some of the most notable rivals include the Galaxy Note 10.1 and Nexus 10 and though there are more, those two are the ones we’ll be comparing to the iPads.

This past year we saw some really innovative material coming out of Apple's corner, from iOS 7 for iPhones to two new iPads. Here's a look back at the best that Apple produced in 2013.

They meant well.  We all know that, but when you received that bejeweled iPad case, smiled and thanked your loved one. Right at that moment... know that Pad & Quill was thinking about you. We understand the guilt of being appreciative to the gift giver, but...not so much of the plastic iPad case. There is something about bright pink/black plastic and fake diamonds that just does not work with your design ethic.  Yet at the same time you are very appreciative of the giver and their efforts.  It's tough.

You will notice that at Pad & Quill we try to minimize the degree we use plastic material in our construction. When we set out to craft products we use some litmus tests to help us refine what we are about to produce. A couple of those include:

- Is the product largely constructed by hand, by passionate, well trained craftsmen?

- Is our product organic, sourced from natural elements and in