iPad

iPad Mini, iPad Pro, iPad Air, iPad Pro 9.7... oh my... with all these options out there are you wondering which iPad you should buy? Life is full of choices, so let us help you with this one.

The iPad is a very cool device and it can fit into your life in many different ways. It works great for reading ebooks, browsing the web, shopping online, playing games, creating art, and you can even run your business from your iPad Pro! But which iPad is best for you? Check out these questions below to determine which iPad is just right for you.

Spring is in the air, and along with the fresh blooms of flowers and trees are as many burgeoning rumors about the upcoming March Apple event that may see the release of a new iPad (possibly called the iPad Air 3 or iPad Pro 9.7) and the peculiarly tiny iPhone (possibly called the iPhone 5se or iPhone SE). The rumors are telling us to look out for an iPad with Apple pencil compatibility and a smart connector for a smart keyboard cover because it wants to be like its big brother, the iPad Pro. There are also a few rumors floating around about the mysterious 4 inch iPhone.

This week, I tested running my business with the iPad Pro. Just the iPad Pro. This took a metaphorical declawing of my hands off my beloved Macbook, but I am glad I did it. I was surprised to find a lot of advantages it offered over a desktop set-up, and even more surprised to find that it was, well, fun.

The transition from desktop to iPad Pro did not come easily. Like many other people, when the iPad Pro was announced, I didn’t think of it as a serious business tool, until I got one and started playing with it. Now, 8 days into using it as my go-to device for running Pad & Quill, I have come to three conclusions about how it has changed my day to day working behaviors versus being on my laptop...

Picking the perfect gift can seem daunting, but there is a simple and magical formula to picking the perfect gift for someone. Find out what kind of tech they use, iPhone, iPad, etc…, and casually discern their taste by looking at their style. Are they into bohemian styles? Or maybe they are more refined and prefer classic looks. With these two things you can usually pick a gift that is both thoughtful and spot on. If you've got a iPad mini, iPad Air, or iPad Pro user in the family, here are some great gift ideas from the Pad & Quill catalog and elsewhere that will bring a smile to their face and put a twinkle in their eyes.

This post has been updated to include the new iPad Pro 9.7 cases! It's official, the iPad Pro is huge (see what we did there?). All puns aside, we have been loving our new iPad Pro here at PQ HQ and Mr. PQ himself has hailed it as the "anti-laptop." After using the Pro for the past week in place of a desktop computer or MacBook, everything else just looks and feels boring. Since the Pro is so large, it definitely requires some kind of case and protection. So without further ado, let's meet the Pad & Quill lineup of our best iPad Pro cases.

Mr. PQ is good to me, I think.  I arrived home last week to find a brand new Apple iPad Pro propped cozily in our new bookbindery Contega iPad Pro case.  Mr. PQ knows how I love a good book, the more vintage the better.  So, there it was, the iPP(iPad Pro) in all its shining metal and glassy glory.  It was big, but this didn’t surprise me, I’d watched the Apple bigwig presentation on a big screen.  It had four, stereo speakers, at least that is what my 17 year old told me; something about left/right differentiation and sound perception and that did impress me.  It has a multitasking and split keyboard feature; neither my hands nor brain work this way so I have no comment.  

As most people are aware, I am a very reticent early adopter and generally ascribe to Stockholm Syndrom any technical

Maybe. There is a lot to consider when answering that question and we have broken it all down for you.

Some friends of mine and I were recently discussing our adventures with surfing, focusing primarily on the times when, having been rolled by a wave, we exited the surf with significantly less clothing on then when we entered. Being as we were all wearing bikinis at the time, there isn't much modesty remaining when a significant amount of your clothing is shredding down the beach with the returning tide. We all agreed that about the only antidote to death by embarrassment (bar ass just shouldn’t be the formative part of that word) was to observe someone else in the same predicament. Never underestimate the value of a sympathetic soul.

I have recently grown a very sympathetic soul for grannie panties. Not because I have aged up to that category of lingerie, but rather because a few of our customers have been blighted by this affliction of their iPhone case. At least that is what they have taken to calling the over stretching of the elastic band on their Little Pocket Book, Luxury

“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

“I’m pregnant”

No, not me, Mrs. PQ, it’s Mr. PQ who’s expecting.  He mentioned he has been working on some new things, but him not being the science-y type, male fertilization never crossed my mind.  The man who runs to the emergency room for morphine with a little back pain ought to handle the whole transition labor quite well, I’m certain.  I caught him crying as he sang along with Disney’s Frozen soundtrack the other day, so the hormones must have kicked in by now.  He watched the movie with our oldest, while the second daughter and I were backpacking in the Porcupine Mountains (UP-Michigan) over the weekend.  We hiked the trails with a much- anticipated glimpse of black bears as the state park brochures promised.  In spite of being in the most remote portion of the park, we encountered nary a bear, print or slightest indication that bears were local inhabitants.  I travel prepared for bear