“In the life of every device, there’s a moment when you start to wonder whether it’s still useful. Everything becomes old, and obsolescence is all but assured in the world of technology,” Michael deAgonia writes for Computerworld. “But ‘old’ is not the same as ‘obsolete.'”
“It’s been more than three years since Apple debuted the original 9.7-in. iPad, the first tablet to go mainstream and the one that opened the floodgates to all the tablets that have followed,” deAgonia writes. “Then in March 2011, Apple discontinued the iPad, replacing it with the thinner, faster iPad 2 — the same model that Apple still sells for $399. With the arrival last month of the ultra-slim one-pound iPad Air, and the rollout this week of the new iPad mini with Retina display, it looks as if time has passed the original iPad by.”
“But has the original iPad really outlived its usefulness? Absolutely not. There are still a plethora of uses for the iPad, including the sacrifice play. At the very least, you can usually trade in an old iPad — even the first model — for savings on a new one,” deAgonia writes. “From my own perspective, the first-generation iPad is still great for watching movies and TV shows, listening to podcasts, or, if you don’t mind reading on back-lit screens, perusing an ebook…. The iPad can serve as a hand-me-down device that can grow with your child; there are cases that add bulk (and protection) to the iPad in kid-friendly designs that can be updated as needed. And the wealth of kid-oriented apps in the App Store means it will serve as a learning tool for as long as it’s still working.”
Many more ideas for your old iPad in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: There are plenty of uses for old iPads! What are you doing with yours?
It’s getting use in an Alesis iDock as a guitar practice rig. It’s a good little streaming radio too ~ the 1st gen has a beefier amp than any of the others. Traveling in Europe, the 32GB storage was a great way to backup and view RAW camera files using the camera kit. It worked flawlessly and was handy to have along for light email, surfing and mapping.
My iPad one is really slow Safari crashes all the time it’s a pain in the ass. Only good thing about it is it doesn’t have to fucking run iOS 7 I love my iPad air for how fast it is and how light it is but Jesus Christ iOS 7 is ugly crap
Check my earlier post to fix the Safari crashes.
4-year old used it to watch movies. Took him an entire year to break it. When I get my Air he will inherit the iPad 2 – in a military-grade case!
I have original iPad! Use it for work daily! Would love to upgrade but it replaced my big heavy 2 hour limit think pad 3 years ago!
Gave a brand-new iPad to my step-grandson with Asperger syndrome over two years ago. He is on the third Otterbox Defender case, but the iPad is still going strong.
It is his CONSTANT companion (and I am not kidding, other than school or sleep or charging, it is always in his hands or setting nearby). It is amazing how connected to the world he has become while using it.
Anyone that knows of a special child like ours and can’t afford one can usually get help.
http://www.autism-society.org/news/funding-for-ipads.html
They are not a panacea, miracle worker, and dam sure not a baby-sitter, but they can become a ‘friend’ to a disconnected person.
My wife and I both got iPad minis and our iPad2 instantly became an unused device. We live in a small town and we suddenly had a problem with a mystery animal that was coming in through our cat door. I stumbled across a great app called “Presence” made by PeoplePower. It let me turn our iPad2 into a web cam. The best part is, it has motion detection. When it detects movement it records a short clip of video an emails it to you. It also does live stream but I just wanted to find out what it was without staying up all night.
I set it up the first night and went to bed. The next morning I had clip after clip of the two cats going in and out but the sixth one shocked me. A big ol’ raccoon waltzed in and ate ALL the cat food and then calmly left after he was done. We set up a flood right in the door and he never came back!
We also have chickens and put the iPad in the coop in the morning and it sends us clips so we know which chickens laid that day. Great uses for an older device!
I still have my first generation. Is anybody having troubles with Netflix stream since they have updated their format. Sometimes my iPad shuts down Netflix in the middle of programming and Netflix always shuts down after a program is finished, which is really frustrating if I want to watch the following episode.
I can’t use mine anymore because I became so frustrated with it I want to hurl it through a wall! I loved reading my books on it and playing music and surfing the web, but a year after I bought it, it would crash on me as I was trying to download books or music. EVERYTIME I am on itunes or amazon or any of my book download sites, in the middle of a download the screen crashes and it goes black. This also happens in the middle of a tv program I’m streaming from anywhere. I hate this thing and wish I would have never spent the money on it. It sits on a charger in my dining room and I play music on it sometimes but that’s about all it’s good for now. I haven’t purchased another Apple product since. Terrible company.
I feel very fortunate to have got this 1st generation IPad from my son which his Mom & I picked up for him while on holidays in NY in 2010 & it’s one of the first in Ireland. He has since progressed onto a mini laptop of some kind. Anyway I think the IPad is just brilliant for what it does, it keeps me up to date in the media, for news etc. YouTube of course & other stuff. To be frank about it, I would be lost without it, but having said that, I have to say I’m totally utterly disgusted to find you cannot update this IPad, as it’s been referred to as a dinosaur by some “knowable ? ? people in the tech world. Why should you have to throw out a Perfectely good machine simply because it’s a bit slower or unable to show something because the brains who produced this simply didn’t bother or couldnt be bothered to check to see if it was possible to update simply by allowing the owner when he/ she wishes to upgrade the machine just like you would a PC in your local store.