Introduction

equipment_needed.eps Equipment needed: Just this book and your iPad.

skills_needed.eps Skills needed: Some curiosity about the iPad and what it can do for you.

What is the iPad?

The Apple iPad (see Figure 1) is a lightweight portable computer. It's hugely successful with people of all ages and has found plenty of fans among older computer users, many of whom may have shied away from using computers, email and the Internet in the past.

The iPad is based on a touchscreen. This means that the screen can detect when you're touching it, so you don't need any other input device. Instead of using a mouse to move a cursor around, you use your finger to select what you want on the display screen. Rather than typing on a separate keyboard, you touch the keys on a picture of a keyboard on the screen. You slide your fingers across the screen to move items around and use a host of other gestures, or finger movements, to issue commands. It's a completely different way of working and having fun. Like driving a car, it takes a little time to learn the controls; but before long you're able to control the device without even thinking about it.

Why you might want an iPad

The iPad is ideal for older and wiser computer users for a few reasons:

© Apple, Inc.

Figure 1

It includes all the software you need for using the web, ...

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