Two buddies are happily making sweet music with the help of the iPad 2, writes ROZANA SANI
NATASHA Adam looks at the clock in her living room and notes that it is time for practice. a violinist with the Radio Television Malaysia Orchestra (or better known as Orkes RTM), the 24-year-old has a performance with her fellow orchestra members coming up in two weeks.But instead of picking up her violin case, Natasha looks around for her 3G and WiFi 64GB iPad 2. she promptly switches it on and launches Etude, an application that displays authentic, beautifully-engraved sheet music. she scrolls and flicks through the pages and finds the song she is looking for and begins to study the score.
Prior to owning the tablet some two months ago, Natasha was not one for tech gadgets. Having a mobile phone was fine, she feels but she puts a stop to having a device always on with her 24 by 7 every day — until iPad 2 that is.
“When the iPad 2 launch craze was at its height in may, I became curious. People were queueing overnight for it at shopping malls and I began to wonder why. there is also a sizeable group of fellow musicians in the orchestra using Apple products such as the iPhone, iPad and MacBook. the thought of owning iPad 2 became compelling,” says the Kuching-born woman.
She promptly got one for herself and started to download apps.“I really like Musicopoulos from iOS Universal. It’s great for revision and upskilling. for musicians, it is a drilling music theory and sight reading app. Musicopoulos also includes detailed studies so that you can learn and understand the concepts and on your knowledge at your own pace. these exercises will help keep musicians like me sharp and focused.”Natasha also has a musical instrument tuner app on her tablet which comes in handy when tuning her violin. Apart from those, the communications aspect and the ease of use is fantastic, says Natasha.
“I am a copyist for the orchestra, meaning I transfer physical music sheets into the digitised format. and whenever there is a performance or recording, I am also the person who gets the music score and organises and distributes it to the respective section — whether percussions, wind or string for example. Usually the score is sent to me the night before the practice. with iPad 2 I can quickly go through the sheets and check through and organise and have it ready for printing the next day,” she explains other than music apps, Natasha finds iPad 2 very entertaining, travel friendly and helpful.“the long battery life, weight and size makes it easy to carry around. My husband drives me from Sunway to RTM in Kuala Lumpur every day. We are often caught in the traffic jam. so, I play games on the tablet while I’m being chauffeured. I also check out lifestyle apps like those on fashion, for example.”at home, Natasha turns her iPad 2 case into a stand and reads through recipes as she cooks in the kitchen.“I am three months pregnant and I have an app to track my pregnancy. before this I had an app to track my menstrual cycle. it is so convenient,” she says excitedly.she adds her iPad 2 is her personal item just like her mobile phone. “My husband needs to get his own if he wants to download apps that he likes,” she says with a grin.Natasha’s friend and colleague, flutist Jasmin Hishamuddin, also shares her enthusiasm for iPad 2. Jasmin, who never used to give two hoots about such gadgets, found it hard to ignore iPad 2’s value proposition when most of her friends and fellow musicians owned one. In fact, she is rather enamoured with the product.“there is so much that one can do. for example, with GarageBand, I can simulate a real practice with the orchestra and even record. This way, there is ample time to perfect the technique before a performance,” says the 25-year-old.Jasmin, who also teaches flute at Subang Jaya Yamaha School of Music, feels that tablets like the iPad would make a great teaching aid.“Imagine, to demonstrate to a student, you can actually download videos from Youtube during a class. I have students aged from 10 to 40. I think all students — no matter what age — will enjoy and benefit from it,” she says.and because iPad 2 has camera functions, she can also take videos of performances to show them to students to motivate them.“it is also great for being on the go. Musicians are often on the road so battery life and mobility is much appreciated. Furthermore, as we travel the iPad can also be a GPS to help us steer the roads,” she says with a twinkle in her eye.Because of the availability of easy-to-use apps for so many functions applicable in everyday life, Jasmin just loves the gadget — unlike others which she feels require users to know some level of technical know-how.“It’s just run and play — as a gadget should be. I carry mine wherever I go,” she says with a smile, adding that the iPad can fit into most, if not all of her handbags.Club for iPad fansWHEN field engineer Chua Kean Poh saw Steve Jobs presenting Apple’s tablet iPad on Youtube last year, he was sold. the 28-year-old had never owned an Apple product in his life but he found himself salivating after the tablet. so, when the American company he works for sent him to new York for training last September, he wasted no time.as soon as the plane touched down at new York’s JFK Airport, Chua zoomed to the nearest Apple store and bought one.“as a pure PC user prior to that time, the iPad was my first Apple device and using it was not easy at the beginning, especially in synchronising my photos to the iPad from my notebook running Windows Operating system. I had to search for answers from the Internet and attend to iPad Introductory Class in the Apple Store to familiarise myself to the iPad way of doing things,” he says.“after that, my love for the device blossomed. it was for everything the iPad does for me, from the way I browse the Internet and check emails, the way I look at my pictures on the iPad, the way I started playing electronic games again to the way I discover and download Apps that are useful to me with just a few taps. it totally changed the way I do things. I read more, browse more, discover more and even play more. the iPad is an amazing device. I have even bought another iPad for my dad,” he says enthusiastically.When the first generation of iPad was launched here in November last year, Chua knew that there was a need for new users to get help in discovering the magic of their iPad. “I wanted to create a local community where iPad users share their passion, discovery and news, updates about the iPad they own, to make the iPad experience even more magical.”On Dec 19, Chua founded iPad Club Malaysia with the establishment of the club’s facebook page.“there were less than 200 members prior to the launch of iPad 2 on April 29. When iPad 2 craze started here, club membership quadrupled. People were searching for apps and accessories recommendations, updates and help on how to use their newly bought iPad. the iPad Club Malaysia recorded 1,000 members in early June and I knew I needed help from the members.”a total of 10 administrators were selected at first to help answer the questions posted by members.“to date, we have five page administrators to support the members and the club currently has 1,415 members,” says Chua.the club is currently running purely on the Facebook Page where iPad related news, updates, tips and advice are constantly shared among the members, although there are plans to get it to a website forum platform where members can share their iPad related stuff and communicate more effectively. Topics on iPad, iOS and Apple related news, updates, apps and games as well as accessories, tricks and tips make the bulk of the discussion.“iPad changed the way we do things. now, we can ‘watch’ a newspaper, ‘listen’ to a magazine, ‘see’ a phone call, ‘hold’ an entire bookstore, ‘draw’ without a pencil and ‘touch’ the Internet. so in a way, the iPad has changed our lifestyle.”Chua feels that the iPad is in a totally different category from notebook computers. “it is more portable than a notebook and, therefore, we do things differently with an iPad. for example, people draw, create music, read an e-book/e-newspaper, browse the Internet and update their social networking status when they are lying on the bed, travelling, or even eating. You don’t usually do that with your notebook. However, there are also things that the iPad was not designed for that a notebook can do better, such as programming, running program simulations, typing long documents and running custom software. the iPad and notebook are meant for different purposes.”Asked on whether iPad users are said to take more pride in the appearance of their devices, Chua says this is not entirely true. “as an iPad user, I take pride in how the iPad changed and help the way I do things, not the appearance. Most of the users accessorise their iPad to protect it. the most popular accessory is the iPad case. Many members have asked for recommendations for the best iPad case in the market. I believe almost all iPad users have a case to protect their device from scratches and dents. some people also apply screen protectors to prevent scratches or smudges. However, I have to admit that some would buy and install iPad skins or sleeves to make their iPad standout from the rest,” he says with a smile.so is iPad for the fashionable? “iPad can be fashionable but I see it more as a gadget that changes our lifestyle. it is definitely not a must-have but it is a must-have for gadget geeks or people like me who believe in changing our lifestyle with technological advancement,” says Chua.iPad Club Malaysia had conducted a teh-tarik gathering session in may 2011 and is looking forward to conducting more such sessions. for information, email