I'm Supporting the Diaspora Project

If you're like me and you are concerned about Facebook's privacy problems, you might want to take a look at this new project. Nu, what are you waiting for? Be a mench toss 'em some cash if you can :)

Who Says You Can't Tether an iPad? - Or Why I want a nexusPad

I have an iPad and it's pretty good. I use it a lot at work. The iPad is really great for schlepping into meetings. It's very portable and I have easy access to my calendar, email, notes, and web browser. The on-screen keyboard is more than adequate for quick notes or emails and I can hook it up to a bluetooth keyboard for more intense typing sessions. I also like to use it for web browsing on the couch and as an ebook reader. All-in-all, I'm pretty happy with it.
Here's the one thing that really bugs me about it: Tethering. It seems like I have to be constantly tethered to my desktop in order to do anything useful. Now, I may have been spoiled by the excellent Nexus One experience. I bought the phone, put in the SIM card and battery, turned it on, entered my gmail id and password. Done! All my email started syncing, my picasa web albums were imported the the gallery app, my purchased apps were available, Google Listen started downloading my podcasts (that can be managed via Google Reader). The nexus one was immediate usable.
Not so with my iPad. I bought it and rushed back. Opened the box. Plugged it into the wall charger. Turned it on...

OY! Apple decided that my "magical" iPad would only work if I connected it to iTunes first. WTF? Steve Jobs proclaimed that this device was going to slay the evil netbook. It will not work until I connect it to a 2nd computer first! Meshuge! I connected to iTunes and got started. 

Next I decided to subscribe to a few podcasts and video podcasts. I went onto the iTunes app and looked for podcasts. Odd, I can download but can't subscribe. On iTunes on my computer, I can. So now, I have to constantly run the CPU/RAM khazer that is iTunes to keep my podcasts updated. Of course, that only keeps them updated on my desktop. I still have to tether my iPad in order to move them over. 

Same thing for iWork. I can create a document on both my desktop and my iPad. I have iwork.com to collaborate but I can't seem to get changes made on one device to sync with the other. Once again, I have to tether my iPad to my desktop and move documents through iTunes. 

Pictures and videos too. I bought a subscription to mobile me - Apple's cloud offering. I had hoped that my mobile me galleries would magically appear on my magical device. There's even a mobile me gallery app available for the iPod and iPhone. No problems right? Wrong. Again, in order to bring my photos and videos onto my iPad, I have to plug in and sync via iPhoto and iTunes.

They say that you can't tether an iPad. I say you can but not for the one thing that you'd actually want to tether for. That's why I'm waiting for a nexusPad. Google seems to get that people don't want to be tied to their computers all the time.