The iPad Case might be the unsung hero of the iPad launch

I have to admit that I was feeling some serious buyers remorse after picking up the official iPad Case at the Apple store the Monday after it was released. The first thing I realized was how thin it and flexible it was. From the pictures, I thought it would be more like a hard 3 ring notebook binder that would allow it to stand up in landscape or vertical mode. (iPad Case photo gallery)

When I put the iPad into the case, it wobbled and made me nervous it might fall over and crack the screen. I asked an Apple Store employee for help but he wasn’t sure, a lot of them weren’t sure. When he returned from the back room, he said we had it properly inserted and it just needed to break in a little bit.

As I left the store holding it, I immediately noticed a difference. Instead of feeling like I had an expensive iPad that could break at any minute in my hand, I felt like I was carrying a thin hard cover book. There are also ridges around the edges that give it some shock resistance if you bang a table or it should drop. The material is a microfiber that feels very comfortable in your hand. It does get a little dirty but you can wipe it clean with ease. 

Within the first 48 hours of using the case in my daily life, I was hooked and convinced that it makes the iPad much more comfortable to carry around and use in various situations.

Even if I’m watching a video, I can move throughout the house with ease carrying it with one hand and setting it down in various places. I would be much more concerned about doing this without the case on it.

I’ll say right up front, the iPad is the ultimate bathroom device. No matter what you’re doing, it has a place. For guys you can lay it on the tank while standing up and the elevated landscape mode makes it easy to keep an eye on the video while you do your business. Sitting down it’s a lot more comfortable than having a hot laptop on your knees.

In the kitchen it does great next to the stove while cooking something you found in the Epicurious app. Or sit it on the window sill while you fill/empty the dishwasher.

My favorite use of the iPad is in bed. I happened to have this fantastic tray table that lets the base slide under your sofa or bed allowing the table top part to hover over your bed. Sit the iPad on that in either mode and you’ve got a display that practically floats in front of your eyes while laying down. When you view a video that close it really can feel like a gigantic screen because of your proximity to it.

Overall I find the iPad case to be absolutely necessary if you’re the kind person that will be using it around your house alot. The ability to keep the back from getting scratched when you lay it down, and the somewhat beneficial shock absorber tabs around the edges are just a bonus on top of the ability to stand it in landscape mode or lay it down with a raised edge.

At $39.99 the iPad Case from Apple is definitely App A Day Approved!