This weekend was not conducive to the production of words. If I wasn’t out of the house doing things, I was home mesmerized by my new iPad Mini, or asleep. This afternoon I turned on Pandora, listened to the start of one song, and the next thing I knew I was listening to something else and scrolling back, realizing that I had slept through at least 18 songs.

I’m sitting here right now typing on my MacBook Air, with my new iPad sitting next to me. Mark thought maybe I needed another device, and I suppose I could go get my phone, and have a gadget trifecta going on.

Do I need an iPad Mini? Does anyone? Does my life depend on having an iPad Mini or a Smartphone, or a laptop, or even a desktop? Of course not. I spent a week in the Grand Canyon with absolutely no electronics, and not only did I survive, I didn’t really miss them all that much.

But, I like living in the future. I like being able to look up the answers to the random questions that come up at the supper table, or to see pictures of my nieces and nephews that live hundreds (thousands…) of miles away. I like banking and shopping and paying my bills online. I like reading things and watching videos and learning about the interesting things that people are doing around the world.

Currently my roster of devices include:

1. An iMac. OK, this is technically a DEAD iMac at the moment, but I will replace it, because I will not give up the full size of a desktop monitor for photography and other content creation.
2. A MacBook Air. As much as I like this, it is not a replacement for the desktop. I am a big fan of the GINORMOUS monitor, and there’s just not enough screen real estate on the laptop for some of the things I liked to do. Having said that, I do like having the option of something portable with a keyboard that is comfortable to use.
3. A Samsung Mesmerize phone. The only reason I don’t have an iPhone is because US Cellular doesn’t offer them, and seemingly has no plans to do so in the future. Verizon is an option, but their service is more expensive, and their coverage in my area isn’t as good as US Cellular. Having said that, I’m not UNhappy with my Android based phone. It does the job, and I *adore* having the Internet with me wherever I go. I use my Smartphone All. The. Time.
4. I used to have an iPod Touch, but I dropped it in the dog’s water dish. My sister sent me her old iPhone, which I used as an iPod. I haven’t used it much lately, partly because the boys borrowed it, and I wasn’t sure where it was.
5. A Nook Simple Touch. I had a first generation Nook that Mark is now using. I like the reading on the e-ink display, and the Nook has worked well for me. The drawback of the e-ink, of course, is that you can’t read it in the dark. Of course, shortly after I got mine, they came out with the glowing Nooks. I use my Nook to read books that I purchase from Barnes and Noble, and I can also read e-books from my library.
6. An iPad Mini. I have wanted an iPad for a long time, but was never able to justify it. I’m not even really sure I can justify the fact that I got one, but I succumbed to my inner 12 year old who wanted one, pretty please, because it’s shiny, and I’m a good girl.

So, what do I like about it?

1. Well, yes. It’s shiny. I won’t deny the “gee whiz, it’s really cool factor at work.”
2. I am very happy with the size. I’ve always thought that cellphones were too small and the iPad was a little too big. This is nearly perfect for reading books, watching videos, playing games, consuming blog posts, news articles, etc, etc, etc. Even in the case I bought for it, I can very easily hold it in one hand.
3. It’s also got an awful lot of really nice apps. And I’m not just talking about Angry Birds.
4. I just downloaded the OverDrive Media Console, which let me access my library’s audiobook/ebook collection, so now I can download said items DIRECTLY to my device. (Before, I downloaded to my computer, then transferred to my Nook.)
5. It just works. There’s my music. There are my apps (and all of the 50 million free games the boys downloaded to their iPods. Good grief. I had no idea…). Well, it works except for when I can’t remember which password I used for which account, but that’s an age thing, not a device thing.