I do love my iPad, and it’s a serious workhorse for me. But that’s not what this article is about. It’s about something far more important–the effect having an iPad has had on my mind.

The effect is Giddy Inspiration. And the cause is Great Design.

A great design doesn’t just reach out to us, offering comfort, convenience, increased productivity, and bla bla bla. No. Think about Disneyland. That is design. And what does this design inspire us to do? Act like a bunch of idiots in public is what.

And that is the essence of artistic creativity, is it not? Is it NOT??? ANSWER ME!!!!

Art can only happen when we have not only the inspiration but the courage to put something out there that might be struck down. Walking through Disneyland we are met by so many interesting ideas, so much good design, so many outlandish and interesting characters, that we find ourselves buying into the mystery, partaking in a fantasy world, talking to giant mice, and getting their signatures, singing along with a parade, and Lord Knows What.

The iPod and Disneyland share similer intensities of the quality of their design.

Maybe I’m wrong. But to me, this iPad thing is so outside-the-box that it tempts me to rise to its level of creative thinking. I’m tempted to say “it’s such a tool,” but that would be wrong. It is the kind of tool that inspires one to new levels of creativity. It gets out of your way and lets you do what you need to do, and you are still left with enough energy to explore the unnecessary.

By way of illustration, check out the dumb stuff I couldn’t help doing!!

You don’t need to buy an expensive protector for your iPad. Use packing tape and a baggie. It’s completely waterproof! The touchscreen works fine through the surface of the bag.

Here we find a rare synnergy between modern and ancient technologies. I wanted a nice stand for the iPad, but I didn’t want to pay for one. Luckily, I had this in my sound effects arsenal. For you younger folks: it’s a phone.

Gabe had just obtained a pencil sharpener with a suction-cup bottom. Notice that the table’s construction is lattice-like, and full of holes. Fortunately, we had our high-tech portable pencil sharpener base with us.

OK, all that’s kind of silly, really. But click to the next page to see photos of a hack I’m really proud of…

The mousepad is used for protective padding. Hey. You’ve got an iPad now. What do you need with a mouse pad?

And don’t worry, I’ll be showing you some nice music-making software for this thing, too. But I had to get this off my chest.

Next time!

–Fat