How To Use Your iPad A simple Guide. Pt 1 I've Opened The Box, Now What?

We have all felt that excitement when we first open a new gadget, and take it out of it's box. But how many of us know exactly from the start how to use the new technology? I mean, let's face it, do you even know how to turn the thing on? No? Well join the club. There is plenty of you out there. And I am sure that if there is one thing that drives you to distraction, it is the so called instructions! I say that, purely because I don't think that I have ever been able to understand a word that they say. It's not because I am stupid, or anybody else, it is because the person who wrote the instructions knew what he was doing. He could see it in his head and he wrote it down. But we cannot see in his head! So whether we are just basic human beings, or Einsteins grandchildren, you can bet your dollar that we will get so angry with the darn things we end up throwing it, well, back in the box and dealing with it 'in the morning'.So this is for you. From opening the box, to your first tentative steps using it in any way you want to.

Good Luck.

So it's out of the box, now what? well stop and take a look at it. On the top of your iPad you will notice a small hole which is the headphone jack. next to that is the smaller hole which is your microphone. Further along you will see the:

On/Off, Sleep/Wake button: With this you just press it to turn it on, or sleep. When it is awake and not being used, it will use up the battery too quickly. I suggest that you always put it in sleep mode, or turn it off when not using it. When you want to use it, just turn it back on, or press the Home button which is situated on the front of the screen near the bottom.

Now turn it over and you will see at the other end, three short holes which are the Built in Speaker, and further along is the 30 pin dock connector.

Speaker: This may be obvious, but the speaker plays audio music and video soundtracks out loud if you don't have the headset connected.

30 pin Dock connector:This is to recharge your battery. This can also be used to connect both your iPad and your PC together. Simple. With me so far? Good. Now let's go to the sides of the iPad and of course the most important part. The front.

On the right side are the volume controls, and the screen rotation lock.

Screen rotation lock: This is a great little gadget, the iPad, it will rotate whichever way you want it to go, for example hold it up to the ceiling and turn it clockwise in your hand. See? it rotates back so that it looks even again. Brilliant. Or not. If you are reading a book on it, and you keep jigging around, I think that you will be very dizzy by the time you have got to chapter two! So it is a good idea to flip the switch down and then it will stop rotating. Whew! Thank goodness for that! Oh nearly forgot, you can always tell when the rotate switch is locked down as there will be a little orange light telling you. So before you start to go mad and scream, it's not rotating!! just look for the orange glow! There.

Volume control: The upper part of this button turns up the sound, the lower turns down the sound. Simple! nothing more to say about that!

Here we have the most important part of your gadget. These consist of three different applications.

Touchscreen:As this is the first part of learning about your iPad, just turn it on and take a look. don't touch anything just yet!

Application buttons:This consists of 13 buttons, or icons, as you can see by just looking at them, they are going to be amazing! But don't touch any yet. Are you listening to me? Yes? Good.

Home button:This does what it says on the tin, so to speak! It takes you back home, well, not home as such, it's not a car, I mean the Home Page.

Still with me? Good. Right then, now what have we got? Right, along the top of the screen is the status bar,

Airplane mode:This is pretty straight forward, and self explanatory. You can't use any wireless gadgets in an Airplane, it will mess up the computers in the cockpit and you are likely to, well, let's just say it will get a bit bumpy! But the good thing is, if your iPad has this mode, then you will be able to watch video or enjoy your music when you are flying.

3G: If Your model has this then it means in simple terms is that your iPad can connect to the Internet. It may not be called 3G it is different in the States, AT&T are just one of the data networks.

O: GBRS data network available.

E: Edge network. This says it is available to connect to the Internet.

Wi-Fi: Signal strength.

Sun shaped icon. This just shows you the activity is in action, just like the swirly thing on the computer when you keep yelling at it to WORK DAMN YOU! Oops sorry! Got carried away.

VPN: This just means you are connected to a virtual private network.

Lock: Shows you when your iPad is locked or unlocked.

Things like, bluetooth icons, screen rotating lock, and Battery are self explanatory. I hope!

Turned it on? Good. Now tap the Home Button. If you want to rearrange your buttons press and hold any icon or button and all the icons wiggle. Cool!

Then just drag them around until you are happy. Oh, and don't forget to press the Home button to make sure they stay in place. Home is not just Home it is the enter button, if you like, so treat it with respect!

I won't go through all the buttons separately to tell you what the look like, suffise to say there is the Calender, Contacts, Notes, Maps, etc. Well you can see with your own eyes!

What I will say here is that: WELL DONE! This is the end of the first part of your training, see below for the second and let's be honest here, a little bit harder. But I will keep it simple so that if I ever buy one myself I know what to do! See you Soon.

Coming soon, How to Use Your iPad pt 2. Basic Training, Just use your finger!