When I worked in Bangkok, I spent many hours hanging out with my friend Tic. We had shared interests, poetry gadgets, charity work computer gaming, fine art appreciation women and wine tasting drinking.
We’d sit and drink beer, eye up potential babes, and never make a move. We consumed the latest gadgets for a week or so, before moving on to the latest new thing. For a while we were seriously into radio controlled car racing and ran a monster race track in my condo, much to the annoyance of my maid.
I retired, he moved to Kuala Lumpur and then Singapore; but we have always stayed in touch and we meet up when we can. On Friday he came down to Pattaya and, given our previous exploits, it seemed appropriate that we should descend upon NanoTrax and race model cars for an hour or so. The plan was that Tic would rent a car and have a quick play. Five hours later we staggered out, red eyed and exhausted, with Tic having joined the club, bought a car and completed a couple of hundred laps. How did that happen? We have a knack of generating enthusiasm in each other, usually with expensive results.
Next stop was a trip to have a look at the new Macbooks given that Tic was in the market for a laptop. Not surprisingly, the local shops had no stock, so we came home to relax for a while. Then he started looking at some videos about the iPad….
This might serve me better than a laptop.
Yes it might.
But they are not released in Thailand yet.
They have them in MBK.
I suppose I could head back to Bangkok early tomorrow and get one.
Yes you could and yes you should. You know you want one.
And so off he went, and I smugly calculated the amount of money I had made him spend in a couple of days. But he was planning revenge and the call came from MBK.
I have mine, it is lovely.
Good for you.
Shall I pick one up for you?
No thanks.
Yes I want one. But I plan to wait until they are officially released. It’s a shame that the release to some countries has just been delayed for a month; which means that availability in Thailand could be several months away. A shame, but why should I pay 4-5,000 baht extra, just for someone to bring it all the way from the USA, bribe it through customs and put it on sale in MBK? Actually, that doesn’t seem such a bad deal…
Are you sure you don’t want me to get you one? You know you want one. Oh, OK, buy me an iPad.
I shouldn’t hang out with Tic too often, it always turns out to be expensive; for both of us.
Comments 🔗
2010-04-17| Craig saysSo?
TELL ME MAN
DOES IT ROCK?
2010-04-17| Spike saysShort review: Yes
Partial review: Un-fucking-believable.
Full review: To follow
2010-04-17| Lloyd saysI have had an iPad since April 6th as a work friend sent one over whilst I was in hospital. Sadly after the initial excitement wore of I started to get bored with it and now it has sat unused in my room, even my friends have lost interest.
But then again I’m not an Apple fanboy and appreciate being able to do whatever I want and dont consider downloading crap apps or games as being much fun.
2010-04-17| Mr. Sniffy saysI got mine on the day of release. Not much into games, but I do consume movies, books, magazines and spend a load of time on the Internet. Doing all this on the iPad, from the comfort of my sofa, using my fingers rather than a stupid mouse, on a bright responsive screen, on a thing which is really fast, cool running and goes all day without a charge, well I am really enjoying it. Not sure what an Apple fanboy is, but this is my first Apple product so I assume I am not one. Enjoy yours Spike, it is amazing! Lloyd, you seem a little grumpy, lighten up!
2010-04-17| roman169 saysHow much you paid for it? Please let me know.@Lloyd: Wanna sell?
2010-04-17| Lloyd saysNothing grumpy here just an honest opinion from someone who enjoys my time outdoors, quality time with my wife away from the web and living life more than sitting around browsing the web and playing with mundane apps.
I purchased several books through a friends account and although I enjoyed the animated actions of page turning I found holding it whilst lying down in bed was awkward and cumbersome and ultimately it lacked the feeling and smell of buying and holding a new paperback, I also enjoy being able to buy and exchange second hand paperbacks as I can here in Phuket.
2010-04-17| Qon sayssounds cool but… it does sound like it would be a bit awkward and arthritis aggravating having to hold it in one hand the entire time its in use. i’ll borrow spike’s for about 5 mins. well, maybe 3-4 weeks after i get the motivation to actually use it :-P
2010-04-17| Spike saysRoman, 23.5 k Qon, you know where you put lap dancers? Same place for the iPad. You can borrow it once you have finished with my camera…..
2010-04-17| roman169 saysThanks. Cheaper than in HK. Just in love with my IMac - what a difference to PC with XP.
2010-04-18| fox2night says
2010-04-18| Spike saysMy stupid cats just sat on the box.
2010-04-18| Billy saysLloyd, know what you mean about the smeall of a new book .. and the electronic version just don’t hack it .. until now … go to the apps store and type in iSmell … you will be surprised!!
2010-04-18| Lloyd saysNumber one selling app in Italy, read the negative comments from people wondering why it doesn’t work, these are probably amongst the first iPad buyers… http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/hand-heater-free/id359936176?mt=8
2010-04-18| Spike saysSo you are saying iPad buyers are idiots. But I bought an iPad. So….. oh I see; well, thanks Lloyd.
I just wish I was one of the technical cognoscenti like you and could then acquire the “right” things. Sadly, I just buy stuff that works for me. What a dick I am.
2010-04-20| Martin the rabbit saysI just got one. It is amazing. Best gadget ever.
2010-05-16| kids socks wholesale sayshi,really damn good apple,do you know where i can find that damn good.thanks,Vox
2010-05-17| Spike saysDamn. Yes I do. You need to visit MBK in Bangkok. It is currently closed, but if you stand outside with a T-shirt bearing the slogan “Damn, I dare you to shoot me mofo”, I am sure you will be served. Damn.