iPad 2: The Cover's the Story...

Apple is the go-to example for usable innovation these days, so I'd be remiss if I didn't do one post on the iPad 2. Well, here it is - kinda. See, the iPad 2 itself isn't really any different - it's thinner, lighter, faster, has a couple of cameras, blah blah blah, but that's incremental improvement on the same thing. Ah, but the cover! That's the story. Instead of the shabby-looking black cloak that hid the iPad 1, the new cover is a nice piece of usable innovation: magnetic attachment for quick-on, quick-off swaps! Instant-wakeup when you peel the cover away! Origami-like folding for angled support! It's good stuff - and yet, it's already been beaten at its own game. Miniot is offering a real-wood cover that, by my count, increases the number of stand positions by at least two, keeps a lower profile on the left edge of the device, and looks damn good doing it. Check out the video to see it perform its acrobatics.