送給iPad愛好者的最好節日禮品大綱

This is shaping up to be a big holiday season for iPads. Apple’s selection of tablets has improved dramatically with this Fall’s offerings, and that means that your giftees will be looking for accessories to make their iPads more enjoyable. Two outstanding products have crossed my radar recently that each improve your tablet experience, but in very different ways.
這正在變成iPad的盛大購物節。隨着今年秋季發佈新品，蘋果（Apple）提供的平板電腦選擇大幅增加。這意味着，你的送禮對象將去尋找各種配件，以讓他們的iPad更加多彩。最近，兩款優秀的產品進入了我的視野，它們都能提升你的平板電腦使用體驗，但方法大相徑庭。

Among other things, the iPad is a great device for consuming content. Whether ebooks, movies or web content, the scale and hand-appeal of the iPads makes the reading and viewing experience more intimate and personal. But holding an iPad in an optimal position for reading or viewing for a sustained period of time is not so easy. So here we have this sleek, modern appliance that we prop up on our laps in haphazard ways. Enter Flote, the fully adjustable, ergonometric iPad stand. Flote started as a Kickstarter campaign and offers a desktop stand ($219.99) and an M2 floor stand ($299.99.) I have not used the desktop stand, but I have been demoing the floor stand for the last couple of weeks and I can report that it makes the reading process incredibly enjoyable. The responsiveness that you feel in terms of being able to adjust the exact position and angle is appropriate to the responsiveness of the iPad itself. It is also an attractive and modern accessory that fits well with most decor. It is extremely sturdy to the point of feeling a bit overbuilt for the weight of the device suspended, but the overall user experience is of well-built solidity and graceful movement.
我還沒用過桌面的那款，但在過去數週一直在使用落地支架，我可以報告說，它讓閱讀過程變得非常愉快。在將支架調節到自己期望的位置和角度方面，Flote帶給你的響應性跟iPad本身的響應性相得益彰。它同樣是一款具有吸引力的現代化配件，能夠很好地跟大多數家居裝飾進行搭配。Flote非常堅固，以至於讓人覺得這款裝置相對於其支撐的設備的重量來說顯得用力過度，但整體的使用體驗很好，精緻可靠，而且能夠順暢地移動。

Since the iPad’s other great ability is as a device for creating content, I can report that the Flote is also very useful as an iPad camera stand. I really enjoy the resemblance of the iPad to the ground glass of a traditional view camera and like to use it to shoot still life objects. The Flote has a little wobble, and is a little heavy to move about, but allows very spontaneous camera adjustment. The virtue of the iPad as a camera is that you have such detailed feedback of what your actual image looks like, and being super-responsive about the position while avoiding the camera shake potential of hand held is a big plus. One word of warning for using the Flote for the iPad in portrait orientation while perpendicular to the floor: the spring-mounted clamp that holds the device holds it from the longer sides, so there is some danger of slippage in that precise position. Best to remove the iPad between uses or merely turn it parallel to the floor.
iPad的另一大功能是作爲一款內容創作設備，基於這一點，我可以報告說，Flote同樣也是一款非常實用的iPad相機支架。iPad跟傳統大畫幅相機的取景屏很相似，我真的很欣賞這一點，並喜歡用它來拍攝靜物。Flote移動的時候有一點搖晃，而且還有點重，但可讓你很輕鬆地對相機進行調整。作爲相機，iPad的優點在於，你可以看到實際圖像的詳盡細節，而且響應性超好，同時避免了手持相機的抖動。對於縱向垂直於地面使用iPad的情況，這裏有一個警告：Flote的彈簧夾夾住的是較長的兩側，因此這種位置的iPad可能會有滑落的危險。不使用的時候，最好把iPad從Flote上拿下來，或是將iPad與地面平行放置。

Update: In response to my concern about the possible slippage, Flote founder David Cutler tells me that “we are also designing a new piece to replace the four cushions, which tend to slide over time due to the adhesive. These will be little rubber tips that will slide over the Cradle’s ‘finger’, also giving the Cradle a more secure grip even on the Air. Once manufactured, we’ll be sending them out to all of our existing customers as well.”
更新：我談到了iPad可能從Flote上滑落的問題，作爲迴應，該公司創始人大衛·卡特勒（David Cutler）告訴我：“我們也在設計研發新產品，以替換那4個彈性襯墊，因爲黏合劑的關係，它們會隨着時間的推移而鬆脫。新產品將採用小巧的橡膠頭，它們可以在夾具的“指頭”上滑動，讓夾具更穩固地夾住iPad，甚至是iPad Air。一旦生產出來，我們將把它們寄送給所有的現有客戶。”

And speaking of the iPad as a content creation tool, 53, the maker of the amazing Paper drawing app for the iPad has just come out with Pencil, the companion stylus for Paper. Pencil comes in Walnut ($59.95) and a Graphite colored brushed aluminum ($49.95) and gives you even more control of your line with Paper. When paired via Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) with your iPad and used with Paper you get the added features of palm rejection (which allows you to rest your hand on the screen without it making a mark), erasing, and blending. It also makes a useful, non-connected stylus for any other iPad application. Pencil is a pleasure to use and is at the forefront of this missing link in the tablet ecosystem. Just because we don’t need a stylus to interact with a tablet doesn’t mean that it’s not really useful in certain circumstances. I’m expecting more such devices in the coming year, including a cloud-connected stylus from Adobe’s Project Mighty that will have the virtue of being able to interact with a wider variety of apps while managing settings and content between applications. In the meantime, I will happily use Pencil to doodle in Paper, and hopefully start using it to make drawings for my blog posts.
我期待在新的一年中看到更多這樣的配件，其中包括奧多比公司（Adobe）Project Mighty項目的雲連接手寫筆，它將能夠跟更多的應用進行交互，同時在應用間管理設置和內容。在此期間，我將很高興地使用Pencil手寫筆在Paper應用中塗鴉，並希望能夠從爲自己的博客文章畫插圖開始。