Road tested: The Apple-branded iPad case

I'm going to come right out and say it. I hate the Apple iPad case.

I thought I'd like the fact that it protects the iPad and works as a stand. I don't.

For US$39, I really thought Apple would deliver a protective case that perfectly augmented the iPad using experience. It didn't. Unfortunately, I pre-ordered my case before Victor gave the case his once over.

How do I hate the case? Let me count the ways. I hate the hard edges that constantly catch my fingers whenever I pull the case out of my handbag. I hate the folding bit that never folds back quite flat. I hate how the bottom of the case keeps me from easily putting in or pulling out the docking cable. I hate how unstable the whole thing is, especially when I try to stand it in portrait mode or in full-up landscape (rather than laying down-ish landscape) orientations.

For the $40 I paid, I was hoping for more. Or at least...better. I've tried giving the case a shot on a day to day basis, but after using it for a while I'm just giving up.

For now, I'm going back to a padded envelope--at least until more and better cases hit the market. As Mike Rose puts it, "Padded envelopes are cheap, readily available, and involve no labor." If the same-old-same-old ennui drags you down, you can apply duct tape and an Apple label to spice things up.