Recognizing that the iPad is more than just a computing tablet, a startling number of entrepreneurs have forged a cottage industry of sorts around innovative iPad tools. Below are three of the most compelling, all of which raised funding on
Kickstarter.
LetterMpress: If the thousands of vendors selling letterpress goods on online marketplace Etsy are any indication, the antique craft of relief printing may be surpassing even the most modern printing methods as an emerging trend. Created by designer and typographer
John Bonadies, LetterMPress is a virtual letterpress app for the iPad that allows users to arrange type with a drag-and-drop method that mirrors the real thing. Final designs can be printed directly from the app or saved as an image for importing into other apps. Using LetterMPress won’t leave ink stains on users’ hands, but it remains authentic since all letters are copied from vintage press sets, sourced from eBay and collectors’ archives.
The Cosmonaut: The iPad’s finger swiping functionality is sufficient for navigating apps and playing simple games, but for those who use the tablet for more detailed artistic endeavors, it can be clumsy. Enter the Cosmonaut, a stylus designed specifically for use with the iPad. The second Kickstarter-funded idea from
Tom Gerhardt and Dan Provost (the product designers behind iPhone tripod
the Glif), the Cosmonaut was conceived to maximize the tablet’s resemblance to a dry erase board by simulating the feel of a dry erase marker. In raising money to manufacture the tool, the duo took a page from Radiohead’s marketing playbook: the
pay-as-you-wish pricing model raised more than 2 times their goal.
Hanfree: Those who watch televisions don’t hold the sets in their lap, so why should iPad owners relinquish use of their arms in order to view a movie? Inspired in part by a photo of a hospital patient using an iPad fixed overhead while in recovery, the
Hanfree is a mountable, flexible arm, with 360 degrees rotation, that fits securely on the iPad. Not only does it afford iPad owners more freedom by allowing them to position the device at the level most comfortable for them, but it also eliminates the possibility that they’ll fall asleep snuggling their tablet instead of their mate.
