Six Low Tech Apple iPad Alternatives

Many people have been consumed by the desire to own Apple's latest gadget: the iPad. But, in the middle of a recession, many have had to defer the instant gratification that comes from owning the latest and greatest new Apple product. Fortunately, there are lots of low tech, low cost, alternatives to the Apple iPad. Exhaustive research has yielded my top six low-tech iPad alternatives:

1. The Tablet, the Pen, and the Pencil. If you need to collaborate with your peers and work collaboratively, then you can't beat the tablet form factor. Fortunately, the Apple iPad is only the newest tablet on the block. Your low tech iPad alternative is the paper tablet combined with two low tech stylus choices: pen and paper. Paper has been around for over 2000 years. Paper is a persistent and portable persistence mechanism that can store your important scrawlings for decades. The rich, interlaced, pressed cellulose fiber display of paper provides tactile feedback and color unmatched by the Apple iPad. To share ideas or calculations with a paper tablet, simply write or draw them and then pass your tablet to your collaborators for them to embellish your ideas. If you need to make a presentation, simply buy a bigger pad. Cost: $5.00 at your local drugstore or office supply place.

2. The Paperback Novel. Of course, the Apple iPad is really a reading machine for storing and presenting text to the avid reader. The Apple iPad does a great job of storing hundreds, even thousands, of titles and easily presenting them to the reader. Many people think the iPad is a worthy alternative to popular e-book readers like the Amazon Kindle. However, at nearly $500, the Apple iPad really shouldn't be brought into the one place most real men read: the bathroom. In contrast, the low-tech iPad alternative a paperback novel can be brought into the bathroom and used one handed. The paperback can even be placed on the bathroom floor and held open with the reader's toes. While you can leave a paperback novel next to your throne and take a hot steamy shower, an Apple iPad would most likely wilt or short circuit. Cost: $6 at your local thrift store or used book store.

3. A Text Editor. Some people consume content and some people create content. The Apple iPad doesn't come with a keyboard. In contrast, the AlphaSmart 2000 Word Processor comes is a keyboard and it doesn't offer the opportunity to re-watch movies like Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. If you want to create instead of watch, you'll need an iPad alternative with a keyboard. If you want to be productive and write your way out of any economic problem, you can do better than an Apple iPad. Cost: $40 on ebay.

4. A Harmonica. Sure, you can buy digitized music at play it on the Apple iPad for hundreds of dollars. But, you could have a more authentic experience playing a harmonica out in front of the Greyhound station. Plus, if you have a hat, complete strangers might throw money into it. This low tech Apple iPad alternative actually earns you money while you play the "I ain't got no iPad blues." Other low tech iPad music alternatives include a fife, a mouth harp, or a portable cassette player. If you want music for free, you can just listen with a radio like the Coby CX-7 AM/FM Personal Portable Radio. There was music before iTunes. Cost: $10-20 at a harmonica store.

5. A Camera. It's not enough to match the capabilities of the Apple iPad, you'll want to exceed them. The Apple iPad doesn't even have a built-in camera. If you simple choose to stick a camera in your pocket, you've vastly exceeded the capabilities of the Apple iPad. Even a simple Aries 3-in-1 digital camera can blow away the Apple iPad. Cost: $20 at your local drugstore.

6. Your Eyes, Ears, Taste buds, Nose, and Fingers. For $91, you have seen plenty of alternatives to the Apple iPad. But, you don't have to spend a lot for the ultimate multi-media experience. If you want a multi-media alternative to the iPad that touches all of your senses, all you need is to pull out the earbuds, turn off your computer, and look around at the world. You don't have to plug in, you don't need the latest technological gadget, simply go sit on a park bench and look around. Touch a tree. Feed a squirrel. Life is the ultimate alternative to the Apple iPad. Cost: Free Of course, if you want to enhance the experience, you could improve your hearing with the Listen Up Personal Sound Amplifier or see the world with the amazing clarity of HD Vision Wrap Around Sunglasses. Cost: $10-$20 from you local drugstore.

It can be tough to live without the latest high tech gadgetry. When you feel the iPad lust, remind yourself that the Apple iPad does not come with a pair of pliers or a bottle opener. In many situations, it is far less useful than a Gerber Multi-Tool. One day, an Apple iPad might be fun to own, but I'm pretty happy with my humble Acer Aspire 5515 laptop. It has a keyboard!