iPad™ Portable Genius

Chapter 2. How Do I Keep My iPad in Sync?

Your iPad weighs a mere pound and a half (a tiny bit more if it's got a 3G chip shoehorned inside), so it's about as portable as a portable computer can get. This inherent packability means you'll often have your trusty iPad with you when you venture out of your home or office, but (hello?) aren't you forgetting something? That's right: You were just about to waltz outside without bringing any of your data with you. Your contacts, calendars, bookmarks — not to mention your music, videos, and other media — are just sitting there on your main computer, so why not take them with you? You can if you sync some or all of that data with your iPad, as you learn in this chapter.

Connecting Your iPad to Your Computer 22

Syncing Your iPad Automatically 22

Syncing Your iPad Manually 26

Taking Syncing to a Higher Level 27

Syncing Your iPad with MobileMe 33

Connecting Your iPad to Your Computer

We're all waiting for that glorious day when our computers and devices such as our iPads can just sort of sense each other's presence and begin a digital conversation without requiring something as inelegant as a physical connection. Ugh. However, despite the fact that your fancy-schmancy iPad supports two wireless technologies — Wi-Fi (see Chapter 1) and Bluetooth (see Chapter 3) — exchanging data between the iPad and a Mac or PC requires a wired connection.

You've got ...