Links of the Week: Simplified Social Reading

I got the new iPad back in March. And up until about two weeks ago I hadn't done much with it besides use it to read and check FB or Twitter. I know - pretty lame.
Then one afternoon I decided to sit down and spend some quality time with it. I did some research online about "must have" iPad apps. And I've found two that changed everything for me.

It's no secret I like to read. That's what started my Links of the Week posts - my love of reading articles online. I have a number of blogs I follow too. I have found what I now call "the end all be all" reading app for me - Flipboard! If you have an iPad or even an iPhone/iTouch/Android and you read various newspaper articles, or are into various social medias, subscribe to blogs through an RSS feed, etc  - this is the app. There's way too much goodness for me to explain how it all works. Let me just say it took minutes for me to set up. It's super easy to share stuff you want to across FB or Twitter. I'm constantly figuring out new things to add to my Flipboard. Just go HERE and watch the video. Here is a demo of what it looks line on the phone/touch.

What my Flipboard looks like today. I love having everything in one app.

My other favorite app making my life easier is Pocket (formerly know as Read It Later). All the content I want to save or read later goes right into Pocket. I can clip articles from any device and view it on any device, including the internet on my laptop. I can save things within Flipboard to Pocket.

With these two apps, my MacBook use has really decreased over the last two weeks. I have found having things all in one place simplifies and saves time, and keeps me from getting confused about where everything is or what I have read or not read.

Here's what my Pocket looks like right now:

I guess I could make my life easier and just reduce my reading, right? Fill that time with something else? But it's a passion. What can I say? I like to be informed.

I ordered a keyboard style case for my iPad tonight. Can't wait to give that a try along with a blogging app I found. Info on those to come once I've tested them out. The keyboard case consistently ranked as #1 in all the reviews I read. I am hoping I find it easy to use. Also hoping it increases my use of Evernote, one of my other favorite multi-device apps, on my iPad.