★ “The Smart Cover, a few months in”

via Marco Arment:

 In practice, I find that I’m overly paranoid about it getting scratched by grit on flat surfaces, such as a grain of sand on a table, so I don’t feel comfortable setting it down on most such surfaces. (And I can’t put it face-down, because then I’d scratch the Smart Cover much more easily and noticeably.) And not having the back covered means that the iPad 2 can’t share a bag pocket with anything else without a risk of being scratched.

and

The auto-unlock is nice, and I love the minimal bulk, but it seems like it wasn’t designed to stay attached while you’re holding the iPad, because there’s no great way to hold it.

and

Once I decided that folio-style cases were too bulky for my taste and the Smart Cover didn’t provide the right kind of protection, I bought WaterField Designs’iPad Smart Case (in the “pine” color).¹

It’s a very nicely made, semi-rigid slipcase. The rigidity makes it easy to slide the iPad in (since you don’t need to hold it open or stretch it out, like a floppy case), and it fits very snugly and securely. The snug fit makes the soft inner felt surfaces clean the iPad’s glass exceptionally (and uniformly): much better than the Smart Cover’s leftover lines.

A) I don’t care how scrathched or dented my iPad becomes. I’ve dropped it on concrete while running after someone who just tried to steal it (that dinged every corner). I’ve dropped it on wood and stone flooring. I’ve thrown it into my car, my bed, onto tables and slid it across dinner tables to friends who wanted to check Facebook. Friends have dropped it and I’ve spilled liquor and food on it while using it to look up recipes and drinks. The iPad is the most rugged device I’ve ever owned. Don’t worry Marco, you don’t damage it.

B) I detach the cover any time I’m about to do reading. For most cases (checking my calendar as I walk to a meeting), I just unlock and fold the cover around back (in a triangle so I can hold it). For long reading, I remove the cover entirely and LOVE holding the iPad naked.

C) Waterfield (sf-bags.com) is a fantastic bag company. I’ve visited their headquarters twice. Gary (the founder) is devoted to the case business and everything they sell is made by hand in San Francisco. Waterfield was the first company to sponsor my blog and help me go to Macworld in 2003 (yea, almost 9 years ago). I have owned over 30 of their cases (some were given to me admittedly and I still use 4 of their cases daily to hold my camera gear and cables). Marco’s endorsement of Waterfield makes me happy.

So, if you don’t like the Smart Cover, pick up the iPad Smart Case.