Kickstarter spotlight: grapple
The iPad’s brushed aluminum back looks and feels great, and is certainly more durable than plastic, but let’s face it: it’s so bloody smooth that if you give the iPad a tiny push on a smooth surface, it’s going to slide for at least a few miles before stopping. That makes it hard to balance on, well, anything- and easy to drop. It’s one reason I bought the custom Gelaskin, and one reason why I bought…eh…something else that should be arriving very soon ;)
Anyways, the grapple is designed to help that. It’s more or less a custom anti-slip backing for the iPad that is designed to help it stay where you put it. I use something similar on my second edition DIY tripod stand and if the material they’re going to use for the grapple is anything like what I use for that thing, it’s not far off being able to hang vertically using only friction. It’s a great idea, and less intrusive (not to mention cheaper) than cases with handles and whatnot. Also, it should work on other tablets that are a certain size. This is a Kickstarter project though, so it won’t succeed without the backing of people like us.