APR 19, 2010 – 12:00AM

A couple of months ago, Apple introduced its “revolutionary” iPad, and my initial response was a resounding “Meh.”

I consider myself a bit of an Apple fanboy.

My first experience with computers came in grade school, when one of my “advanced placement” classes consisted of mini-me playing what passed for video games on an Apple IIc.

All my personal computers have been Macs, all my MP3 players Apples.

I’m not a complete Apple geek — I don’t camp out to be a first adopter; I STILL don’t have an iPhone — but I tend to appreciate the goodies that come out of Cupertino.

So when the iPad was announced, I felt a little let down.

I just didn’t get it, and, strangely, my bike love contributed to my iPad indifference.

I thought about all the places I ride and all the places I’d likely use an iPad, then I wondered just how I’d get it there. It’s easy to haul my Crackberry around and surf as I sip coffee or wait for my turn at the doctor’s office.

But the iPad’s just too dang big to lug around easily. It won’t fit in a pocket; unlike a newspaper or magazine, I can’t stuff one in the small of my back and ride comfortably. And it’s too small to warrant hauling around in a messenger bag or backpack.

So I chalked up the iPad as a rare Apple offering upon which I’d have to take an iPass.

But as the weeks passed, my resolve wavered.

I suffered through a Crackberry surf session during a particularly slow meeting and thought how much better it’d be on a big, bright screen.

I found myself shuttling between kitchen and office to follow a recipe I found online and thought how much easier it’d be to have an iPad on the counter telling me just how many cups of flour to put in my kiwi muffins.

And as I struggled to ignore some insufferable television show that seemed to captivate the rest of my family but was too lazy to get off my behind and get down to some real distraction on the real computer, I dreamed of being able to while away my time on an iPad as the televised inanities rolled.

Then came the tipping point.

I happened upon the solution to the whole what-about-the-bike aspect of the iPad: A company called Maya has invented what it calls the Sprocket and Sprocket Pocket as the killer app and accessory for the bike-loving iPaddy daddy.

Sprocket is an app that cyclists can use to trigger signals — forward, left turn, right turn, stopping — that display on the iPad. The Sprocket Pocket is an industrial-strength clear vinyl pouch that allows cyclists to wear their iPads on their backs so trailing motorists can see those signals.

Genius.

Sprocket uses the iPad’s built-in accelerometer so that a cyclist can trigger the signals hands-free. Sit up for stop. Lean left or right to light the (goofy-looking) hand signal indicating a turn.

I only have a couple of beefs with Sprocket.

  1. During one recent evasive maneuver around a clueless driver backing into traffic, I sat up, leaned left, then leaned right to body-English the bike around a pothole. I reckon Sprocket would have sent an interesting string of signals to anybody behind me.
  2. I don’t hit the deck often, but I reckon one good endo and I’d be looking for a new iPad.
  3. And I ride a lot in the early-morning hours. I intentionally don’t carry a lot of money or valuables because, well, I figure I’d make a pretty easy target on my bike. Easier, at least, than in my car. I can’t imagine riding around with a $600 gizmo stuck to my back free for the taking by anybody with an accurate 2X4.

OK, so maybe the iPad and Sprocket and Sprocket Pocket aren’t the brave new world I had hoped for.

I might have to sit this revolution out.