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Well, the Apple is finally out of the bag today as the mythical "iPad" is unveiled. But did the public receive the news as Steve intended? Was the "shock" good, bad, or ugly? Perhaps it's too early to tell whether the iPad will be a success or failure because time is needed to see how things look when the dust settles. But, it's not too early to discuss first impressions... so here's the 'skinny' on the iPad.
+3
The Good:
-It's thin and light... only 1.5 pounds, 10 inch screen, and only .5 inches thick.
-LED back-lit Multi-touch screen & long battery life (10 hours estimated)
-Built-in Wifi, and 3G enabled (with a compatible sim card)
-Runs most ipod touch/iphone apps, built-in bluetooth
-Built-in Speakers, Microphone, headphone jack, mp3 and video functions
-The price is lower than expected, starting at $499
-External keyboard compatible
The Bad:
-No wide-screen display (despite what the Apple website says, 1024-by-768 is NOT wide-screen)
-Internal Battery, and having to use a dock connector to charge.
-1Ghz processor is pretty underpowered these days.
-No DVD, CD, or Blu-ray drive.
-No HDMI output
-No Camera (means no photo or video capture)
The Ugly:
-The iPad does not run a full operating system... it runs apps, like the iPod Touch & iPhone.
-It's dependence on custom hardware accessories like camera connection kit, video output adapters...etc.
The Roundup:
Ok, I'm just going to say it. Ready? Here it goes: While I think that the iPad can serve many functions, I believe that it's pretty much just a large iPod Touch. I'm sure that many will try to dispute this fact, but if you really stand back and look at all of it's features (runs apps, internal battery, needs to be docked to another computer to upload/download data...etc) I think you'd agree. This isn't necessarily a bad thing... but I think that most people expected it to be a standalone computer that could run the Apple OS and compete against other Laptops. It's dependence on being able to just run apps hinders it's ability to reach it's full potential. Sure, there are apps out there to do office work (iWork) and other useful stuff, but then the iPad is also limited by it's 1Ghz CPU. Any way you look at it, it's just not as powerful or useful as a full fledged computer. It's more like another fun "toy" to play games and kill time with. With that said, if you already own a pod Touch or phone... is there really enough of a reason to get this thing? I'll leave that up to you to decide. As for me, I find it a little bit disappointing (just saying!).
One thing is for sure though, the low introductory price for the wifi only version of the iPad ($499) will definitely set the standard for tablet pc prices... and that's a very good thing indeed. It means that if competitors want to successfully sell similar products, they may have to sell theirs for even less. Whatever the outcome (success or failure), Apple has changed the market of touch-screen tablet devices forever.
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review by TeamAWAC.
January 30, 2010
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November 24, 2010
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Ok, Steve Jobs woke me up for this... I was already on the way to bed and man, the man launches an iPad? iPad?! Seriously? What's the date? Jan. 27? Why Jan. 27? Revolutionary? Well, I'm sure it's revolutionary... well, at least the way I've to relearn to type! I can type pretty fast on the keyboard now, I don't think he demonstrated how fast someone could type on an iPad! I hope it won't be a major source of frustration! We are supposed to be ready … more
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About the reviewer
Duc Truong (dtruong)
I'm a man with many hobbies. I work a full-time job in the field of 'Lyophilization' for a small Pharmacuetical company. It's a dream job because it gives me lots of days off to pursue … more
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About this product
The iPad is a tablet computing device product from Apple Inc. The device was announced on January 27, 2010, at a press conference at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco. The device was rumored for several months, with iSlate and iTablet among rumored names.
The device is expected to incorporate a 10-inch (26 centimeter) multi-touch display made by Innolux, a subsidiary of Foxconn. The price is expected to be more than the iPhone but less than an Apple notebook computer.
The iPad's lowest grade model with a 16GB hard drive will run for $499 dollars with the 32 GB running for $599 and the 64GB running at $699. Buyers will also have the opportunity to purchase the iPad with 3G connectivity with the lowest grade model starting at $629 and going up. The Wi-Fi models will ship in late March while the 3G models will ship in April.
Yair Reiner claims the iSlate will compete in the market against dedicated e-book devices such as the Barnes & Noble nook and the Amazon Kindle while offering 70% of revenue to publishers, the same arrangement accorded developers of the App Store. These arrangements would also extend to print publishers who currently receive less in digital work royalties from companies like Amazon.com.
Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISlate
Technology, Electronics, Computers, Gadgets, Apple, Tech, Ipad, Tablet Pc, Apple Computer, Touchscreen, Tablet Pcs
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Overall though, I'm interested to see if they adapt this to be used by graphic designers in the place of a graphics tablet and computer - it could really cut out a step for them.
I'm waiting to see how this product evolves..I'm sure once people actually buy it and have it we will have a better understanding of what it's good for!
Thanks for the review!
In my iPhone 3GS review, I quoted a thinkgeek tweet, which said, "Today in Geek History: In 2001, Apple presents $400 5 gig iPod; RIAA calls it fad & majestically backflips into pool of cds". I think people are being too harsh on the iPad as they were the iPod when it first came out, and look at iPods now. I bet the iPad is going through the same thing and that it will be a success.
I don't know much about the eReaders, but can you not read books on a regular computer?