Apple launches the iPad

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By Matt Miller, January 28th, 2010

Well, it’s finally here:

http://www.apple.com/ipad/

To my untrained eye, it looks like a giant iPod Touch. So you would need a pretty big pocket to put it in. Or would you have to lug it around in your bag?

Would you replace your laptop/notebook/netbook with something this size? Or is it a new class of product completely? The price point is pretty sweet.

What do you guys think? Would you buy one?

Posted in Technology | 10 Comments »

10 Responses to “Apple launches the iPad”

Rod Drury
20:13, 28.01.2010

At first I was really disappointed. Clearly a version 1 product with some big misses and a massive bevel. The main omission as a great web browser is Flash support (for playing club penguin of course).

Then I watched the video and can see where it would be useful sitting on the couch surfing the web and doing occasional stuff.

Without a stylus it can’t be a great business device. If it allowed easy taking of notes like OneNote that would be great as you could leave your A4 pad behind. Perhaps using 3rd party apps like ‘Things’ – you could at least type in actions to process later.

It looks like it could work as the sole emailing, web browsing device for a non technical person. especially with the keyboard dock.

As an eReader I’m not sure an LCD screen would work. But as Kindles aren’t in NZ yet we have few options.

I’ll probably get one but the version 2 one will be way better. Also expect iPhone OS4.0 in a few months that might have a few surprises.

Not as cool as I hoped. Will get one anyway.
Chris Heath
21:01, 28.01.2010

It runs the Apple iWork suite (Pages, Numbers & Keynote) which makes it compatible with Microsoft Office files.

Even without iWork, the Mail app will display all the standard attachments, e.g., PDF and MS Office files.

Add a keyboard (sold separately) and it can be used as a lite desktop computer at home or even work, in which case I’d want to add a mouse with this configuration, e.g., for vector drawing.

If I hadn’t already invested in a Macbook, I’d buy one. The calendar app looks like a great improvement on iCal. I use iCal on both computers, but still find a paper diary essential. With the iPad, I’d ditch the diary altogether.

Rod – I don’t know if you would have to wait for version 2. I still have the first generation iPod Touch. Even though it did not come with much in the way of apps back then, it runs pretty much everything now. Yes – there are some exceptions, but with each new release of the operating system, it gets pretty much the same boost in functionality as the latest generation iPod.

No doubt, the second generation iPad may be faster and have more capacity, but the iPad v1 will probably run all the same apps as iPad v2 anyway.
Dave Smith
07:50, 29.01.2010

Here we go – camera and other missing functionality appear to be on there way in model 2. http://bit.ly/ajG0PE
To quote RWW….
Although one day after the product’s announcement may be too soon to discuss what’s coming in the next version of the iPad, we’ve already come across several reasons to wait…and some of those reasons are hidden away in the new iPad SDK (software development kit) itself.
Rod Drury
11:24, 29.01.2010

The iPad clearly overlaps the functionality of the iPhone and MacBook, but this article points to a very important distinction between the iPhone approach and a PC type approach ….

http://gizmodo.com/5452501/the-apple-tablet-interface-must-be-like-this

The iPhone is … a morphing machine that could do any task using any specialized interface. Every time you launch an app, the machine transforms into a new device, showing a graphical representation of its interface. There are specialized buttons for taking pictures, and gestures to navigate through them. Want to change a song? Just click the “next” button. There are keys to press phone numbers, and software keyboards to type short messages, chat, email or tweet. The iPhone could take all these personalities, and be successful in all of them.

When it came out, people instantly got this concept. Clicking icons transformed their new gadget into a dozen different gadgets. Then, when the app store appeared, their device was able to morph into an unlimited number of devices, each serving one task.

Scaling that experience up to a Netbook size device can dramatically simply computing for the masses. Even the file system is hidden.
Dave Smith
12:31, 29.01.2010

to quote Harold Jarche “web 2.0 created the Read/Write economy, so why are Apple, Amazon, HP shoving Read-Only down our throats? Old money ”

you can follow him on twitter http://Twitter@hjarche
Arron Edwards
13:43, 29.01.2010

I’d say it’s a unique product on it’s own. We are already dreaming up new apps that would really fit it’s size, battery life, and connectivity. Stock control/ordering comes to mind initially, but the bigger form factor would allow lots of new things the iPhone just didn’t have the space for.

We’ve downloaded the new SDK, so hope to start developing some prototype apps in the coming month or two.

Version 2 should be interesting, I don’t think I’d really want a phone function, but maybe a USB port, or access to some kind of file system.
Aaron Harding
07:07, 30.01.2010

May this will shed some light on some of the key benefits
Aaron Harding
07:08, 30.01.2010

An now the link…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFNQE_TzQNI&feature=player_embedded
Chris Heath
23:44, 20.03.2010

Watch the TV ad…

http://www.apple.com/ipad/gallery/#hardware06
Chris Heath
19:34, 30.03.2010

Watch the guided tours of the Apple iPad apps including Pages, Keynote & Numbers…

http://www.apple.com/ipad/guided-tours/