iPad Revealed
On Wednesday, Apple unveiled their newest product, the iPad. This oversized iPhone has all of the functions of a basic Mac, but it’s small, light and portable.
The touch-screen tablet computer is only .5 inches thick and weighs 1.5 pounds and is powered by an A4 microchip, custom-made by Apple. The most basic set-up has a wireless Wi-Fi connection and the more expensive models have a 3G wireless account with AT&T.
Apple's brightest apple, Steve Jobs, and the iPad
Essentially anything you can do with a Mac or an iTouch, you can do with an iPad. You can get on Safari and Mail, view photos and videos, access iTunes, read iBooks, view your calendar and contacts, and access almost 140,000 apps, as is explained on Apple’s overview of the product online.
The iPad's price points
Some cons of the product are that it lacks a camera and it can’t make phone calls.
Pricing starts out at a pretty reasonable $499, considering all of its features and its convenience. But it can be tricked out to the tune of $829 and a 3G account can run up to $30 per month, according to The New York Times.
"Charlie Bit Me"- still amusing on the iPad.
Although other companies have launched other tablet computers onto the market, iPad is definitely unique. If this sounds like something you’d be interested in, you’ll have to wait until March for the basic iPad to become available, and an extra month for a device with 3G access.
There was definitely a lot of buzz about iPad on campus. Questions of “have you heard about that iPad thing?” were greeted by the occasional “huhs?” but more often “you mean that giant iPhone?”
In the tech blogging communities not everyone was impressed. The blog Gizmodo made a list of 8 Things That Suck about iPad. Also a blogger for The New York Times remarked that the name reminded her of feminine hygiene products.
Either way there is no doubt that iPad will be a topic of conversation right up until it becomes available for purchase and likely long after that. Moral of the story: if you want one I recommend camping out in front your local Apple Store until March.
Steve Jobs is the best. And you gotta love the blue jeans and black turtleneck look…
I don’t think this item is necessary…we all already have i-pods, i-phones, i-touches, etc., so who needs an i-pad? It just looks like a big i-touch/small laptop to me.