It’s not a netbook
Apple iPad is a tablet. The reason Steve Jobs chose not to venture into netbooks is because he felt netbooks are worthless. Although I don’t totally agree but then iPad is not a netbook, it’s a tablet and it is zillion times better than any slick netbook out there. I’m not comparing the iPad with netbooks in terms of performance or computing power here, I’m talking about the package called iPad. When you buy an Apple iPad you’re not just buying a tablet, you’re buying a package with Apple goodies! Apple iPad is indeed a platform for Apple to serve content in a way that’s uber cool to access for the user.
Apps and the App Store
Steve Jobs explained in his keynote that iPad will include an App Store by default. Now it’s true that iPad will go the iPhone way (App store) here, similar to the way the iPhone went the iPod way (iTunes). In addition to the made-for-iPad apps that will evolve in the coming times there’s a whole lot of applications that are compatible with Apple iPad, about 140,000 to be precise, that you can use from day one on your Apple iPod. What’s got me more excited about apps on the iPad is that with a larger screen, iPad will serve as a platform for more powerful apps that could do a whole lot more given iPad’s capabilities. Gaming will be something to watch out for. Social networking apps will get even more useful. What not?!
It’s a Tablet dear!
Apple iPad has everything that we speculated about. Probably more than that! A 9.6 inch multi-touch LED backlit screen, accelerometer, awesome iPhone-like user interface, thin size, no wonder Apple has labeled iPad as it’s most revolutionary device. But then all of Apple’s devices are that way, isn’t it? From first glance I came to the conclusion that iPad is just a bigger, meaner version of an iPhone. But it’s certainly not, iPad is way ahead. Even in the tablet standards it is way ahead of anything I’ve seen so far! It’s even got iPod functionality! May be it’s got to do with the way Apple markets it’s products but then Apple has just started! Also Apple iPad comes with WiFi and a separate version for 3G. Of course there are no unlocking issues here since the device is sold unlocked to allow global access to 3G networks.
Who needs an e-book reader?
Sometime back I considered purchasing Amazon’s Kindle e-book reader. I thought it would be a cool way of reading e-books. Call it my good fortune that Amazon doesn’t directly sell it’s Kindle devices here in India. With Apple iPad I won’t need any separate e-book reader device. Apple has partnered with major publishers to offer one click downloads and a neat interface to read books on it’s iPad. The new iBooks store will be to books and magazine what iTunes was for music lovers. Pretty cool!
Price
Tech pundits can sometimes go wrong as well. Everyone has projected Apple iPad price to be around $600-1000. Steve Jobs left the audience gasping for breath when he revealed the price for iPad. The Apple iPad prices start from an amazing $499 for 16 MB version, $599 for 32 GB version. Both of these come with WiFi. The 64GB Apple iPad is priced at $699. The ones with 3G are slightly more expensive.
What are your views? Will you buy an Apple iPad? Please post your comments.
Article by Harry
Harry has written 407 awesome articles on HarryJerry.com.
About: ...an engineering student, a freelancer, a professional blogger, a loving lover, too shy, an Internet freak....and everything I shouldn't be.
Tags: apple tablet, hardware, ipad, launch, reasons, shopping, why buy
{ 2 trackbacks }
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
The iPad is good for watching standard resolution shows (1024×768 screen). Casual reading will be great on the iPad. Browsing the web will be nice too. I bet new apps for this device make it more desirable.
My big cons is:
1) Flash not enabled
2) Battery life 10 hours? The iPhone is spec at 9 hours. In real life my iPhone may last 3 hours browsing the web.
3) Resolution still a problem, 1024×768 is not HD or even Web standard. Most websites are set for 1280×1024 resolution now. Try setting your resolution to Apple spec see what happens.
4) No webcam. Missed opportunity for a great skype device.
5) No SD card or USB. Everything has to go through iTunes to sync. This included your own photos, mp3s and videos.
6) It’s the price tag. It might replace a netbook, it might replace a ebook reader but for only for casual reading. I could not stare at a computer screen to read an entire book and by looks of it the screen is as shiny as the iPhone so glare will be an issue. I prefer e-Ink technology or paper.
craig, do you have a mac, or iphone?
i don´t think so.
“In real life MY iPhone may last 3 hours browsing the web.”
I have a jailbroken iphone. That works great. The iPad is a $500 supersize version of it, not much more.
I think ipad is not worth it.. an iphone is much more portable than this.. only those people who buy kindle or other ebook readers will buy this device [aside from apple fanboys ofcourse].. if it was a tablet, it, at the very least should have had multitasking, and a usb port…
Battery life of 10 hours with WiFi usage is pretty decent. Come on it’s a tiny little tablet!
As far as multi-tasking, ports etc. are concerned it’s not a full blown PC we’re taking about here, that’s the reason for having a tablet. It’s between a smartphone and a computer. Of course it can’t run the whole world. Quite confined to it’s tablet space.
“Battery life of 10 hours with WiFi usage is pretty decent. Come on it’s a tiny little tablet! ”
If it gets 10 hours that’s awesome. But what I’m trying say I think you will be lucky if you achieve that. From Apple’s batter usage rating the iPhone is rated 9 hours for browsing the web. I would be lucky to get 3 hours doing that in real life on an iPhone.