Yesterday, January 27, Steve Jobs announced the new iPad. (Image souce: Justin Sullivan, Getty Images, via USA Today) Needless to say, this sparked lots of reader commentary, on twitter, on blogs, and in comments to online articles. A lot of people were enthusiastic (the entry level $499 price tag was a nice surprise!), but a lot of people were either disappointed or hostile.
Except for the price being somewhat lower than I expected ($600), it is not a really surprising machine, but it is a very nice one.
What we learned:
1. the iPad is not a phone. no mike, no speaker, no camera, no phone company contract.
2. the iPad is not a computer. no keyboard, no mouse, no disk, no CD, no USB, no SD slot, no windows.
3. the iPad is a memory appliance. wifi, pay as you go 3d data, bing, google, wikipedia, youtube ... amazon, itunes, iphoto, ibook(store) ...
4. the iPad is an eBook. it is not a digital book, yet.
What we didn't learn:
1. A lot of folks are scared about "but how can i multitask?" ... "how can i do video conferencing" ... i suspect that lqck of these features actually help sell the device. This lack may make us realize that "multitasking" is something we really don't want to do ... expecially in the "reader" modes of use. Though from the reactions, it may be that there is a wide audience that doesn't understand what "multitasking" means in the realm of the iPod and iPhone.
2. A lot of people really wanted a "table computer", rather than a new category of device. It will be fun to watch what the Android and Windows markets come up with.
On the side:
1. The iPad sports a custom chip, called the A4.
2. The pay-as-you-go option for AT&T comes across as a nice surprise. (The fact that it also comes with "Free ATT wifi" (your milage may vary), is also nice.)
Image source: http://content.usatoday.com/communities/technologylive/post/2010/01/live-from-apples-event-in-san-francisco/1?csp=hf
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