If you’re an Apple fan (or full on fanboy) our holy father, his royal Steveness has spoken from on high today. “Not since Moses came down from on high with those commandments has a tablet generated so much interest,” noted the Wall Street Journal.
Apple announces the release of the iPad today. The actual device won’t be available for another 60 days (90 days for the 3G + WiFi edition) so you’ll just have to pour over the pictures for now (or here). Prices are straight forward: $499 for the 16GB model, $599 for the 32GB model, and $699 for the 64GB model. If you want to equip any of the models with 3G connectivity (WiFi 802.11n is built into every device) then you slap $130 on any of the above prices. If you need to geek out on specs Apple has all you need.
Game changer like the iPod or iPhone…not really.
Well designed, slick, and super cool…most definitely.
Ryan Holmes moved to Dallas after graduating from Savannah College of Art and Design with a B.F.A. in computer art. The reason for the move was to attend Dallas Theological Seminary. While attending (and subsequently graduating) Dallas Seminary Ryan began working as a video editor for the Media Production department, actually putting his art degree to good use. Ryan has worked developing Dallas Seminary’s media presence for the last six years. He is also the husband to a world-renowned painter, father to two cats, lover of all things technological, and appreciator of the power of art to communicate to a fallen world. 
The only real question is: what’s the point?
I totally agree with The Dane.
Until the second generation comes out and Apple adds the obvious things that should have been in this generation (camera, usb connectivity), this is nothing more than a large iPhone that doesn’t make phone calls.
Totally disappointed that it’s running the iPhone OS. I was hoping for a iPhone/Real OS X hybrid or something completely new. Multitasking should definitely be there. Instead we get the same iPhone OS in a big shell, but “it’s really fast!” Well of course it is, it’s like a 2010 supercomputer trying to run pong.
I wanted this to become our new couch internet/email/media gadget, so I’m hoping some software enhancements are coming.
People made the same comments about the iPod/iTunes combo almost 10 years ago. Then they made the same comments again 3 years ago with the iPhone. I’m just sayin’! ;-)
I think the selling point will be once developers start unpacking the potential of the device with their apps (i.e. newspapers, magazines, television/music content, etc.). At that point the device may begin to do more than what we currently conceive, similarly to how the iPhone has grown from a “smart phone” into a full on platform. Maybe day 1 launch of the iPad won’t be a momentousness change in the industry, but give it time to work.
I agree the iPad could be an awesome thing. I can already think of about ten good uses for it. None of those, however, include reading books. Whoever first positioned the Apple tablet as an eReader was eating stupid. Magazine content, sure. Comics, totally. Novels, impossible.
I defnitely agree that the apps will make it go, but for geeks like me, the lack of multi-tasking is a big deal. That said, I think Apple’s main target here is not geeks like me. I could see everybody but geeks like me absolutely adoring the iPad. And also, what I said doesn’t mean I don’t want one.