Apple iPad

So it’s been a few days since the iPad was introduced so I figured it was about time for me to weigh in on what will most likely be the “must have” present of Christmas 2010. 

First off a pic of the new toy that left all Apple fanboys swimming in their own pools of drool:

I have to admit, it looks really cool.  At only .5” thick and a 9.7” screen, it’s a pretty nice little tablet.  If you look a little more closely though you see exactly what this is…it’s a big iPod touch.  Yes it does have a better processor and they did revamp the iPhone/iPod touch OS a little more to add in the ability to read ebooks, which is pretty cool, but as the model stands right now, 90% of the functionality you get by shelling out the 500 bucks, which is the price for the base 16GB WiFi only model is the same you can get in a system that’s on the market today, only with a smaller screen.  I guess everyone, myself included, was hoping for something more.  Now I didn’t really think it was going to have phone functionality like some crazy people did, but I was at least hoping for a camera, be it a webcam or a regular camera, but nothing.  While this is fairly disappointing, it also fits pretty well into the normal Apple marketing scheme.  If you go back and look at the first iPhone, there was no camera and it was missing a number of features that were considered standard at the time.  As the iPhone advanced through the 3G and now the 3GS Apple has added in features to quickly bring the iPhone up to one of the more modern phones on the market.  I have a feeling this is the same approach Apple is taking with the iPad.  If you are able to hold out, at least a year, most likely, there will be a better, more advanced iPad that will be offered up at MacWorld 2011.

I think at the end of the day, the iPad could be a pretty cool product.  Basically Apple is taking a huge risk by introducing this product since it fits into its own category in between the smart phone and the modern laptop, which until now has been mostly filled with netbooks.  Will the gamble pay off, no one can say for sure.  From what I’ve heard from talking with various people, I think the iPad will do well for Apple, maybe not the first year out, but as Apple makes improvements I can see it becoming part of daily life.

Ok, that’s gonna be about it from me.  Lots more to talk about, but hopefully I’ll get a second post up tomorrow.

~C