I wanted to stay up to watch this. But as the keynote began at 2AM local time, I was already fast asleep.
Before the announcement, one of the questions that could not be deduced was:
other than the form factor, what exactly could be so special about this device? After all it’s supposed to be revolutionary. But if it was to be a giant iPod touch running iPhoneOS, what could they make out of this combination that we cannot already speculate?
And what of input methods? virtual keyboard yes but it’s not the same as holding a palm sized device and thumbing through keys that are within easy reach. this is a 10inch device after all.
Final frontier: E-books market covered.
Software-wise, the iPad really isn’t as revolutionary as hyped, from what can be seen so far.
Having said that, Apple does say that it will ‘run almost all’ of the 140,000 apps designed for the iPhone/iPod touch. And that if you already own apps, just synch ‘em over. Which brings up a bang-on point from Steve Jobs’ keynote:
“because we’ve shipped 75 million iPhones and iPod touches, there’s 75 million people who already know how to use the iPad”
As for productivity, it’s one step up from iPhones and iPod touches because it gets an adapted version of cloud-based iWorks, available for purchase on the App Store.
So now Apple has every possible media covered, namely the ebook and the overlooked (did SJ mention this?) digital magazine market, along with music, videos, movies, apps via with this new (but possibly final- the rest will likely be ‘just’ refreshes) iPhoneOS device.
Accessories
Typing will probably be uncomfortable when the device is on its own. The iPad will come with a standard dock and will also sell a built-in keyboard dock as an extra. Apple stated it will also connect with Apple wireless keyboard via bluetooth so that’s one way to type. But really, Apple wants you to buy their iPad case as it allows resting of the device in various more-comfortable positions for typing i.e. at a 45 degree angle while placed on some flat surface. Question: how do you type comfortably and with considerable speed and accuracy when you’re on your couch with no table in sight? (guess someone will tell me to put it on my lap, WITH the iPad case)
Answer: apparently treat it as a real lifesize keyboard.
Technology and specifications
While Apple apparently got their engineers to push their lithium polymer battery, we should know that battery technology innovation is and has been relatively slow. What’s really carrying this device forward may really be their newly designed low power processor.
Thoughts
For me the main draw of the iPad is its physical size, processor and battery life. This is mostly due to me having had bad experiences and hence a dislike for any smartphones that don’t last much more than a day, including the iPhone 3GS.
While the iPad isn’t revolutionary in ways we thought it would be, or in the manner that the Apple Newton was; yet since I’m one of the 75 million installed user base, at 499USD I’d just take one any day to experience all my media and App Store apps on a beautiful 10 inch screen.
Because this is not something one can do on ANY of the competing devices.
Or just to fill that niche space between my iPod touch and my laptops of various sizes, as Steve suggested.
Specs summary:
-9.7 inches
-1Ghz Apple-developed processor
-10 hours battery life
-wifi (up to wireless N)-only or wifi with 3G, bluetooth
-will rely on App Store, as well as a new ebooks store/section ‘iBookstore’
-‘backward compatible’ with iphone apps
-USD499 for an entry level model
Competitor:
Amazon Kindle and other tablets.
