“The target market for the iPad isn’t as clearly defined as it is for most Apple products,” Ryan Faas writes for Computerworld. “Is it appropriate for business use? Is it a media player or e-reader? How would it be used in educational environments? Is it just an oversized iPod Touch? Exactly what needs does it meet that a smartphone or notebook can’t fulfill?”
“We won’t fully know the answer to those questions until the iPad hits the market in March or April or for a little while after it’s released,” Faas writes. “But maybe the point isn’t what the iPad is, but what it represents.”
Faas writes, “The iPad is the latest and most striking example of Apple’s use of multi-touch technology. True multi-touch capability was more concept than reality before the iPhone’s debut in 2007. In less than three years, Apple has taken that technology and baked it into every one of its product lines. After the iPhone came multi-touch trackpads on Apple’s laptops. Then, last fall, came the new magic mouse. And now it’s being used in a full tablet. With each advance, Apple rolls out new ways to interact with devices.”
“The iPad’s arrival also demonstrates Apple’s continued ability to push the envelope in other technologies, including battery life,” Fass writes. “Over the past year or so, Apple has pioneered the concept that innovative battery design can lead to better battery life and better design. Not everyone is happy about the trend toward built-in, nonreplaceable batteries, but Apple at least makes the concept seem feasible, and even desirable.”
“Finally, the iPad is proof positive that Apple has the financial resources to develop completely new products from the ground up,” Fass writes. “The fact that Apple designed and manufactured its own processor specifically for the iPad speaks volumes about the company’s vitality, even in an uncertain economy. And it bodes well for Apple’s ability to innovate in the years ahead.”
Fass writes, “All that said, I have no doubt that even if the immediate market for the iPad isn’t obvious, Apple wouldn’t have developed the device without believing it could be a vital product… So, what sweet spot is Apple aiming for?”
Full article, in which Fass looks at all of the markets to which iPad appeals (entertainment, business, education, etc.), here.
MacDailyNews Take: It’s simple really, just look at it when it’s off: iPad is a blank slate. Apple’s iPad is for moms, dads, grandparents, kids, teens, and single adults. It’s basically for humans (and some primates) ages 1-100+.
Me
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Ditto Lava!
100% me.
Me = 2. My gf is getting the wifi model to take to Europe with her in the the spring, so she doesn’t have to take her 15″ MBP. I’ll be waiting for the 3G.
For me. It is for people who use apps on a daily basis like me. You can’t utilize your apps on your Mac so this device with a larger screen is the best!!! So looking forward to it.
As new iPad specialist apps come along we will start to see just how specialist, and just how versatile this device is going to be. Its the start of tomorrows computing.
iPad is an enabling technology.
At this point in time, nobody even knows what new uses this will open.
As the product matures, it will grow and new features will be added, driven by how it is used in the real world.
C1, I’m thinking on getting just the wifi version. Most places I go have wifi, or the work I’ll be doing will allow me to transfer it to laptop days later.
Ah Lava ya beat me too it…. but me too. Can`t wait to show the off the lack of features like… oh? a REGISTRY! to the windroids at work.
Virtually everyone, as the apps come out that make interacting with computers the way it was always meant to be.
Here’s a question… will the available quality and resolution of video podcasting be raised to more than just the current levels in the iTunes Store because of this piece of hardware?
The iPad seems to be ideally sized for taking notes at meetings and conferences.
Me 2. As a power desktop user, I’ve never really been able to justify a laptop. The iPad is a perfect fit.
It is perfect. I have no desire to lug around a laptop. I find myself using the iPhone for just about everything, and the iPad is like my dream come true…….(ie: bigger, more functional iPhone)
Are you kidding?
With a conservative price like that, it must be for Republicans.
But then again, it has a liberal supply of apps, so it must be for Democrats.
Although it does offer independence from the print media, while at the same time being green to produce…..
Could this be just the item to bring all Americans together?
Nah, didn’t think so (but you never know).
explaining an Ipad to a windroid is like explaining super string theory to a house cat
except cats are cooler and will end up rubbing up against it.
I love kitties
Me!!!
@ chew,
Yeah, I enjoy it when my wife’s rubs up against me.
I spend more time web surfing on my iPod Touch than I do on my iMac. The iPad is a no brainer for me.
Okay TT,
MS will be seeing red (and maybe soon, black) while Apple is doing green while making green, and everyone else is turning green.
On my photography vacations I’ve needed a bigger screen to view my pix. I’ve needed wifi and Safari to find lodging and the like. But I’ve also wanted do this for less than the 2k needed for a decently spec’d MacBook Pro. I think this may fill the bill, . . . in several manners.
But you know, . . . if they spec out some really neat stuff in the MBPs, I may just have to do both.
I recently got an i7, after seven years of use with an MDD. I can’t believe the value wrapped up in this new machine.
I pre-ordered three iPads: one for my 1 year old daughter, 1 for my 80+ years old mother and one for myself. It will be groundbreaking for all of us.
I want iPad.
I can make Keynote presentations. Everything else is gravy!
iPad is the best experience for the 90% of the time people spend at their computers — other than computer intensive work (photoshop, movie editing, 3D modeling, animation, etc.)
I got a quad core i7 and a PowerBook Pro. I can’t wait to get my hands on my very own iPad. Yes, I join the choir. The iPad was designed for a guy like ….moi!
And one more thing. Netbooks are for neanderthals!
Architects, Engineers, Builders, Real Estate Agents, Surveyors, etc… – All get to carry all their plans around and send sketches back and forth between office, job site, car, or coffee shop. Visit a site virtually on Google Maps and see the terrain, aerial, and map views.
Imagine all the drawings in a “flat file”, all your Specs, all code books, your library of architectural books, McGraw-Hill’s Sweets, and all with search capability in an iPad with the ability to zoom in and out of details – no more concerns about what scale to draw at because the iPad is capable of infinite zoom in or out.
The 3G data paln appears to be great for occasional travelers. You can sign up for the plan, use it on your trip an, all this on the iPad itself, then cancel when you get home. If you can do this multiple times then this is very tempting.
1. Photographer out on the photo shoot
2. In the living room instead of heavy laptop or small screen iPhone
More.
Think about it, you can control your home appliances, your Apple TV, maybe soon your TV, so many possibilities.