“Steven P. Jobs has finally introduced Apple’s new tablet computer, called the iPad,” Brad Stone and Jenna Wortham report for The New York Times. “The question now is whether regular consumers will buy the iPhone-like device, which is priced at $499 at the entry level and can cost as much as $829.”
“Mr. Jobs, appearing energized but thin, a result of his continuing health difficulties, unveiled the iPad at a press event here on Wednesday morning,” Stone and Wortham report. “Its features and specifications, once the stuff of Internet myth, are now sharply in focus: The half-inch thick, 1.5-pound device will feature a 9.7-inch multitouch screen and is powered by a custom Apple microchip, called the A4. The iPad will have the same operating system as the iPhone and access to its 140,000 applications.”
Stone and Wortham report, “However, the device does not have a camera and lacks the ability to make phone calls.”
MacDailyNews Take: Correct that it doesn’t have a camera, but it does have connectivity (WiFi and/or 3G), a mic, a headphone jack, and built-in speakers, so its inability to make “phone calls” will last about along as it took you to read this sentence.
Stone and Wortham continue, “In 2008, Apple acquired a semiconductor company, called P.A. Semi. That group is responsible for the development of the A4 chip in the iPad.”
Full article here.
@ tornjeans
cracked me up
@ Dallasm
wtf? who cares? what do you need to multitask for?
@ dallasm
Apple could care less about Pandora. How about playing some music with the iPod functions while you are in iWork? That works and what’s wrong with that? Maybe the iPod functions on the iPad will even support iTunes radio stations
Its a disaster because it can’t play Pandora while you iWork? Come on. Try playing music on in iPhone or iPod Touch, then click to an app and you’ll see what I mean. Music multitasking is available, just maybe not with Pandora.
I’m not crazy about the name either. I still think Canvas or TouchPad would’ve been much better names for it. Eh, it is just a name, but it does kinda make me think Apple is losing site of innovation and just remarketing stuff. Although the “i” was originally intended to represent “internet” the connotation has changed to mean individual or intimate. Just starting to feel over-done these days. Again, it is just a name and won’t dissuade me from buying one.
“iPad is a disaster. No one is going to buy this”, @Dallasm
MDN—iCal this fo schizzle
No Multitasking. No Multitasking. No Multitasking. No Multitasking. No Multitasking. No Multitasking. No Multitasking. No Multitasking. No Multitasking. No Multitasking. No Multitasking. No Multitasking. No Multitasking. No Multitasking. No Multitasking. No Multitasking. No Multitasking. No Multitasking. No Multitasking. No Multitasking. No Multitasking. No Multitasking. No Multitasking. No Multitasking. No Multitasking. No Multitasking. No Multitasking. No Multitasking. No Multitasking. No Multitasking. No Multitasking. No Multitasking. No Multitasking. No Multitasking. No Multitasking. No Multitasking.
WTF?
_____________
Steve Jobs did it to piss you off Dallasm. Deal with it, he doesn’t like you.
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disappointed it doesn’t have writing capability for math and science students to take notes on.
Not running full OSX, seems to kill it in the educational market as a replacement in higher education
A few other comments hit the nail on the head here… The A4 chip.
The combination of OS X and the A4 will afford Apple’s mobile devices a level of efficiency and power that will be unmatched by competitors.
OS X is already a very capable and efficient operating system; running on a 600MHz CPU the iPhone OS provides a much more fluid and responsive experience than Android running on a 1GHz chip. (This is not a dig on Android, just one example of benefitting from optimized design.)
I’m sure Apple optimized the A4 specifically for OS X, which means it will be able to do a lot more with a lot less. Will be exciting to see it appear in the iPhone!
@Everyone
I can’t believe how blind you guys are here. Why are you all apologizing for this? This is a disaster! Plethora, you say you don’t care about Pandora, okay, how about your e-mail? Are you really a fan of the idea of having to close your spreadsheet program just to check your e-mail? I get the idea on the iPhone. The Program takes up the whole screen anyways, so it’s not a big deal most of the time. But here it is a big deal. I am going to expect this thing to do more than one thing at the same time. And it won’t be able to.
So to reiterate:
No Multitasking
No Cameras
No HiDef Output
No USB plug
You have to use an Adapter for everything
3:4 Screen
NO #*$& MULTITASKING? Why not just install Windows 3.1 on the thing? Even Palm figured out how to do multitasking.
This is a disaster.
@Dallasm
Brilliant comment. I would really like to browse through my photos and watch a movie while working in Pages.
Have a great life!
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Sent from my zune
‘seems to kill it in the educational market as a replacement in higher education”
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I don’t think it was ever intended to be a replacement product. Especially for notebooks. Why would Apple want to kill off their premium high profit margin notebook sales and replace them with much lower margin iPad sales.. If anything, it’s an “in addition to” product.
PS. The Screen has a lower resolution than the iPhone. People are going to notice these things. Why are you pretending these obvious problems don’t exist?
PPS.
If you buy one, I hope you don’t mind typing with one hand.
@Dallasm,
This is a $500 product designed to compete with netbooks and e-readers. Please remember this.
Canvas or TouchPad? Why canvas? Why does everyone keep saying this? Those are both irrelevant and bad names.
That being said, only Mac fanbase is going to buy these. So it’s not going to be big until it matures. I don’t know what the killer app is yet.
The iPhone was a must have. The iPad, well, we’ll see what happens in the coming years.
90% of the people who use a computer don’t do anything other than read and write email, surf the web, listen to music. this is easy to use. it will kill netbooks and book readers. there are a huge number of people who need only this for what they do.
Why A4? Is it related to the metric page size? Is it ‘A’ for Apple? Why not A1 then a series of chips for years to come as A2, A3, etc?…
@MikeK
Just get two iPads.
For others..
add a camera or two if you want … I’m sure they will be available.
A hi-def 16×9 screen will be next year.
Also a larger version running both iOS 4 and OS10.x. later.
For now just thank the Gods …. and Jobs … and all the folks at Apple.
The iPad is astonishingly, insanely great.
May the Force be with you. … and Peace.
That being said, only Mac fanbase is going to buy these. So it’s not going to be big until it matures. I don’t know what the killer app is yet.
—————————–
I wouldn’t be so sure, at $500 the analysts are already upping their estimates..
http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/10/01/27/first_ipad_estimates_4_million_units_in_year_one_8_million_in_2011.html
Try and shift your focus a bit, watch this clip and try to focus on what it can do instead of what it can’t. The masses are absolutely going to love this.. Especially those who are spending $399 for cheap ass netbooks. For $500, nothing comes close to this device and nothing will deliver this type of user experience.
If you want to find out how much people give a shit about multitasking, count the number of iPhones sold.
woops, forgot the clip…
http://www.apple.com/ipad/ipad-video/
It’s moot, not mute.
GUYS,
3G version has a GPS.
Here’s for the one more thing…
“Assisted GPS (Wi-Fi + 3G model)”
MikeK,
I really want to like the iPad. But it’s not a real OS. It’s just a big iPod Touch. So it’s NOT a netbook killer because of its OS. It’s not a “computer”. I need an iPad with a real OS.
I am disappointed that Apple is focusing so much on consumer devices. I’m tired of iMacs and iPods and iPhones. I’ve lost interest in all the iProducts.
It may do well. I just don’t need one. In general, everyone needs a computer. Nobody really needs a big iPod Touch.
Suddenly the $130 extra for 3G and GPS start making sense…
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Can’t wait to mount it on my windshield
@Dallasm
You forgot no traditional “Mac” apps. Y’know small stuff like MS Office, GarageBand, iMovie, Logic, the ability to connect USB/firewire peripherals like EyeTV, etc. Oh, but that’s okay the RDF apologists say, you can run all those 10,000 iPhone fart and boob apps instead … one-at-a-time. LOL!