“The first iPad is a winner. It stacks up as a formidable electronic-reader rival for Amazon’s Kindle. It gives portable game machines from Nintendo and Sony a run for their money,” Edward C. Baig reports for USA Today. “At the very least, the iPad will likely drum up mass-market interest in tablet computing in ways that longtime tablet visionary and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates could only dream of.”
“An often-asked question after Jobs unveiled the tablet at the end of January was: What is iPad’s purpose for being? I answered that question by surfing the Web, watching the movies Up and Michael Jackson’s This Is It, reading the late Sen. Edward Kennedy’s True Compass, playing Scrabble and an accelerometer-driven game called RealRacing HD, and boning up on the periodic table of elements,” Baig reports.
“The iPad is not so much about what you can do — browse, do e-mail, play games, read e-books and more — but how you can do it. That’s where Apple is rewriting the rulebook for mainstream computing,” Baig reports. “There is no mouse or physical keyboard. Everything is based on touch. All programs arrive directly through Apple’s App Store. Apple’s tablet is fun, simple, stunning to look at and blazingly fast. Inside is a new Apple chip, the A4.”
“What does a successful iPad launch mean for traditional netbooks? They’ll have to adapt or disappear,” Baig reports. “Apple is taking solid aim at the burgeoning electronic-reader market dominated by the Kindle. Judged solely from a sizzle standpoint: There’s no contest… Newspaper and magazine layouts look vastly superior on the iPad compared with Kindle. The iPad is backlit, so you can read in the dark. You have to supply a reading light with Kindle.”
Baig reports, “Apple has pretty much nailed it with this first iPad, though there’s certainly room for improvement. Nearly three years after making a splash with the iPhone, Apple has delivered another impressive product that largely lives up to the hype.”
Full review here.
Bang!!!!
Apple hits a Grand Slam !!!!
iPad is s hit!!!
I’m tired of waiting!
When is this thing coming to China?
Thought long and hard about waiting for an upgraded version, letting others deal with the teething pains of rolling out a new product, and finally thought screw it. It looks like too much fun to wait. And at $599 for the 32G version, if the later release does turn out to be a major upgrade (e.g. built in camera), then the kids inherit an older iPad and I get a new one.
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Magic word “want”, as in NOW!
The link to the full review is broken. It points back to this MDN article.
Oh no, Microsoft hit a grand dud against the iPad. No shipping product and it already is whooping ass!
Mr Gate’s, we know why you left early. Steve was a coming with a big, big stick and carrying a industrial size can of Apple Whoop ass all for you.
I guess it was better to run then before the ship was sunk! How you like them Apples Bill?
Good to read this and other reviews.
While all the reviews I have read are positive, there has been no real mention of the seismic shock the iPad is going to have in the business world…
Mark my words, there will be one delivered!
Businesses across the World will be switching to Mac in increasing numbers in the coming years.
No one will catch up to Apple on this one for a very long time. The magic behind the “magical” device is in the software and processor; both are exclusive to Apple and Apple is not sharing. Add the advantage of having the well-established iPhone App Store with its large band of dedicated developers from Day One. Now, you have a product in iPad that is essentially impossible for the competition to copy, no matter how hard they try or how much money they sink into the effort.
And that’s always been Apple’s strategy (at least when Steve Jobs has been around). Create desirable products and user experience that are difficult for competitors to replicate, and sell them with healthy profit margin because customers are willing to pay more for quality. Apple did it with Macintosh, iPod, and iPhone, but iPad may be the best example yet of a huge initial gap between Apple and the closest competitor.
April is going to be a fun month…
@macarina:
Apple sent me a note that my iPad is on its way *from* China. So iPad is already there.
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When is the iPad coming to the Philippines?
We all have Bill Gates, Sculley and Microsoft to thank for the botched licensing agreement where MS pirated Apple’s GUI.
Steve learned his lesson, and this time Apple’s innovation and work are protected. “Nobody screws Steve twice”.
Willy Wonka is coming with a big, big stick and an industrial size can of Whoop Ass for Gates, Schmidt, and Dell. Get some.
Go Apple! (AAPL)
May “Monkey Boy” Stay as the “Microsoft” CEO, 4 as long as it Takes.
I can almost feel the thing in my hands. BUT what was the reason for not having a SD card-slot or something? That dongle is the most inelegant, un-Apple-like monstrosity. It’s something you’d expect to find on a Windows PC, in a Taliban’s bedroom, but not on an iPad.
Something to do with security when used in offices, so people can’t steal the firm’s mailing-list?
Shame though.
Huh huh. He said “boning”.
No way was Bill Gates ever capable of dreaming up products like the iPod, iPhone or iPad.
He had his successes in out manoeuvring other business with canny strategies but Gates was never a product,visionary.
@CourtJester
My thoughts exactly, if Bill Gates could have dreamed of it he would have built it.
Unfortunately for M$, his vision was a windows based tablet, like windows based cell phones, etc.
These reviews are truly stunning. I’m very encouraged by the pricing structure too. Looks like a compelling product at a compelling price point. I agree, HP and Dell could be in big trouble with their net books. They are going to have to cut the price yet again!!! to complete only on price, not capability.
Wow is the competition in a tough spot.
“… o complete only on price, not capability”
@chaz They’ve been doing that for years. When there’s so little difference between beige boxes running MS software, all you’re left with is price.
I wonder what happened to chips A1, A2, and A3?
And, Steve should have launched the A4 on April 4th, or is that too geeky? Heck, they should have launched the iPad today, given Apple’s history of being founded on April 1.
“When is this thing coming to China?”
It’s coming FROM China.
Moses wants one! It’s MUCH lighter than his old ones.
It is so gratifying to watch Apple rise after so many years of using Mac over PC for the increased quality and productivity while hearing from others that I needed to get a “Real Computer”
@ET
It is so gratifying to watch Apple rise after so many years of using Mac over PC for the increased quality and productivity while hearing from others that I needed to get a “Real Computer”
…especially if like me you have been hearing it from IRT/IT vice presidents who btw have been administrators for so long that that don’t even USE COMPUTERS THEMSELVES any more and are out of touch…
@ KenC
> I wonder what happened to chips A1, A2, and A3?
Maybe the “4” stands for something else. Perhaps it’s a tiny quad-core CPU in there, and there will be an “A2” powering the next gen iPhone and iPod touch.
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