“It’s hard to believe that the iPad and the hundreds of tablets that arrived in its wake have been around for only three years. On April 3, 2010, Apple released the original iPad to the public, kicking off a whirlwind of innovation in a space that was previously known only for niche, experimental, and downright odd products,” Jacqui Cheng reports for Ars Technica. “One could still argue that the iPad—and other tablets like it—are meant for a niche audience, but it’s clear that tablets as we know them today have struck a chord with the masses. Apple alone has sold 100 million iPads as of October 2012.”
“It feels like modern tablets have been around a lot longer, but three years is still nothing to sneeze at. Reflecting upon the last three years of tablet mania, the Ars staff and contributors began to share stories about how our iPads or other tablets have changed how we interact with our devices and the Internet,” Cheng reports. “Most of us were heavy tablet skeptics when the iPad was first announced, and some of us still are. So in honor of the three-year anniversary of the iPad, we decided to share some of our experiences with you on how our lives have changed—or how they haven’t, depending the case.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: “Most of us were heavy tablet skeptics when the iPad was first announced,” but some weren’t. Here’s how our own SteveJack reacted to iPad on the day it was unveiled by Apple CEO Steve Jobs on January 27, 2010:
Why I’ll be buying an Apple iPad – along with millions of others
First of all, let’s get the niche out of the way: I’ll be buying an iPad because the iPhone is just a bit too small to use for blogging (it can be done, just not as well as I would like) and my MacBook Pro is too much to carry around when all I really need is an iPhone with more screen real estate…
Now, who else might be buying an iPad?
• Older people: You see them all the time squinting at their iPhones and iPod touches and/or holding them at arm’s length. That’s sad enough, but they’re also usually the very same people can’t quite seem to master pinching to zoom in and out and/or scrolling. They want to see websites and their email. They’ll want iPads.
• Couch potatoes: Really, not just couch potatoes, but anyone who finds themselves parked in front of much larger TV screens with their iPhone/iPod touch in hand surfing, texting etc. They’ll want iPads for that instead.
• Frequent fliers/commuters: iPad is thin, light, and makes for a better movie watching experience, plus it has an iPod, and a web browser, and your email, and your calendar, and your newspaper, and your novel, and iWork, etc. An iPad is a no-brainer.
• Readers: Books, magazines, newspapers, etc. Look for Kindles to take eBay by storm. Apple will sell iPads to print consumers by the metric ton.
• Gamers: You like playing games on your iPhone and iPod touch? You’re gonna love them on your iPad.
• Navigators: Beyond iPad’s new and improved Maps app, I can’t wait to put my Tom Tom or Magellan app on my iPad and I bet other iPhone/iPod touch navigators can’t either.
• Kids: For movies, TV shows, music, games, etc. in the car and everywhere else, too.
• Students: Textbooks, word processing, spreadsheets, and everything else I’ve already mentioned above.I could go on, but come to think of it, maybe it would be easier to think of somebody who wouldn’t want an iPad?
• Let’s see… Somebody who only runs Photoshop or AutoCAD or Final Cut Pro while on-the-go and who never reads a book, magazine, or newspaper; who never watches movies, TV shows, or listens to music; who never plays a game, not even a casual one while waiting for an oil change; and, who doesn’t surf the Web or use email.
See what I mean? The iPad has a larger target audience than some people might think. And starting at just $499?! Seriously, Apple’s iPad prices are – channelling Jerry Carroll – INSAAANE!!! — SteveJack, MacDailyNews, January 27, 2010