The biggest ever technology open secret became pure fact this evening when Steve Jobs unveiled the new Apple tablet computer, to be called the iPad.
I really do rate Apple goods.
They are usually so well designed that even a stubby fingered chimpanzee should be able to get them to work without the hours and hours of stress and instruction manuals.
The intuitive features mean you just 'know' how to do things rather than spending time with a quizzical expression, trying to read a leaflet translated from Korean.
I appreciate the Apple ethos of "straight from the box", meaning you don't have to spend the first day of ownership loading countless CD's of the programs you want.
It's just a case of flick on the power and you're off.
I love the fact that as a Mac man I never have to worry about viruses - at least not the kind that are going to mess up my tech.
There's no anti virus programs to feed in.
I'm covered.
My pocket vibrated around 5:45pm this evening with a message from Stuff magazine, letting me know that I could watch a live stream of the events from San Fransisco.
I was a little busy but I've caught up since.
Apple are obviously hoping to do for books what they have done for music with their iTunes store. An iBooks store is imminent, though there are thought to be a few teething problems with some publishers at present.
The iPad will be the perfect vehicle to store your electronic book collection.
I've fancied something similar to the Sony Reader or the Amazon Kindle for a while but held back due to my belief that eventually Apple would release their own, (better), version.
It would seem that they have managed this with the added bonus of the iPad having many other 'toys', plus a cracking (virus free) Safari web browser. Apparently, there will be both 3G and WiFi versions available.
My only surprise is the price.
Last summer when the rumours of an Apple tablet became so loud, (there were even photographs of prototypes posted on techy blogs), most reports were of it costing around $1000.
Today, the price was trumpeted as $499, which I make about £310 at todays tourist exchange rates.
This is very good news. The early adopters won't feel too ripped off at that price plus it's likely that following the usual pattern, the computing power will increase and the price will drop within 12 months.
(The first version of the iPhone went on sale at around the same price).
Have a look at the clip, see what you think.
Marco - we'll be lucky to get it for under £400 for the entry level version. One with 3G could cost nearer £600. Still no Flash Player, no camera and limited periodical publication content so far. I will still be tempted but might wait for your reaction first!
ReplyDeleteIt does look good from what I saw on tv last night - pity its name makes it sound like Apple's version of a sanitary towel!
ReplyDeleteCrispy
I agree Crispy!
ReplyDeleteI think it's clear that there were very few women in the room when they were deciding upon the name.
Also, 'iPad' is too similar to iPod.
There are going to be lots of very upset people on Christmas morning when Santa doesn't bring the right gift.
M
Dave,
ReplyDeleteon reflection, I may have a quick look when the version 1.0 becomes available and admire the product for it's sexiness but unless I'm completely blown away, I'm in no hurry to purchase.
What I do know is that I most certainly will be buying one at some stage. It's been like a glimpse of the future.
I already own an iPod, an iPod Touch, a MacBook and an iPhone so I don't have a huge multimedia gap waiting to
be filled by the new product.
Version I.0 of the iPhone was great but with no GPS, cut and paste, poor camera, no video etc etc it was argued that other products did more for less cash.
The iPhone sold and sold because the user experience was so pleasing.
I reckon the version 2 of iPad will be phenomenal- maybe a double camera for conferencing, HDTV, SD card slots etc etc and that will be when I'll be jumping on board.
I just need to persuade enough people to buy version 1.0 so that it becomes the run away success that Apple products usually are. The company will then have to put in new toys to keep the product 'fresh'.
What we can all say without a shadow of a doubt is that other companies will change what they are doing to compete.
Blackberry, Nokia, Samsung and HTC all spent huge amounts of time and money doing their own versions of an
'iPhone killer'.
It's going to happen again here.
OMG Mr T you are such a gadget geek!! :-)
ReplyDelete