Is the iPad the future of personal computing?
Apple's long-awaited tablet device designed to fill the gap between phone and computer
Dylan Martin
Issue date: 2/1/10 Section: News
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But that might be one of its advantages as Steve Jobs said at the event. Instead of trying to browse the Web on a tiny smartphone screen, you have something nearly the size of a magazine to view full Web sites on. The iPad will also have the ability to reads books from iBookstore, play movies, TV shows and music from iTunes and run tens of thousands of applications from the App Store. With all of these features, the iPad could be the ultimate media-consumption device. But will it find a place in our overly-digital lives?
During the Apple event, Steve Jobs said the iPad will fill the gap between the smartphone and the laptop, performing key tasks like Web browsing and media playback-far better than anything else. Before introducing the new device, he said that netbooks have been trying to do this, but very poorly, because they are merely "poor laptops." Now with the iPad at its surprisingly cheap base price ($499), people will be able to perform all the functions of a netbook with the confidence and power of an Apple device.
Ryan C. Meader, founder of MacOSRumors.com, said the iPad will easily beat netbooks and competing tablets in the mass market, because it's ARM platform will provide the best performance with the best battery life (10 hours).
Farhad Manjoo of Slate Magazine said the iPad fits his dream of the "perfect second computer."
"I wanted a flat, portable, easy-to-use machine that I could use for e-mail and reading the Web. The iPad is that device," Manjoo said in his article "I Love the iPad."
While many reporters and consumers were impressed by the iPad presentation, there were others who felt threatened by its closed nature and what that might mean for the future of personal computers.
DefectiveByDesign.org, a campaign by the Free Software Foundation, launched a petition targeting the DRM (digital rights management) component of the Apple iPad.
In a letter addressed to Steve Jobs, DefectiveByDesign.org writes:
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geek
posted 2/02/10 @ 11:03 PM EST
I have not used the I-Pad but have used other flat touch tablets and typing other than a few short words is not comfortable. The reporters who were at the I-Pad introduction and claim they luv it, today use laptops or netbooks on the road. (Continued…)
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