Electronics Blog

On Jan 27th 2010, Steve Jobs, dressed in his traditional black turtleneck, blue jeans, presented what Apple fans all over the world insist will be the world’s greatest new gadget – the iPad. And while MADtv came up with a skit featuring a invented product of the same name in 2005, Apple’s product is nothing if not original. Not since the iPod has there been a product with the power to turn up the noses of its owners and allow them to look down upon the poor, unenlightened souls that don’t worship Steve Jobs, or iJobs, the new name he is rumored to be adopting.

Apples obsession is to make new releases more about the lifestyle and culture of the company than the product itself. In an age when technology has focused on being smaller, more compact and more convenient, Apple made the bold move to do the opposite – create a product that is larger and less portable than the average cell phone. Rather than being a hand-held device, the iPad seems to have been designed to fit snugly in the pocket of Paul Bunyan’s pants. Of course, the sizing could be part of a larger, society-enriching effort; creating a massively over sized iPod may be Apple’s attempt to finally lure the mysterious Yeti into the public light. Instead of blurry pictures the world could get a detailed look of the picture via the iPad’s 9.7-inch LED-back lit IPS display. Word has it, the picture is so clear you can see the glimmer of all of the money wasted on the product reflecting in the screen.

The first reaction of many people to the iPad was confusion. Some came up with the questions, why they would need a giant version of the iPhone? Wouldn’t that be like trading in their iPhone for the one used by Zack Morris on “Saved By The Bell”? Apple also reduced the number of features. The 3G connectivity does not come free and if you want to have it you have to pay an additional $129 for that privilege. These days more and more companies are trying to pack in more features for less money and Apple is just doing the opposite.

But that is not just all. The iPad doesn’t feature a camera and you will not be able to view your pictures on the stunning, smaller-than-any-laptop display. Many refer to the product as merely an iPhone on steroids will be put in their place when they realize that they can’t make any phone calls. In reality the iPad is an iPhone with emasculating, steroid-like side effects. But it is not a poor design. Apple knew that you would no use for phone calls after purchasing the device, after all who wants to be on the phone after owning a device that is so awesome.

That’s not the only way Apple managed to ensure that you wouldn’t be able to communicate with the outside world while using this device, either. You can not multitask with the said product. So, that means while you’re busy scrolling through vibrant pictures that you couldn’t take with your iPad, you won’t be able to post a Twitter update about how you prefer to browse the web without seeing half of the content on it. The iPad doesn’t support Flash, which is used to create countless games, applications and websites, and is present on nearly every page you’ll ever visit. Yep, this sure seems way better than a net book or notebook.

But there is a good news. You won’t have to be concerned about your hard drive space because the iPad’s standard capacity is 16GB and there is no slot for external memory card.

The most limiting factor is the price. If you want to buy an iPad, you will have to pay $499 (price for a non-Apple laptop). If you decide to get 3G with that, it is going to cost you $629. This might be a perfect time to spend disposable income you don’t have. It’s not as though ten percent of the country is unemployed or that a massive earthquake just demolished an island nearby.

After all said, the iPad is still a unique hybrid of existing devices – an iPhone without camera or calling, a laptop without a keyboard or the ability to fully experience the internet and surf the web, all from a company that actually declared itself Almighty.

The author: Jacqueline Gharibian has done some studies about Apple iPad Touch. You can get more information by visiting her blog about Apple iPad and learn more.