Finally, Steve Jobs has announced the revolutionary iPad, but since the big announcement people are wanting to know, when can they buy the iPad Tablet? While Apple is not giving us the exact date of the iPad release, they are letting us know it will be some time in April 2010 or approximately a couple of months.
While the new device, possibly Steve Jobs magnum opus before he retires, is being called by some as just the "iPod on steroids", it's true mission according to Apple is to beat both smart phones (even though it's not a phone) and laptops. That however, sounds like quite a task since this new device is kind of in a new category or almost wants to be. The iPad is not a phone, although you can get some phone apps in the app store and it isn't a laptop, because it doesn't support flash (no playing Farmville with the iPad) and you can bet the virtual keyboard will take some getting used to.
If you have ever surfed the web on your Safari browser on your iPod or iPhone, you know how difficult that can be trying to read full page websites with zooming in and out all the time. For some, that's too much of a pain and the Apple iPad will be the perfect device for them. However, for some, the decision not to include Flash capabilities will be a huge hindrance in wanting to buy the iPad tablet. Apple claims that Flash is a resource hog, and while that is true, there just isn't any getting around encountering sites that use flash.
Apple developers claim that using email on the iPad will bring this application a whole new dimension with their presentation and layout of email. While the programmers and developers may be excited about that, let's not forget, it's just email already. I doubt very seriously I'll be sending someone an email telling them how excited I am about a new email application. Wow, just think, all your spam will look so much nicer.
Viewing photos on the iPad however, should be something to get excited about. Photos are cool to view on the iPod, but again, as with surfing the web, it's a small experience. Viewing the Apple iPad video is pretty cool when they get to the photo album part. The iPad allows you to take a peek into your photo albums one at a time to see if the photo you're looking for is there and you can also see a visual representation of all of your photo albums at the same time. Really, it's like magic the way the touch screen and photo albums work together.
And of course, videos and music is going to be all the more exciting viewing it and listening to your tune on the iPad. With the 9.7 inch diagonal screen on the iPad, that is the perfect size personal screen for individual viewing. The video is crystal clear and rich in color to make all your HD YouTube videos pop right out at you. It will be much more relaxing watching a big video or movie on your iPad instead of trying to squint your eyes and straining to watch a full length movie on your iPhone.
Music videos will be great to watch on the iPad as well since the resolution will be higher and the music in some instances will be of a much higher quality. Of course, you can access all the movies, videos and music from the built in iTunes application specifically redesigned for the iPad.
And for gamers, the new iPad will be a thing of beauty. All current apps that run on the iPhone and iPod touch will function on the iPad, but there are also a whole new host of great games coming out for the iPad tablet that will blow away anything currently available for the iPhone. With the large screen, enhanced motions sensors and accelerometers, gaming will be an entirely new experience on this crazy new device from Apple. More touch, more music and sound, a bigger screen, more sensitive tracking and other great features may even get me into gaming for once.
Now probably the biggest plus the iPad has going for it is its ability to function as an ereader like the Amazon Kindle and the Barnes and Noble Nook. It can do everything that these devices can do and do it in color. It will have access to hundreds of thousands of books eventually in the iBook Store, most news papers and most magazines.
Amazon must be running scared at this point since their top of the line Kindle retails for about $480 and the iPad will cost $20 more and be much more that just an ereader. Look for a price reduction soon on the Kindle when Amazon wakes up and sees that their device can't compete with the iPad that offers exactly what their does plus video, color, web surfing, music, games and much more. In fact, the iPad Tablet may just be the death knell for all other ereading devices.
The bottom line for whether you or anyone else will buy the iPad Tablet is the cost and that seems to be a good price point starting at only $500. Even with the many cool features, many people will still have to ask themselves if they really need to spend the $500 a month plus a subscription fee of $40 a month or so for everywhere access via traditional cell area mapping. With all the devices we already have, a laptop, maybe a notebook, a smart phone, your desktop computer, maybe an iPod or some other mp3 player, the big question will certainly be, do I really need another device?
If you do, then maybe you will be a candidate to buy the iPad Tablet.
