Apple’s New iPad: Is It Your Cup of Toast?
Apple Inc. has announced its new multi-touch iPad will be available for sale in March of 2010. The tablet-style computer will have print, video, photo, multimedia and Internet browsing capabilities, and can also run most iPhone apps.
At just 1.5 pounds, it’s more portable than a laptop, and the 10-hour battery far exceeds the typical laptop experience, which drains after a couple or three hours. It’s even thinner than the super-thin Macbook Air.
CEO Steve Jobs is touting the iPad as a fantastic web browsing device. “iPad offers the best web browsing experience there is-way better than laptops,” Jobs says. Yet, it didn’t take long after the oohing and aahing for the criticisms to roll in, and most of them are focused on what the iPad can’t do: can’t take pictures, no video chat, no Flas, etc.
Why are some people downright giddy with excitement over the iPad while some are saying “pish-posh?” Because it’s not for everyone, and therein lies the genius of the iPad. Apple has had the forethought to make a product specifically for the group of people who need it, tapping a niche market in the process.
Sure, there are things an iPad can’t do –things a computer already does. A large number of people around the world daily are using a piece of equipment that is expensive, complicated and cumbersome, and they’re using it to check their Facebook status and watch YouTube videos.
It’s like using a bazooka to kill a gnat.
Consider toast. If all you want is toasted bread, it would be silly to buy a toaster oven. It would be a waste of money to be talked into a wide-slot bagel toaster. You just want toast; you just need a toaster. Period.
Car manufacturers are doing the same thing when they target specific audiences with specific features, and its a brilliant way to market. Lately, you’ve probably noticed a lot of car commercials touting innovative stereos. You may have even thought, “Hey, that looks handy.” At the same time, some folks are sitting on the couch grumbling that they don’t care about the stereo when they’re buying a car.
When a company markets specifically to a niche group, it’s naturally going to alienate those who don’t fit in.
Apple itself is focusing on the iPad’s use for emails, browsing and photos, and for a lot of consumers, that’s exactly what they need and want. Do you think that doesn’t sound like enough? Then the iPad isn’t for you. Move on.
For those who just want toast, though, this is one helluva toaster.
By Elizabeth Kelly
Tags: Apple, communication tools, gadgets, iPad, technology, tools
February 16th, 2010 at 8:38 pm
That’s right route66, if you don’t believe that then you might as well call your mom on your atnt cell phones and tell her to come pick you up from day care!
February 16th, 2010 at 9:20 pm
Thanks for sharing this. I’m a huge apple fan and support them for their decision to release the iPad. Thank you. Thomas – iPad games
February 16th, 2010 at 11:19 pm
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February 18th, 2010 at 8:32 pm
I’ve enjoyed Apple for sometime, they produce gadgets that is visually beautiful while working like a each and every time. I can’t say that about alot of companies, it’s usually one or the other. Tech businesses don’t usually take aesthetics seriously like Apple. With that said I’ve got to say that I’m very excited about the upcoming iSlate. One thing I question though, is it too soon? I think that this may be ahead of its time. What do you think?
February 18th, 2010 at 9:36 pm
I have been involved with Apple since the early 80′s when I opened the 12th Apple dealership in South Florida and have enjoyed a love hate relationship with the company for decades. Apple giveths and takes away but the one thing that will never be compromised is engineering and asthmatics, vis a vis Woz and Jobs. There was always something about being different and 1984 truly was not like Orewellian 1984 when the Mac age came into being. I may have been at odds with the corporation over some of their early dealer relation practices but I always have been and remain to this day a cheerleader for their innovation and resilience to go against the grain.
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March 4th, 2010 at 4:08 pm
“Jobs quotes Picasso’s “good artists copy, great artists steal” and adds, about Apple: “We have always been shameless about stealing great ideas.”" Sorry! Jobs is 100% right… HTC, Google, just like Microsoft in the 80′s photocopied Apple.
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March 5th, 2010 at 8:50 pm
As a longtime Mac guy and Apple fan, I had eagerly planned to buy an iPad. And then: No multitasking, no Flash, no webcam, no… So where’s the value added? Fuggedaboutit.
March 7th, 2010 at 10:47 am
I’m extremely excited about the ipad, with some luck there will probably items available to buy when ever unveiled next month
March 7th, 2010 at 11:27 am
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May 21st, 2010 at 10:32 pm
I’m extremely excited about the ipad, with some luck there will probably items available to buy when ever unveiled next month
June 1st, 2010 at 8:24 am
I’m extremely excited about the ipad, with some luck there will probably items available to buy when ever unveiled next month
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