Dreams do come true.
I’ve been neglecting my news reading lately so this one came as a bit of a shock this morning. Apple has finally unveiled it’s multi-touch tablet, the iPad. Oh my god!
While some are already criticising the iPad for what it isn’t – in some cases dismissing it as a glorified iPod – I think what Apple has come up with is truly unbelievable. We’re so spoiled these days with iPhones and Blackberrys that I think we forget just how far we’ve come in the last two or three decades. In my lifetime, portable music has meant lugging around a walkman, then a portable cd-player, briefly minidiscs, and now mp3 players. The iPhone/iPod changed everything and I think that sometimes we expect everything on a plate because of that. For me, the iPad is as close to a real life, reach out and touch me, sci-fi tablet as you can get, and this is just the first version, i’m sure it’ll only improve with time.
Personally, browsing the web, the iWork apps, showing photos, and reading ebooks are the features that sell it for me. Add to that the cheap pricing (hopefully the UK will get a similar deal) and it’s incredible. While many of the features have already debuted on the iPhone, on the tablet they’ll be so much more, and we shouldn’t forget how recent good multi-touch is.
I suggest everyone (even the Apple haters) take a look at the Keynote presentation (no subtitles, bad Apple, but there’s plenty of imagery and live demos). If you can swallow all the typical Mac fanboy gushing at the start and the sugary sales-speak, it’s worth it to watch the whole presentation. I’m blown away by how good the iWork apps are, especially Keynote (slideshows) and Numbers (spreadsheets).
I’m sure it won’t be perfect (what is?), but good job Apple for taking a serious stab at it. The future has arrived;-)
