How ’bout them Apples
Will the Apple iPad make keyboards a thing of the past?
From the looks of Twitter, Facebook and Google trends, the Apple press conference, including the release of the iPad, is the only thing going on in the world today. Google news says something about a Toyota recall and Holocaust Remembrance Day, but it’s pretty clear that everyone in the world is interested in the Apple tablet computer, and only the Apple tablet computer.
How has Apple managed to suck everyone in? For some reason people have been looking forward to the release of the iPad for months. It appears to me that the Apple iPad tablet computer is just a really big iPhone. Am I way off about this? Is everyone going to run out, get a small loan, and buy one?
The price to pay
Prices for the Apple iPad range between $499 and $829 depending on features. So the low-end model still costs a bit more than a netbook. I am having a hard time picturing people using the iPad. I can see why it would be nice for watching videos and such, but to use it as a phone? Awkward.
I have heard a lot of musings about how it can be used in education and other good things like that. However, I am still having a hard time understanding what it has that computers don’t already have. And it’s a bit big to be carrying it around everywhere. It won’t fit in most purses.
Sellability
As New Jersey Business News put it, “Apple would have to show why consumers ought to pay for yet another Internet-connected screen, on top of the TVs, computers and smart phones they already have.”
Do you think Apple will be able to do it? If you had an Apple iPad, what would you use it for? According to NJ.com, tablet computers have already been around for a decade, but they haven’t been successful. Only time will tell if Apple has discovered the magic formula for selling tablet computers.
