Today in Apple history: First iPad reviews hail a true game-changer

March 31, 2010: When the first iPad reviews hit the internet, the world gets a sense of how Apple’s new tablet measures up.

The consensus? That there’s no Flash, no USB, no multitasking — but Apple’s tablet offers an exciting new computing experience all the same. As USA Today writes, “The first iPad is a winner.”

First iPad reviews: Apple’s tablet is a winner

The iPad was Apple co-founder Steve Jobs‘ final major new product category. He previously shepherded the launch of hits like the iPod, the iTunes Music Store and the iPhone during his second tenure with the company.

Jobs unveiled the iPad on January 27, 2010, showcasing it during a press conference in San Francisco.

“It’s so much more intimate than a laptop,” he said, leaning back in an easy chair on the stage, “and it’s so much more capable than a smartphone, with this gorgeous, large display.”

But with the exception of a few rare (and carefully selected) public appearances, the world did not get much information about how well the tablet actually performed until the first iPad reviews began to trickle out on this day in 2010.

Selected journalists gained early access

As remains the case today, Apple carefully controlled which outlets got an early iPad. Big names like Walt Mossberg for All Things D and David Pogue for The New York Times received demo units so they could test the tablet. So did newspapers like USA Today and the Chicago Sun-Times.

The verdicts from these precious few early iPad reviews proved as positive as most potential owners hoped. Pogue said anybody intrigued by the tablet form factor would “love the machine.” The tablet’s ability to play movies continuously for more than 12 hours particularly impressed him.

Mossberg called the iPad “a whole new type of computer.” He referred to it as a “pleasure to use” — and said it made him less interested in cracking open his laptop.

The Chicago Sun-Times’ Andy Inhatko got it right when he wrote that the iPad fills “a gap that’s existed for quite some time” — pitched halfway between an iPhone and a MacBook.

First iPad reviews: Better for content consumption than creation

Interestingly, the first iPad reviews acknowledged a challenge that Apple continues to face with subsequent iPad models. The critics noted that the device does not replace a laptop — and works better for consuming content than creating it.

Pogue wrote that a laptop will do more for less money. Mossberg confessed that — as much as he loved the iPad — he still turned to his laptop for writing and editing larger documents.

Edward Baig from USA Today wrote that Apple “pretty much nailed it with this first iPad, though there’s certainly room for improvement.”

Original iPad goes on sale

Apple’s tablet went on sale on April 3, 2010, just days after the first iPad reviews arrived. A 3G version with cellular connectivity followed on April 30. The tablet became a big hit for Apple at launch — it took less than a month to sell 1 million units. (That’s half the time it took to sell that many iPhones.)

In its first year, the iPad sold around 25 million units. That made it the most successful new product category launch in Apple history.

Did these first iPad reviews persuade you to buy Apple’s first-gen tablet? Leave your comments below.

Luke Dormehl

Luke Dormehl is a U.K.-based journalist and author, with a background working in documentary film for Channel 4 and the BBC. He is the author of The Apple Revolution and The Formula: How Algorithms Solve All Our Problems … and Create More, both published by Penguin/Random House. His tech writing has also appeared in Wired, Fast Company, Techmeme and other publications.