Someone at Apple really seems really thrilled with the whole modular-approach thing; just like they’ve done with iWork, Apple is selling the iPad in pieces. Take what you want, leave the rest.
The nifty keyboard dock above is a good example of this concept. Heavy typists — like us journos — can plop down the extra money, while the game-playing, movie-watching user can save a little dough. Of course, there’s no SD card slot, USB port or video-out either, all baubles Apple is happily hawking: the USB/SD adapters come together in what Apple is calling a “camera kit,” and a VGA-to-dock connector is required for video-out.
There’s also a really pretty, portfolio-looking iPad case that doubles as a stand. No word on pricing for any of these goodies yet.
Ryan Block from GDGT told TWiT: “It’s heavy.” He picked it up and felt it was bulky in comparison to other tablet-like devices. He still liked it, though.
Elsewhere on TWiT, another contributor (sorry, I wasn’t fast enough to pick out who it was, it might have been Andy Ihnatko), said it was fast. It kept up with his finger movements without any fuss at all. The page-turning felt like actual page-turning. That’ll be the A4 chip doing its thing, then.
Seen any other comments by people who have Actually Touched the iPad? Shout in the comments.
Jonny Ive is on top form in this iPad introductory video from Apple.
“It’s true,” he starts the video by saying. “When something exceeds your ability to understand how it works, it sort of becomes magical. And that’s exactly what the iPad is.”
BTW: There’s a higher res version on Apple’s homepage, but it’s taking a while to load.
A lot of people following the Steve Jobs iPad keynote this morning weren’t convinced about the device until he mentioned the price: $499.
All of sudden, people wanted to buy three of them.
The price is the big news here. Everyone was expecting it to cost $700 to $1,000 — Apple makes pricey products, right?
But there’s no “Apple tax” on the iPad. This thing is priced to move, and they’re going to sell boatloads of them. And not just to Apple fans — the iPad will attract scores of Windows switchers.
Go to any Apple store and you’ll see heaving throngs of shoppers checking out Apple’s goods. A lot of them are Windows users shopping for a new home machine to replace an aging Windows box. They’re sick of the headaches and want an alternative.
The iPad is that alternative. It’s not an extra gadget, a luxury for someone who already has an iPhone and a laptop. It’s a replacement for that laptop — a true alternative.
And at $499, it’s also an alternative to the Kindle, cheapo netbooks and even Apple’s own MacBooks.
The iPad+ keyboard dock = cheap MacBook. It’s half the price of Apple’s cheapest MacBook, and a third of the MacBook Air.
Steve Jobs is a ballsy guy. He’s probably the ballsiest CEO in the U.S. right now. Who else would undercut their own laptop line — which are Apple’s most popular and most profitable computers — with a brand new device that costs half the price?
But this is how Jobs rolls. He killed the popular iPod Mini and replaced it with the iPod Nano. He’s undercutting the entire iPod line with the iPod Touch. He’s a forward-looking guy, and the iPad is a forward-looking computer.
OK folks, now for some picture pornography. This post is hardware; later on, we’ll do a gallery of software-related stuff. Keep the comments coming. Don’t be shy now: will you buy? Will you buy two? Does this compete with netbooks?
Although John Gruber over at Daring Fireball predicted it a couple weeks ago, I think most of us were shocked when it turned out that Apple’s newly announced iPad tablet didn’t have a forward mounted camera.
After all, why not? With an entry-level price and a $29.95 unlimited 3G coverage plan, the iPad seems like it would afford a perfect solution for mobile video calling. Hell, even if it didn’t have those things, surely it would be just as good as, say, a MacBook in letting people play around in Photo Booth. Right?
No. I think Apple knew what they were doing here. Unless it’s mounted in the iPad keyboard dock accessory, the iPad is going to be predominantly used in a below eye-level position. What that means is that a forward fronted web cam would need to point upwards at a slant to capture a human face.
So what, our lithe and muscular long-necked readers ask? Two words: double chin. Or three words, if you prefer: double triple chins.
One of the most crucial announcements of today’s iPad introduction was the launch of iBooks, Apple’s e-reading application, which has a bundled iBookstore that allows users to purchase e-books on the go. By all accounts, the experience is compelling and fun.
But there’s a big question here around content access. Though Steve Jobs listed off about 8 book publishing partners for the platform, he didn’t mention access to a specific book store partner like Borders, Amazon, or Barnes & Noble. And that’s pretty troubling. Even though Apple’s going with the open-source ePub format, which means books from Barnes & Noble should work, there’s no direct mechanism yet for connecting the two, and the import experience remains to be seen.
And I’m not confident in Apple’s ability to populate an amazing bookstore on their own. The movie selection of iTunes leaves a lot to be desired, and I fear the same for books without a partner on-board who really knows the field. Janky as the Amazon Kindle is, its library selection is unmatched.
Always fun to see long-term Apple design language tics show up in brand new products. The wedge shape of the iPad in its case set up for horizontal typing is making me remember the Apple IIc. Pretty rad.
Prices for the new device: 32GB for $599 and 64GB for $699 (Wi-Fi only version),
Shell out an extra $130 for 3G-capable models — so $629, $729 and $829.
Is the price right? Is the iPad a must-have or wait-and-see device?
The arrival of the iPad and the subsequent cheeping, chittering, cooing, peeping, chirupping and tweeting has blown a fuse on microblogging service Twitter.
If print media is looking for its messiah, the iPad just might be it: notice how amazing the paper looks plastered on the iPad’s screen above; the highest-quailty (don’t argue) journalism fused with the easiest -to-use tech.
It’s got in-line vidclips too. If they’ve imported some of the great ideas from Bonnier’s Mag+, they’ve got a huge winner. Would you pay to read the NYT on an iPad? I would.
It’s been 50 minutes into the event and There’s no sign of multi-tasking. To switch between apps, all they are doing is simply closing the current and opening a new – no ProSwitcher like card management. This is definitely going to be a deal breaker for the most who are planning to trade their netbook for this device.
Also, the screen’s got some good real-estate, seems like 2x the resolution of the iPhone. However,
Of all the people in the world, you’d think Cultofmac.com readers would go bonkers for the iPad. But judging from Twitter reactions, they’re not sold — and Steve hasn’t even mentioned the price yet!
Here’s some of the feedback tweets we’re getting:
@cultofmac Just a big iPhone, nothing special just yet.
@cultofmac i’m not sold. I mean why get this if you have an iphone or mac or both????
@cultofmac: It has huge borders!!! and i hoped to see usb conectors for the #ipad
The iPad is revolutionizing the way we use email, the web, play music, browse through images, and watch movies/tv. Here’s a preview on how they look on the iPad:
There were so many possible names for Apple’s new device.
Now we know the super-slablet has been christened the iPad.
Let us know what you think of the name and what you would’ve named it in the comments.
