Is it a cute toy? A cutting-edge improvement to computing as we know it? The iPad is pretty much a blank slate… it can become almost anything, depending on Apple and app developers, and on customer’s demands.
It’s a computer, but a very different kind of computer from the Macs and PCs we’re accustomed to. Not only because of the portability… the touch screen makes a big difference, of course, but the main thing is that the iPad is a chameleon that changes its form depending on the app you are using.
The interface changes, the manner you manipulate objects and data change from app to app, but in all cases they move smoothly on the screen. With a “regular” computer the keyboard and mouse are consistent in all apps, or nearly all.
A computer is a computer, that does stuff. The iPad becomes what it is doing in a completely new way.
It’s pretty similar to the iPod Touch and the iPhone, but not exactly. Th iPhone can make calls, of course, and the Touch and iPad cannot. The Touch is so much smaller, tho, that the apps are also smaller. Developers have to make compromises because of the format they don’t have to make for the iPad. Size matters.
The iPad does a lot of things. Some are not as well done as on your Mac… email, for example. The Mac simply has more capability. Web browsing is more limited on the iPad. Where tie iPad really takes off is with apps that are written specifically for it. Simply upsizing iPhone/Touch apps doesn’t take advantage of the iPad nearly enough.
The fact that it is easy to develop for will create opportunities for apps that would never appear on PCs or Macs.
I for one will keep my MacBook and MacBook Pro, and use the iPad at times and places where it works better. I expect there to be a lot of times that will be the case, and I may find myself using the iPad MORE than the laptops. Or not. I’ll keep you posted. I DO expect that it will be a very interesting experience.
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