Well well, the long rumored and speculated Apple tablet has now been officially announced as the Apple iPad.
Looking unsurprisingly similar to a large iPhone, the iPad has a 9.7-inch multitouch display with a 1024 x 768 resolution, measuring 9.56″ x 7.47″ x 0.5. It will be available in three different storage capacities (16GB, 32GB and 64GB). Rather than using an Intel Atom CPU or similar Apple have gone with their own 1GHz Apple A4 ARM based processor.
802.11b/g/n WiFi is supported along with Bluetooth 2.1 and optional 3G. It features a 25Whr battery which should provides up to 10 hours of web surfing, and media playback, with one month standby.
It has been no secret that Apple don’t like netbooks. They are the only major manufacturer who haven’t embraced and entered the netbook market. I personally believe it’s because they would rather people use their iPhone, and if they did make a netbook, they would price it well out of the netbook market.
When Steve Jobs announced the iPad, he claims that it is more useful than a netbook, and said, “The problem is netbooks aren’t ready for anything, they’re slow, they have low quality displays”.
Apple iPad
While he would like us to believe that the Apple iPad is a netbook killer, this couldn’t be further from the truth.
Unlike a netbook, the iPad can not do multitasking, meaning you can’t for example stream or listen to music, while working in another application. It also has much smaller storage space with the netbook standard now being 250GB, and lacks a webcam or camera of any sorts.
The iPad is more closely matched to an giant iPod Touch than a netbook or computer of any type! There are a number of netbooks on the market which offer more power, more space, a keyboard!, webcam, multitasking, full proper operating system, HD display, and flash support for a lot less than the $499 asking price.
Judging from the number of comments on various websites the vast majority seem disappointed with the iPad and agree that the iPad is most certainly not a netbook killer!
If you wish, you can see the official iPad page.
What are you thoughts? Tempted, disappointed?
January 27th, 2010 at 5:25 pm
It’s no competition for the Netbooks. It is, however, competition for the IPhone. Steve Jobs is just spreading the same users around. And no Verizon access. Disappointing.
January 27th, 2010 at 9:50 pm
You are missing the point.
The iPad doesn’t compete with netbooks. It’s a device which focuses on a few tasks, and by all accounts, it does them well. Something that cannot be said about any netbook I have seen.
If you want a slim, well-designed device to read a book on, to watch a movie on, to play a quick game on, or browse the web on, the iPad would be a good choice.
If you want a capable computer for other tasks, then a good laptop would be better.
January 28th, 2010 at 1:31 am
Get a computer if you want to focus on major tasks like are suggested here.
Like the user above said, the iPad is meant to do smaller tasks BETTER and faster, not meant to do 3,000 tasks at once. I’ve yet to see any netbook do many tasks well anyhow, but that’s beside the point. Yes, it is similar to an iTouch, but the fact that you can view a webpage full screen is very encouraging (with a bulky netbook, the screen isn’t as big and it’s more difficult to view the pages.) The only thing that the netbook might have on the iPad for some people is the keyboard which to me only adds more bulk when it’s very easy just to use the built in touch screen keyboard the iPad has. All this said, the iPad is in a completely different league from the netbook anyway. Two different products entirely. But if we’re comparing, iPad all the way.
January 28th, 2010 at 8:18 am
Thanks for your input guys.
The whole angle of this post was in direct response to Steve Job’s comments where he is comparing it to a netbook, with many major news publications calling it a netbook killer.
“The problem is netbooks aren’t ready for anything, they’re slow, they have low quality displays”.
The iPad would be better compared to a large iPod touch or even an advanced reading device such as the Kindle, rather than to a netbook or laptop.
Also, Anonymous, i think you will find that all the new netbooks have a larger screen than the iPad, not smaller, making the viewing of web pages easier, not harder. The standard is now 10.1-inch and many are 11.6-inch, with higher “HD” resolutions, and touch screen convertibles if you prefer.
I’m sure the iPad will find it’s place in the market (it is an Apple product after all), but if I would personaly much rather bring a netbook with me on vacation or business trip.
I can’t imagine holding the iPad for many hours on a train or plane, while using my other arm to point at the screen, maybe okay for 20 mins, but not for any long duration of time. A netbook sits on the table or your lap perfectly, while offering more flexibility.
January 28th, 2010 at 9:32 am
Yikes, this looks no good at all. Count me *out*.
An HD netbook has higher resolution (1366 x 768) *and* a larger screen size (10.1 minimum for a device of similar size to the iPad).
Yes, at one inch thick, a netbook is 2x thicker, but in return you get the utility of a real keyboard and touchpad.
I love my iPhone, but I cannot *ever* see myself using an iPad when I can get a full PC with better resolution, bigger display, better battery life, better performance, real hard-drive-based storage, a web cam, and a whole world of apps for less money!!!
With some of the fast-boot / instant-on options now available for web browsing, IM, etc, the iPad can’t even claim this as an advantage over netbooks, either.
If the iPad is anything like my iPhone 3G, it will be painfully slow with stupid fancy screen wipes I wish would go away since they cost battery power, if not also performance.
Not for me. I think only card-carrying members of the iChurch are going to be buying this. Anyone who does a cost/benefit analysis will run screaming. Sorry Mr. Jobs.
January 28th, 2010 at 10:16 am
The quote was actually “netbooks aren’t BETTER AT anything” when compared to the iPods and macBooks. But they’re obviously better than the iPad at many things, including: multi-tasking, holding more data/media, running an OS that lets you do everything the iPad can do and more…
Sure, for some people the iPad may fit their lifestyle, but if you’ve already got an iPhone/iPod Touch or netBook, it doesn’t really bring anything new.
January 29th, 2010 at 2:33 am
Steve Jobs announces the iPad, except you can access half the (flash) internet – WTF?
January 29th, 2010 at 2:33 am
What do you think about the iPad and “best web experience ever” (with no flash support)??
January 29th, 2010 at 3:02 am
Can you believe that the iPad was basically a glorified iTouch netbook thingie?
January 29th, 2010 at 1:05 pm
Mac’s revolutionary innovation will rapidly evolve after this initial push period during it’s launch. The touch screen and Apple’s potential to fix defections will start to make the iPad a success in for the forseeable future.
January 29th, 2010 at 3:43 pm
Steve Job’s groovy iTablet will rapidly blow up after the first push time during it’s unveiling. The touch screen and Job’s potential to fix hardware will begin to make the iTablet a success in the time ahead.