Apple Inc. said it will sell the newly unveiled tablet-style iPad starting at $499, a price tag far below the $1,000 that some analysts were expecting.
The iPad, which is larger in size but similar in design to Apple’s popular iPhone, was billed by CEO Steve Jobs on Wednesday as “so much more intimate than a laptop and so much more capable than a smart phone.”
The highly anticipated gadget has a 9.7-inch touch screen, is a half-inch thick, weighs 1.5 pounds and comes with 16, 32 or 64 gigabytes of flash memory storage. The basic iPad models will cost $499, $599 and $699, depending on the storage size.
At first glance, it’s merely a large iPod Touch. It is not a MacOS device.
Thus, it won’t run Microsoft Office, and it won’t run Windows XP Tablet.
It would be interesting to see an Altar Book application running on it…
I’m writing this on an Asus eeepc 7 inch screen computer. It too has flash memory, will run about 15 hours with the extended battery, has open architecture linux as its OS, a real keyboard and is very light. Cost me a little over $300.00. I think Apple’s latest is too little too late.
The 41 magnum was supposed to have the kick of a .357 magnum and the hitting power of a .44 magnum. It was the reverse and not too many people bought one. I remain unconvinced that I need an Ipad.
To respond… it is more than just a large iPod Touch. Different hardware, different software and much more versatile. An Altar Book app would be awesome I agree !
Bloomberg TV’s coverage this morning: “Bad name, good buzz.”
A friend of mine, a devout member of the Church of Apple, had asked me about getting a Kindle to read books, or the expected Apple tablet computer. This morning, I got a note, with a subject of “iDud,” that he was going with the Kindle. His comment was essentially too much money for too little performance, and the lack of ability to upgrade components.
Imagine an altar book app:
1. Rite 1 or Rite 2?
2. Which Eucharistic prayer?
3. Propers come up based on the date, with the option of using a different proper for a special occasion
4. Plainchant notation on or off, with rehearsal function (teaching the Exsultet to the deacon, for example)
5. Footswitch to turn pages. A second footswitch to send an electric shock to the organ bench.
6. (For the Diocese of Northern Michigan: ability to customize the services, with a secret transmission of the customized service to the conservative blogs.)
And, an electronic hymnal.
The iPhone/iPod platform already has some good Bible software.
Here’s a question that I am looking forward to asking at the Apple store when the iPad is available: I have an iPhone and a MacBook laptop; what use would the iPad serve me, especially since I can’t run Microsoft office on it? I just don’t see this as much more than a niche product, perhaps a precursor to something [i]really[/i] useful.
iPad? Terrible name, unless it comes in maxi- and mini-sizes and is available with wings.
Scott, the rumor going around the ‘net is that perhaps there were no women on the marketing/branding team – otherwise, this would have been caught long before launch. 🙂
The choice of name may have been influenced by the gizmo from the Star Trek series called ( wait for it ) a “PADD” or “Personal Access Display Device”.