by Louis Harwood

The new Apple iPad

So after months of speculation, finally we are presented with... the iPad! Was it what we expected?

Well, we were certainly given enough speculative news coverage to last us for a very long time. But does it live up to the hype? Are we to believe this hype and to simply render it in our minds as the newest piece of technology that will revolutionise our lives? Or do we approach it with a slightly more cynical approach?

The pace of technology seems to pass us by at a revolutionary rate, can the iPad give us anything new, or are we simply seeing the commercial advancement of a company reeling in the glory of its past achievements?

The iPad, since launch, has been often derided as ‘a larger iPod Touch’, perhaps by the cynics, but is there any truth in such accusations? Considering the iPad from a technological point of view we are presented with some technologies that perhaps we have seen before, but that are integrated in a new, innovative way.

Take, for example, Apple’s slogan of ‘The best way to experience the web’, it certainly catches the eye and indeed it is a bold statement, but let us take a closer look and dissect this a little further. The iPad offers the opportunity to, in the words of Apple, ‘experience the web in a different way’. In fact, they go a little further than this and suggest it is a revolutionary way of experiencing the web. This is of course based on individuality, it is a new and different way that individuals can surf the web. There is screen orientation, maybe this is not a new thing. But certainly on a screen of this size, no one has been able to simply ‘flip’ the screen before and have it orientate to the correct angle.

Apple are trying to revolutionise the way in which people experience the web and, who know, they may just succeed. Following on from the phenomenal success of the App Store and iTunes they have now introduced iBooks. Although perhaps an obvious move they have given us a larger screen, some might say that is necessary for reading a book or a newspaper.

As is usual with releases from Apple, they are being characteristically cagey with their pricing right up until the critical launch date. Currently Play.com are offering the 16 GB version for £499. It must be said, however, that this is at best an educated guess and anyone would do well to hold off paying a deposit until such a time that there is an official launch price.

Perhaps we are missing the point and looking for a product that will provide us with an opportunity to change the world. That is simply not going to happen. But maybe if you are looking for a product that complements your home PC, and eventually may overtake it, the iPad may be it. Although one can’t help thinking that the iPad might be a portable replacement for the home desktop, this may well be the future and might just be one of the most significant technological developments yet.

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