(Thumbnail image: The New York Times)
Apple unveiled their much-anticipated creation, the iPad this week. Despite almost giddy coverage leading up to the tablet’s release, reviews have been mixed.
BBC gives their take on who they think will use the iPad.
“But they seem to sort of resonate with business men, those kind of people who can put it in their briefcase, take it on the plane, I don’t think this is going to be the kind of common device that people walk around with, have in their bags and pockets and just whip out on the train as their commuting to and from work. It strikes me that this is something people would use in their homes or those sort of longer journeys on planes and that kind of thing.”
But Darrell Etherington writes on The Apple Blog that he thinks the iPad is too far in between categories of devices to actually be useful.
“The iPad, if I try to look at it dispassionately, is essentially a media player that’s too large to carry around comfortably in your pocket, too small to be preferable for movie viewing to your TV, and could even represent a significant recurring money drain if you get 3G service.”
CNET’s Brian Tong believes that even though the iPad is between categories, application developers will make it reach its potential.
“They showcased a few applications, MLB.com showcased watching a sports game while interacting with stats and the field. Gameloft also showcased their game Nobook where you could really take advantage of the larger screen and interact with it. You could pull up weapons, move them around, and also increase the size of the map so you can really see some of the innovation on the developers side and help push this product forward.”
And finally, an analyst on CNBC has a more superficial complaint, with the name iPad.
“It reminds me of feminine products. I’m sorry, not to be gross. I think it’s a terrible name. Paul, what do you think? I’m still cringing… Um, I’m sorry.”
So what do you think of iPad? Will Apple strike gold or are they making a mistake?
