One of the worst kept secrets ever, Apple CEO Steve Jobs announced the iPad tablet today, to much fanfare. Stereotypically dressed and presenting, Mr. Jobs not only announced, but demonstrated the much-speculated tablet. After some perusing of release notes, a few thoughts:
-Kindles are done. This does everything Kindle does, but in colour. Books are likely to cost a little more, but with an iTunes like bookstore (iBooks), it's a done deal.
-It's fast, it's slick, it's trendy, and people will buy one and not even think about it.
-AT&T got the boots put to them. The contracts and commitment to AT&T is an interesting one, and I think the telecom giant loses big, even with the exclusivity it has had in the past. If the SIM card is changeable, AT&T got smacked.
-Apps rule. We knew this with the iPhone, but this will only continue to promote the cross-branding Apple is trying (and succeeding) to accomplish. All iPod/iPhone apps work on the iPad, and more.
-It's a gaming machine. Big promises, but if they have the processing power they are promoting, this will also greatly impact Sony's PSP and Nintendo's DSi market.
-No ability to multitask. This is a BIG DEAL to a lot of people, and may be the 'tragic flaw' of the iPad. I don't know anyone that doesn't have multiple applications running on their PC at any time. iPad's inability to run more than one program at a time will be crippling, and will lead to much griping.
-Battery breakthrough. The battery life promises are astronomical. 10 hours of activity - nearly a month on standby. Insane.
-Netbooks are going to be the market that suffers. I don't think it will be a significant impact on laptops/desktops, but netbooks are going to hurt as more people with iPods look to the familiarity of the Apple brand.
-Apple designers are awesome. The design, like so many Apple products, it just astounding, amazing, and leads the pack.
-The price is right. After rumours of $1K per iPad, the price isn't bad at all, even if you do consider the higher price with 3G. See more of the price info here.
Although it was seen coming from a mile away, it's a pretty significant day.
Check out a nice summary page of iPad stuff from Gizmodo here.
