iPad, Boom or Doom?
Steve Jobs presented the long-rumored tablet device from Apple last night and it called iPad. The new tablet will be available in March and starts at $499. It is a half an inch thick and has a 9.7-inch touchpad screen. It uses internal flash memory instead of a hard drive, which enables it to be smaller.
The iPad will be available in 16 gigabyte, 32 GB or 64 GB versions priced from $499-$699 with built-in Wi-Fi. Some models will offer 3G wireless access. Those will be priced from $629-$829. An limited data plan from AT&T costs $29.99 a month with no contract commitment, including use of AT&T Wi-Fi hotspots throughout the U.S.
I personally see this device as a "bigger" iTouch as I don't see any new significant improvements on the apps or the way it interacts with the user beside the eBook reader and the new online bookstore called iBooks (you can see all the features on their website). Almost all features offered already exists in iTouch and iPhone with the perfect size for mobile.
And Oh... is it already support multi-tasking yet? I don't think so... ;)
As for the eBook reader itself (some people claim it as Kindle killer), well I really don't think graphics and novel will get along. For me, iPad will definitely consume much battery energy if it''s only used for eBook reader as book readers doesn't need fancy graphics to read the book, they already happy with "printed page" displayed on Kindle.
There will be no Kindle if Amazon bookstore never exists, so does iPad eBook reader which needs iBooks as the online book store. It is reported that Apple already reach agreements with five of six major publishing in US but it is also said that books sold in iBooks is more expensive than Kindle books.
I may be wrong, but my feeling say that this device will still be a hit just like other Apple's device but that's not because of its functionality but only because of it's an A - P - P - L - E product.
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