The iPad physically resembles an oversized iPod touch, with a 9.7-inch, 1024-by-768-pixel screen dominating the front and a black bezel surrounding it. The back is made from a solid piece of aluminum, with a 30-pin dock connector and speaker on the bottom, and volume, sleep/wake, and headphone ports around the other sides.
“iPad is our most advanced technology in a magical and revolutionary device at an unbelievable price,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “iPad creates and defines an entirely new category of devices that will connect users with their apps and content in a much more intimate, intuitive and fun way than ever before.”
The iPad, on the other hand, is made for the consumption of digital media: games, music, photos, videos, magazines, news papers and e-books. Sure you can use it to check your email or work on a keynote, but the iPad’s primary purpose is to help you consume the ever-expanding amount of digital content on offer.
So in many ways, today is a brand new day for content creators and owners alike. For if we’re smart, all of us — from large media giants such as Fox to upstarts like my little company — will figure out how to build a new magazine/news experience that leverages the iPad’s powerful processor, great graphics, stunning display and most importantly, Internet connection. In fact I’ll go out on a limb and say that today may be the day we start to rethink how we build web sites. Here we offer a full rundown of the iPad's features:
The Top 10 Highlights:
* There is one single button on the entire device, which I think is just brilliant because it means fewer distractions.
* There’s a sleep/wake button at the top, much like the iPhone.
* There’s a headphone jack.
* I like how the device switches from landscape to portrait mode so quickly in all four orientations.
* The web browsing experience is easy and satisfying, thanks to an ultra-responsive touchscreen.
* The Maps application is pretty stunning, especially the street view, which comes alive on the iPad screen like never before.
* YouTube works as advertised, including the HD videos. It’s a damn shame there isn’t an iPad version of Hulu.
* The iTunes store and iTunes Video work very well, and the music buying experience is no different than, say, on a Mac.
* It’s simple enough to plow through a whole bunch of email very very quickly.
* iPhoto is a much better experience on the iPad than you would imagine, especially the slideshows.
Something maybe you don't like:
*The screen resolution of 1024 X 768, or about 4:3, is underwhelming.
- *There’s no way to lock the device into either portrait or landscape mode.
- *The decision to work with AT&T for a wireless 3G data is just straight-up dumb. It’s not like Apple doesn’t know how bad the performance of the AT&T network is.
Additional facts:
The device will work with any Bluetooth keyboard, but not with a Bluetooth mouse. The keyboard dock for the device will cost about $69. A case/stand is going to cost $39.
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