Apple iPad: Happy 2nd Birthday 2
Apple changed the way we think about computing and digital devices--again--when it introduced the iPad tablet in early 2010. Take a look back and a peek ahead.
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Apple's iPad turns two on Friday, assuming we accept the late Steve Jobs' announcement of the iPad as the device's date of birth rather than its April, 2010 release date.
The iPad's gestation period was a long one. Computer pioneer Alan Kay had conceived of a tablet computer, the Dynabook, back in 1968, around the time that the film 2001: A Space Odyssey, based on Arthur C. Clark's novel of the same name, depicted a tablet news reader.
Over the years, variations on the tablet theme appeared. Microsoft hardware partners shipped tablet PCs in 2002 and Windows-based tablets have lingered on, without much success.
Apple had a tablet of sorts in its Newton handheld device. The Newton had a ten-year run, starting in the late 1980s, but failed to achieve broad enough appeal to survive.
The iPad, however, is different. It's hugely popular, so much so that Apple sold 15.4 million of them during the last quarter of 2011. That's more than the number of PCs sold during that period by HP, the world's leading PC vendor. The desktop computing era is officially over.
Thanks to Apple's touch-based operating system iOS, derived from Mac OS, the iPad offers a new kind of portable computing experience, one that maximizes tactile interaction and intimacy while minimizing the maintenance, security, and start-up delay issues associated with PCs. For those used to roughing it in the wilds of device drivers, hard disk repair, and software updates, the iPad is like a guided tourist vacation--there's a bit less freedom and a lot less to worry about.
At two years old, the iPad has won over many critics and proven that it's more than just an information consumption device. It may not be the weapon of choice for crafting 3-D graphics or writing application code, but it has become a vital workplace asset and has proven itself as tool for many types of content creation.
On a more serious note, as the Apple iPad turned two this week, the New York Times noted in an investigative article that the iPad comes with a human cost for factory workers in China.
Take a look back at a few key milestones in the life of the iPad and iPad 2--and a peek ahead to iPad 3.
The late Steve Jobs, Apple's co-founder, introduced the iPad at a press event on January 27, 2010. He noted The Wall Street Journal's characterization of the days leading up to the event: "The last time there was this much excitement about a tablet, it had some commandments written on it."
Apple's iPad was released to the public on April 3, 2010. And the public welcomed the iPad, waiting in long lines, despite dismissals of the device prior to its release.
iPads equipped with 3G cellular network connectivity were released on April 30, 2010. Wi-Fi may be the preferred way to connect an iPad to the Internet, but if you're depending on your iPad to do work while on the road, the 3G option is essential.
By May 3, 2010, a month after the release of the iPad, Apple had sold a million of the tablets. By May 30, that number had reached 2 million. Three weeks later, on June 22, the total hit 3 million. Clearly, Apple was on to something.
In early 2010, Apple's developer agreement imposed strict limits on the tools developers could use to create iOS apps. While Apple only really enforced those rules with respect to Adobe's Flash technology, most non-Apple development tool makers were uncertain about whether their development software could be used to create iPad apps. In September, 2010, Apple relaxed its rules, ensuring that innovative apps created with third-party tools wouldn't be denied access to Apple's iTunes App Store.
Introduced on March 2, 2011, and released on March 11 of that year, the iPad 2 improved on the original iPad with a slimmer form factor, a dual-core Apple A5 chip, an internal gyroscope, and front- and rear-facing cameras.
Revealed on June 6, 2011, iCloud represented a major new strategic initiative: Apple had committed to developing cloud-based services to enhance its products. Released in the fall of 2011, Apple's cloud-based storage and streaming service resolves one of the iPad's major issues--moving files on and off the device. By the end of 2011, Apple had 85 million users signed up for iCloud.
On January 19, 2012, Apple introduced iBooks 2, an updated version of its ebook reading app that supports proprietary extensions to the ePub format used by ebooks, and iBooks Author, a program for creating electronic textbooks in the iBook format. Apple hopes to revolutionize the textbook industry by encouraging publishers to use its format to create electronic textbooks for the iPad. Not everyone is thrilled with Apple's contractual exclusivity requirement, but such objections could melt away if Apple can build a market for iBook textbooks and if competitors keep coming up with inadequate alternatives.
The iPad 2 is nearly one-year-old, retirement age in product years. The Apple rumor mill suggests the iPad 3 will be released soon, perhaps as soon as March. The next iteration of the iPad is likely to have twice the resolution of the iPad 2, which would mean a screen that measures 2048 by 1536 pixels. Its chip is said to be quad-core and iPad3 may include support for 4G cellular networking.
The iPad 2 is nearly one-year-old, retirement age in product years. The Apple rumor mill suggests the iPad 3 will be released soon, perhaps as soon as March. The next iteration of the iPad is likely to have twice the resolution of the iPad 2, which would mean a screen that measures 2048 by 1536 pixels. Its chip is said to be quad-core and iPad3 may include support for 4G cellular networking.
Apple's iPad turns two on Friday, assuming we accept the late Steve Jobs' announcement of the iPad as the device's date of birth rather than its April, 2010 release date.
The iPad's gestation period was a long one. Computer pioneer Alan Kay had conceived of a tablet computer, the Dynabook, back in 1968, around the time that the film 2001: A Space Odyssey, based on Arthur C. Clark's novel of the same name, depicted a tablet news reader.
Over the years, variations on the tablet theme appeared. Microsoft hardware partners shipped tablet PCs in 2002 and Windows-based tablets have lingered on, without much success.
Apple had a tablet of sorts in its Newton handheld device. The Newton had a ten-year run, starting in the late 1980s, but failed to achieve broad enough appeal to survive.
The iPad, however, is different. It's hugely popular, so much so that Apple sold 15.4 million of them during the last quarter of 2011. That's more than the number of PCs sold during that period by HP, the world's leading PC vendor. The desktop computing era is officially over.
Thanks to Apple's touch-based operating system iOS, derived from Mac OS, the iPad offers a new kind of portable computing experience, one that maximizes tactile interaction and intimacy while minimizing the maintenance, security, and start-up delay issues associated with PCs. For those used to roughing it in the wilds of device drivers, hard disk repair, and software updates, the iPad is like a guided tourist vacation--there's a bit less freedom and a lot less to worry about.
At two years old, the iPad has won over many critics and proven that it's more than just an information consumption device. It may not be the weapon of choice for crafting 3-D graphics or writing application code, but it has become a vital workplace asset and has proven itself as tool for many types of content creation.
On a more serious note, as the Apple iPad turned two this week, the New York Times noted in an investigative article that the iPad comes with a human cost for factory workers in China.
Take a look back at a few key milestones in the life of the iPad and iPad 2--and a peek ahead to iPad 3.
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