A Job Well Done Steve

After reading this article, I am officially sold on Apple's latest creation, the iPad. At first I figured it was just another gadget to temporarily satisfy the Techie’s unquenchable cravings for upgrades and innovation.

 I’ve been duped, yet again, first with the iPod, then with the iMac. Without these things I feel incomplete, as if they are an appendage and imperative to my well being. Sure it may sound a bit extreme, but a day without my iPod would result in some very long and awkwardly silent bus rides. I’d be hard pressed to choose wether I’d rather forget my lunch or my iPod. 

Apple is notorious for creating a lack in the mind of the consumer while simultaneously filling that void with sleek user-friendly electronics. If the iPad were just a jazzed up version of a reader, I can’t say I’d be overly excited about it. Sure carting around books can be cumbersome, but it’s not troubling enough to justify spending money on a  reader. I actually enjoy the tactile experience of reading; I like holding a book and physically turning the pages. It wasn’t until I had a conversation with a fellow Apple enthusiast that I learned that the iPad simulates the act of reading a book, “you can turn pages and highlight” he told me. After hearing this I was impressed, but not yet convinced that the iPad was a practice purchase. 

What really caught my attention was that Apple signed a deal with major publishing companies for its iBook application, which at the very least, could cause an inevitable collapse of Amizon’s Kindle. Now with the choke hold on the e-book industry, Apple has set a new precedent for the way we consume text. This is similar to the Napster era, where downloading ushered in a demand for Mp3 players and Mp3 players, encouraged more downloading, legally and illegally. Seeing as how scanning pages from a book is a much more strenuous procedure than ripping music files, I can’t imagine iPad users will habitually download e-book torrents. 

The iPad, is more than just a reader that can hold your school textbooks. I think Apple's multimedia tablet could  revolutionize what it means to be a student. Just recently, Apple’s iPad SDK revealed that the device has the capability to: entertain video conferencing, synch up network printing, hook up to HD external displays and share a workspace with a desktop. Speaking as a student, presentations and group work have never sounded so enticing.

 Thanks Apple -- life just got a lot easier.