The Internet is an amusing place. After Apple announced its new iPad, Bill Gates doesn’t seem to think the iPad will have any impact and will be a flop as he feels that devices with no physical keyboard just aren’t going to be able to take the marketplace like they should. If this is the case then how does he explain the iPhone? Only one of the most if not the successful phones in existence, much better then his Windows mobile smartphones that continue to lose market share to the iPhone. Then there is the diametrically opposed side to it from Mr Wenger, the CEO of Disney who thinks there is a huge market for iPad and states the fortune of the iPhone as being proof that it can and will succeed. Of course the fact that Steve Jobs is the majority stockholder of Disney could very well have something to do with his positive reinforcement of the device

If you believe most critics, the Apple iPad is going to be a enormous flop.

Well, the unwashed masses on the Internet also predicted that the iPod
would be a failure. They were wrong then, and they are wrong now.

The iPad is a computer for people who don’t like computers. People who
don’t like the fancy of upgrading and adjusting their
screen resolution . Who don’t understand why
their computer gets slower and slower the longer they own it, who have
45 icons in their system tray and have to wait ten minutes for their
system to boot up every day.

For what most of these people need a computer for, the iPad is perfect.
It doesn’t do as many things as a “real” computer does, but the things
it does do it does in a way even non-tech-savvy people can figure out,
and there are far fewer ways to screw it up. So if you have managed to
persuade yourself that the iPad is a useless, locked-up DRM-laden
failure of a ‘computer’ before even touching one,

The iPad is perfect for my mother. It does precisely what she needs. It will
let her watch movies and listen to music and read books on long
flights. It will make using a computer fun instead of an annoying tribulation.

But it also won’t allow her to install umpteen news and stats gadgets
that start up on boot and slow her computer to a crawl. It won’t
all of a sudden forget how to talk to a network, or get so confound by all of
the software installs and uninstalls that you finally have to break
down and reinstall the system from scratch. finally throw off the oppressive chains of being the one guy in the.  And you know what? There are millions upon millions of people just like
her out there. They outnumber us. And they finally have a chance to
become beneficial, self-sufficient computer users instead of constantly
asking family members to fix their computers or, even worse, keeping
the Geek Squad in business.

No, the iPad isn’t for everyone. But I’m going to go on record as
saying that, for non-computer-geeks everywhere, the iPad is going to
change computing.

Going by the recent pre-orders data so far that has come in it’s estimated there are over 200,000 pre-orders already for the device! Not bad for something unproven. Now consider how many people won’t buy it until they can actually see it and then the other groups that are waiting for the 3G version or even the next iteration of the iPad and I think you can safely assume there are well over 1million buyers for this new device. Because of this I think this device truely will “revolutionize” computing.

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Apple unveiled its newest product to the world this week – the Apple iPad! Apple calls it a “revolutionary” product somewhere between the laptop and the smartphone. The iPad features a 9.8 inch screen, is half an inch thick, and weighs only 1.5 pounds.

Apple believes that the iPad will be the next big thing. Personally, it may take a bit more to convince me of that. Perhaps it may eventually live up to all the current hype but right now it looks like an oversized iTouch to me. The best things about it as far as I can see at this point are the ten hours of battery life and the large screen size. That being said, I can see how the iPad could catch on.

Some of the included features of the iPad are a calendar, maps, games and the software necessary for playing music. However, all of these are also standard with other iPods as well, so why should you buy the iPad? Well let’s talk about some of the pluses and minuses from an older generations viewpoint.

The large screen size is a definite plus! For those of us heading towards middle age, the increased screen size makes it easier on the eyes. The screen is also in hi-definition which makes everything more realistic. The iPad screen size will make it more enjoyable to play games (yes, we old folks sometimes like to play games in our spare time) or watch videos. The large screen may also prove to be a downfall. If the screen is as delicate as the iPod screens can be, the size could become an issue. Larger screens mean more area to break. Also, the larger size would make it a little more cumbersome to carry around — it certainly won’t fit in your pocket.

The ease with which you can surf the web and read emails will make it much more appealing to older “technically challenged” users than a computer or laptop. It has an almost full sized touch screen keyboard and allows you to use it as a word processor of sorts. The calendar and contacts on the iPad look like real appointment books due to the size.

All of the apps that are currently available for the iPhone will work for the iPad yet you will need to view them in the center of the screen or you can enlarge them in “pixel double” mode which tends to crudely expand them. Also, the new iBook site that Apple opened to go along with the iPad allows you to download a book with the touch of a finger and turn the page with a flick of your finger. Reading an e-book on the iPad will create a whole new experience and give the Kindle a run for its money. All of your Kindle books, by the way, should be able to be downloaded onto the iPad.

The price and speed of the iPad make it worth considering; with the added capability of a camera and phone functionality, I believe it would truly be the whole package. I know that I would be waiting in line to purchase it!

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Apple’s iPad became available for preorder on Friday, and reports, over 120,000 iPads were sold in the first day.

The figure is taken from a sample of 99 orders for 110 iPads taken by the board, units that were merely reserved rather than sold not included in the statistics.

As a result, AAPL Sanity’s calculations conclude that 119,987 units were picked up by those placing pre-orders on day one, with the cheaper 3G-only units making up 69 per cent of all of the sales.

According to analyst Victor Castroll of Valcent Financial Group:

“Apple has been able to generate over $75 million in revenue in one day on a product that 99.9% of purchasers haven’t touched or for that matter, even seen in person.”

Earlier, it was announced that Apple could only get 300k units on store shelves at launch day. A couple of days ago, reactions have surfaced around the Web about ordering problems. The Apple iPad will be officially available in three weeks time.

Castroll was one of two AAPL Sanity members who monitored the order numbers as they flowed in, but he credits Deagol – a blogger-investor whose predictions of Apple’s earnings are consistently more accurate than the Street’s – with doing the heaving lifting. You can follow Deagol’s work at Deagol’s AAPL Model.

Estimates of the number of iPads Apple will have manufactured by April range from a high of 1 million to a low of 300,000.

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There is no doubt that the iPad will continue the ever-changing format of Web design. The question is whether the iPad will revolutionize Web design as significantly as mobile devices like the iPhone and Droid have.

Bridging the Gap

The iPad is a bridge between the two traditional systems of online computing—the computer and the phone. The iPad will be the first great chance for Web designers to harmonize the aspects that consumers enjoy about the two different platforms.

The advantages to mobile device design are minimalism, clarity and ease of navigation. Sites redesigned for mobile platforms have fewer, bolder buttons and layout takes precedent over flash (no Adobe pun intended).

The advantages to a traditional computing platform include flexibility, processing power and bandwidth speed. More powerful applications can be run on a computer and serviced by an Internet service provider.

The Best of Both Worlds

The role of Web design on the iPad will incorporate the best of both worlds — a focus on content and layout with elements of subtle style; navigation that is simple, intuitive and speedy; and applications that utilize the geolocation and innovation of mobile devices, but require more processing power.

A key element in the Web design for the iPad will be for designers to incorporate the element of touch. With 10 fingers replacing a single cursor and a screen big enough to fit all those fingers, new levels of interactivity will emerge. Swiping, rotating and jiggling are all motions that could have new functions if Web designers take them into account.

While many of these novelties may initially be for diversion, practical functions will emerge. Imagine the ease of turning pictures for someone to see who is looking on a tablet or the ability to push page elements into a new organization based on personal preferences.

Interactive Elements

Since Apple continues to neglect Flash, Web design for the iPad and other tablets will likely find alternate methods for interactive media. HTML 5 and future Web standards will become more versatile and allow for complicated scripting that will inevitably outperform current Flash standards.

The iPad should soon be able to incorporate other peripherals, which will also affect Web design. Video chat may become an easily integrated stable of many sites, especially social networking sites. With this in mind, site layout will have to accommodate burgeoning trends with space and functionality.

While it is impossible to determine how Web design will evolve through the iPad, it will no doubt create a significant ripple through the current standards and challenge designers to maximize their functionality on tablet platforms.

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Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past few weeks you probably haven’t missed Apple’s iPad annoucement. This image was taken from a Wired hands on article. Make no bones about it, the iPad is a d is a 9.7-inch, 1.5 pound wonder! Initial impresssions are that it’s easy to use, the screen is beautiful (1024 by 768 resolution), and very responsive (1GHz custome cpu). It doesn’t come with a physical keyboard; you’ll have to buy that as a seperate optional acccesory. The iPad will be released sometime this spring.

Will the iPad kill the Kindle and other e-readers? Probably not according to this article from Wired. While easy to use, it’s missing the simplicity of USB ports (non included), usability of GPS (only 3G iPads will have it), and speediness of multitasking (one app at a time). The on screen keyboard doesn’t make up for the lack of a real one (another optional accessory). We’re surprised at the lack of a webcam and being forced to use AT&T for data connection (iPhone uses hate AT&T…including us).

The real burning question is will the public embrace the iPad? It’s way too easy to tell. Our educated guess is the while a fair of amount of tech gurus take to the iPad like a duck to water many others will be slow to adapt it. More than likely, touch screen devices like the iPad will slowly permeate into our culture over the next 20 years. As the Y generation matures through high school and college they will enter the work place completely accustomed and comfortable with technology. In 20 years when the Z generation enters the marketplace they will probably insist on using the newest technologies. Who knows what life will look like in 2020 or 2030? Time will tell.

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