subject: Understanding the Misunderstood IPAD [print this page] When Steve Jobs first introduced the iPad to the world, what he wanted was a third category device in the middle of smartphone and a laptop. Almost everyone has a smartphone and/or a laptop. Jobs wanted something that was somewhere between a phone and a laptop but performed better in terms of key features of both products.
Netbooks have been considered to be the answer. But Jobs considers them as nothing but cheaper, smaller, and slower laptops describing them as "not better at anything."
This is how the idea of the iPad came to be. It is larger than a phone giving the user more viewing room as well as a larger memory and faster speed. At the same time, it is smaller than a laptop and more portable than a netbook allowing the user to carry it around and use it just about anywhere you want.
Besides this, Jobs identified seven key features essential for this third category device. These would be web-browsing, emailing, photo sharing, video and music streaming, playing games and reading ebooks.
Compared to laptop, the iPad provides phenomenal browsing capabilities. It gives its user the ability to manipulate websites with the fingertips. One can zoom-in and zoom-out at any part of a page just by the touch of the screen
This finger-browsing-power is not limited to websites but in viewing photographs as well. Not only is it convenient for personal photo-sharing pursposes but can be used even as a portable digital portfolio for artists.
Not only that. You can flip the iPad and it would automatically flip the screen your are viewing allowing you to view either in horizontal or portrait orientation.
In addition to this, the touch screen keyboard allows you to encode making email possible.
It also has a built-in iPod that allows you to view, listen and store your video and music collection. With the iTunes store, you can also purchase more music, videos, movies, TV shows as well as e-books.
Moreover, it has the palm feature working like a bigger digital organizer with its calendar and address books. It has an amazing map application that gives you access to various establishments similar to a GPS.
The raves against the iPad have mostly to contest its capabilities as a replacement over laptops and notebooks. However, understanding the features of Apple's latest creation proves that it is an innovative step in being able to enhance the essential factors of a hand-held device.
