On Wednesday 27th January, Apple CEO Steve Jobs revealed a new class of Apple product, apple's first tablet machine named the IPad.
The reaction to which has been of mixed review, both positive and quite cynical feedback, of which the one that has summed up our initial feelings towards the product are summed up with the following.
Looking at the product in depth the criticism has been quite just. Apple have always been known for being a marketing machine showing unwavering passion for their products. The apple Ipad is running a tweaked version of the same Mac OS X product that run's Apple's Iphone and IPod Touch.
Among the limitations that have been well document in the Iphone and Ipod Touch products have been the ability to multitask applications. A decision made by Apple on performance grounds. The OS also does not support Adobe's Flash plugin, which makes it hard to understand how this can be the "best browsing experience" as Apple would claim where this will leave many rich content sites unbrowsable.
Tablet PC's are not a new concept. The idea was originally announced as a product by Microsoft in 2001 of which over the years a number of keyboardless state PC's and convertible keyboard designs has emerged, typically working with a stylus.
With the emergence of Windows 7 and it's improved touch input and apple's recent development of touch and gesture input the market of tablet pc's has been given a needed boost.
Whether the product will be successful is remains to be seen but initial reaction has shown to see the ipad as anything but ground breaking. It is difficult to see who this product is for where on first glances, it is nothing more than a IPod Touch on your lap. The product falls between not quite a laptop and not quite a smartphone. The whole product is based on the idea of making our lives easier. What applications that could be potentially be developed for the platform may very well determine it's success.
Among the more interesting announcements for the product is that it will be possible to run Windows 7 on the hardware using Citrix XenDesktop & Citrix XenApp application allowing you to remotely run an application and an Operating system. With a combination of the Hardware and the open environment of Microsoft's Desktop software, or indeed potentially other operating systems or applications, the Ipad could become a very interesting business product.
Will you be investing in an Ipad? Give us your thoughts.