**UPDATE April 14th: Apple has announced a delay due to a large number of sales in the United States. Whereever the bottleneck, Apple is unable to keep up and is delaying the Canadian (and international) release of the iPad by about a month. It’s been also announced that details of the availability will be made clear on May 10th, so stay tuned for more specifics as they develop.
“A magical and revolutionary product starting at an unbelievable price.” This is how Apple has chosen to market it’s latest invention, the iPad (www.apple.com/ipad). Will it live up to the hype? Nobody can say for certain… but we sure can speculate!
It’s been a buzz for a while, and everyone has been waiting patiently. Unfortunately however, everyone outside the United States has had to wait a little while longer before getting their hands on the device.
When Steve Jobs unveiled the iPad in January, he noted that the first wave of devices (WiFi-only) would be available late March. This was eventually pushed back to early April and then set in stone for April 3rd, 2010. The catch was that the WiFi + 3G version of the iPad would be available sometime after the WiFi-only device, estimating about 30 days. At this point, we still had no idea when the device (either version) would become available to the rest of the world, and no intelligence to suggest that a Canadian launch was imminent.
A press release by Apple on March 5th, indicated that the iPad would be available outside the United States near the end of April. Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland and the UK are the countries that made the cut for the “outside of the U.S.” list.
Until today, there has been no other confirmation, or specificity to when exactly the device would be ready. It’s come to my attention, however, that Apple retail store employees here in Canada have been instructed that the weekend of April 24th, 2010 will be a “blackout period”. This means that nobody is allowed to book the time off. I don’t think anyone could look at these two pieces of fact and decide on coincidence. This has also been rumoured/confirmed by iPadinCanada.
Will the iPad Succeed?
Steve Jobs showcasing the iPad in San Francisco on January 27th
There are a couple factors that could affect the iPad’s success, one of which will unfortunately rely on your geography.
Carrier rates and quality will play a heavy part. Thus far, the only confirmed carrier to host the iPad’s 3G wireless services in the United States, is AT&T. They offer two plans (that are both contract free) which you can sign up for directly on the device – you never need to phone anyone or spend more than 5 minutes to sign up or cancel. You can pay $15 a month for 250MB of bandwidth transfer per month, or $30 for unlimited data… an incredible offer. It’s a little upsetting for dense metropolitan areas however, that so far AT&T will be the only confirmed carrier, because there have been numerous reports of New York and San Francisco experiencing poor performance with their service due to congestion. In response to this, AT&T has been working tirelessly to improve network performance, and I imagine that since it’s been a known issue for so long, the worst is probably behind them.
On our side of the fence, wireless customers have been abused as 3G smartphone consumers. Rogers felt it could take advantage of it’s exclusivity of the iPhone and overcharge customers for small amounts of data. The prices and plans that were announced by Rogers when the iPhone was coming to Canada were outrageous. Extortion would be nothing short of appropriate to describe the communication giant’s initial approach to their newly acquired Apple product line. Shamelessly, they tried passing off their pricing scheme based on supply and demand and competitive rates and whatever other garbage industry terms they could throw to try to dupe the customer.
It didn’t take long for Rogers to respond to the online uproar of infuriated would-be customers and current loyal consumers; they quickly re-evaluated their plans and made available larger amounts of data (up to 3 times more) for a much cheaper price. At the time of launch, you could get 6GB of data month for an extra $30 a month to your plan, if you extended your term by another 3 years of course. While Canada still lags hard behind the United States and most of Europe in pricing, exclusivity no longer lies with Rogers – Bell & Telus are now running a joint network which supports the iPhone and other high speed GSM/HSPA devices. Those of us who do not miss being Rogers customers (amen), need not worry about our future with wireless technology.
iPad on display after the special event, shown in landscape orientation.
Application support and availability is another strong factor that will play a role. It’s no secret that the iPhone is a (and excuse me for this) unique and revolutionary device, but one that would certainly not earn the title without the beloved application store. Currently, there are more than 150,000 applications available to download. While I’m sure a small percentage of the apps (I’ll be generous and assume 20%) are less than attractive to the average consumer, it’s still an insurmountable amount of helpful, useful, innovative, and ultimately valuable utilities that make the iPhone as special as it is. While I can do the iPhone’s capacity as a whole no justice with one simple blog post, it’s without a doubt in my mind that the device is unparalleled in the smart-phone market.
This Saturday [at launch], the iPad will have access to almost all existing iPhone/iPod applications, but will also offer 1000 iPad-specific applications to choose from. Due to it’s larger size and longer battery life (amongst other hardware improvements over the iPhone/iPod), it will have the capacity to run newer, more elaborate applications. Access to the iBookstore (60,000 books currently available, half of which will be free at launch) is an added incentive to purchase the new device, one that can’t be overlooked. Continuing development for the iPad will be an integral part of it’s success; Apple will need developers to feel the next gold rush, so to speak, to fuel a real boom of iPad applications that make the device really worth buying, because as it stands now, no matter how magical, it’s still a luxury device that I view as an unnecessary purchase if you own a decent laptop.
What Else Do I Need To Know?
It’s been a huge topic of discussion: Will the iPad replace the laptop? Is it competing with netbook computers? What ‘category’ do we place it in? Who has this device been designed for?
Numerous questions beg for numerous answers: The iPad, while new and innovative in design, doesn’t have the full function of a laptop or desktop computer. You can’t run Adobe CS4, play real video games, manage or edit your iTunes library, video chat (although it’s rumored to be in a revised edition of the device) and there’s no upgrading from the meek storage. You wouldn’t find someone sitting for a couple hours typing on the virtual keyboard – it’s good for a couple quick emails and small document edits, but if you’re doing real work, you’ll either want something that sits on your lap, or easily on a desk with a full functioning software set. The applications you can install are also obviously limited, but that’s a idea – you’re not supposed to be able to install Firefox or Bit Torrent software – it’s a different niche. For all these reasons and more, the iPad will not be replacing your computer.
Who will get the greatest value out of the iPad? Commuters, travelers, loungers, and those with some extra pocket money who want to be part of the newest-toys club. Commuters who spend anywhere from 60 to 90 minutes (or more) on public transit every day are wasting a lot of time if just sit there waiting to get to work/school/destination. Assuming a normal work schedule, 60 minutes of commute time a day turns into more than 250 hours spent on the bus. Even after subtracting a little for sick and vacation days, that’s a lot of time that goes to waste. At the very least, you could at least waste the time entertaining yourself (playing games, watching movies or TV shows), or you could choose to read a book, surf the internet to learn or inform yourself, or be productive through the many outlets that the iPad provides. Do you know that the average university course is about 80 hours in length? Think to yourself, if you’re not putting that commuting time to good use, you’re burning 3 classes worth of learning a year… that’s a lot.
People who travel will be quite impressed to say the least, that preliminary hands-on testing of the iPad reveals greater than 10 hour battery life while watching movies; this is incredible. A gorgeous display that will let you watch a movie, work, read and play for the duration of a trans-Atlantic flight… and then some. Think of how long your iPod or iPhone lasts while watching movies and how much less of an experience it is on those small-screened devices. In addition, battery life is more than double some of the top portable DVD players and other entertainment device – the iPad is easily an industry leader as far as that’s concerned.
For those who enjoy sitting in Starbucks reading the paper, or having a beer on a Patio just to enjoy the sun and some light reading, this device may be for you too; add 3G connectivity or a WiFi hot-spot for even greater results. You’re able to hold the iPad in your hands so comfortably (from watching Steve Jobs’ keynote) that being out with the iPad can still feel casual and calming. Even when you’re in the living room watching TV, and you need a resource for checking… anything! The family room iPad is a handy well rounded device for those households which are technology driven, and love having gadgets strewing about for… again… anything!
The iPad surfs the web, checks your email, stores your contacts and calendar events, showcases your pictures, lets you watch movies and T.V. shows, browse YouTube, has a built in iPod, lets you purchase media, applications, books; it has Google Maps built in, lets you write notes, or use iWork to create documents, spreadsheets and presentations… does anyone else think it isn’t worth the money? The value is there, it’s definitely there. Have you seen how hospitals take advantage of iPhone technology? Just wait and see what new and innovative uses are developed for the iPad…
At this point, it’s difficult not to admire and respect the potential for good that Apple has released to the world with this new invention. Will the iPad succeed you ask? Without a doubt in my mind.
