The iPad, a Must Have Commodity

Picture standing in line for hours, freezing your ears and hands off just to be the first one to own the NEW Apple iPad. Fortunately you won’t be the only Apple obsessed individual willing to sacrifice an entire day to be the first iPad owner. People are sleeping and standing in line for days to be the first to own the new iPad. Right now, you may be asking yourself, what is the iPad? The iPad is the latest invention under the Apple brand. The iPad is a tablet computer developed by Apple Inc., it is considered to be in a category between the Smartphone and the laptop computer. While reading this article, you will find out how great the iPad is and how the iPad will enter your life as a tool that you must have to complete your technology collection. The main characters that the iPad will be aiming towards are college students, business men and women and those college students who have the iPad as a priority to help them with school work and people who are obsessed with any new Apple product.

To give you an aspect from someone who owns an iPad I sat down with my friend Ricardo Carrera who owns an Apple iPad. Ricardo is a freshman at the U of I and is a currently majoring in Electrical and Computer Engineering. I first started off by asking him, why did he decide to purchase the iPad, and I was not surprised when he said “they looked cool and I just wanted to play with it and see how it was.” Ricardo said that the iPad is a great tool for college students because it is a light mini laptop that can be carried anywhere. Ricardo bought the 16G iPad which is $499 and he told me that he stood in line for 10 hours waiting to be one of the first U of I students with an iPad. When I asked Ricardo what does he mainly uses the iPad for he stated “I use the iPad for numerous things, mainly internet while I’m not in my room, of course I have a few albums and movies on there as well as games, but it’s mainly used for internet outside my dorm. He said that the internet is extremely fast on the iPad and that it picks up Wi-Fi just about anywhere on campus. Ricardo said that the best thing about the iPad is its ability to be as powerful as a laptop but a lot more interactive. He also said that the iPad is his new best friend; because he can’t leave it alone for anything as soon as he puts it down he has to pick it back up. I asked him if he was waiting for the new iPad to come out and he said, “no I’m satisfied with the one I have now, I’m sure that the new iPad is going to be better but he would rather spend $630 dollars on the new iPhone that’s coming out soon.” I was shocked how attached he was to his iPad, he said that he would be lost if he lost his iPad. I asked Ricardo what is his most prominent use of the iPad while he is in his dorm and he quoted, “while in my room the iPad has become the main event, my entire freshman year I didn’t have a television in my room and now that I have the iPad, I use it as a flat screen television.” This was the coolest thing to me because he set up the iPad like a television and started playing the movies he had downloaded and it looked so neat. I ended the interview by asking him what’s the best and worst thing about the iPad, and Ricardo said that “the best thing about the iPad is that there’s no worst thing about the iPad, only thing I wish is that the iPad had Adobe Flash Player and had a Microsoft Word type function in which I could save my papers on it.”

Ricardo’s examples are just a few reasons to go nuts over the iPad. Now, to break down the iPad in more detail; the iPad comes with two brand types, one with Wi-Fi and one with Wi-Fi and 3G. (http://www.apple.com/ipad/) Both models may be purchased with three different storage capacities (16 to 64GB) and all models sync with iTunes. The iPad is designed to be controlled by bare fingers. The base model's for the iPad is $499. (http://www.apple.com/ipad/) The iPad has an optional iBooks application that can be downloaded from the app store. The iPad only runs software downloaded from Apple's App Store. The iPad runs almost all third-party iPhone applications. Developers may also create or modify apps to take advantage of the iPad's features. At least 1,000 new iPad apps were available at launch. The iPad comes with these applications: Safari, Mail, Photos, Video, YouTube, and iPod, iTunes Store, App Store, Maps, Notes, Calendar, Contacts, and Spotlight. The iPad syncs with iTunes on a Mac or Windows PC. (http://www.apple.com/ipad/)

I visited to the Illini Mini Apple Center located on 512 East Green Street Champaign, IL, on the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign campus to get some information from a professional and someone who has distinct information on the iPad. I had an interview with Tim Brawn the Interim Operation Director at the Illini Mini Apple Center. Tim was very confident when I asked him was the iPad the best thing on the market today. Tim says that the iPad is a new way to look at movies and apps. The iPad is capable of running all iPod and iPhone apps and that the iPad contains over 3500 apps that are specifically created for the iPad. One thing that Tim says is new and cool about the iPad is that it comes with iWork, which is a type of word processor which comes with a spreadsheet and keynotes. With iWork added to the iPad it gives individuals the ability to type essays, but Tim states “the iPad isn’t here to take the place of the laptop, but it was created to alignment the laptop.” Mr. Brawn told me something I found very interesting about the iPad when he said that the iPad has a 10 hour battery life, and that you can watch movies for 10 hours straight, something that a laptop can’t do. A new feature that the iPad has is the E-book and Tim said having the E-book is like having your own library at home and it beats reading a newspaper or magazine any day. I mention if there was any competition out there going against the iPad, and he states “there is competition, but they all have black and white screens and you can’t watch movies on them, and that they don’t compare to the iPad.” Tim told me that he has an iPad and has already ordered the newest and most expensive iPad that is a new 3G model. The 3G models are coming out soon and they all have the same originally size in gigabits 16G to 64G. I was told that the 3G models are $130 more than the regular iPads. Tim says that the new 3G iPads have a high Wi-Fi connection ability, GPS, and a digital compass which is not included in the original iPad models. A way Tim told me that he convinces people to buy an iPad is first by telling them to sit down and just test the iPad and see how it fits into the individual’s life. The iPads at the Illini Mini Apple Store are all sold out. They sold out extremely fast. There were a total of 75 iPads that have been sold on the University of Illinois Campus. Tim ended the interview by saying “to have the ability to have so much capability in something with such a gorgeous screen is amazing, and you really have to experience the iPad to see how wonderful it really is.”

After conducting all of my interviews I had to try out the iPad for myself. When I first picked up the iPad, I was in total amazement. I was surprise how light it was, but it was also small in frame. In my opinion the iPad is the hottest thing on the market. The internet and the Wi-Fi are extremely fast and reliable. The screen is so clear and soft that it reminded me of a LCD High Definition television. The iPad is the coolest gadget if you are looking for a lot of loathing around and just relaxing. The iPad reminds me of an oversized iPod touch with the power of a laptop and desktop. The iPad is not a standalone device, which means that as soon as it is taking out of the box, it wants to be connected to iTunes. I have concluded that the iPad is a great piece of equipment if you have the spare money. Just some food for thought, go purchases the iPad if you already have all your essential needs and you have a spare $500, if not wait until later this year and purchases yourself the Apple iPad.