iPad: Fastest Ever Adoption Rate

H

HoustonHorn93

250+ Posts
If I remember correctly when the iPad was released there were a few people dumping all over it and predicting that it would not be very successful. Turns out it has been wildly successful and is now the most quickly adopted non-phone electronic in history.
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Full disclosure: I've got an iPad and love it and am buying a second one tomorrow. I initially bought mine to play with on the couch while watching TV. I continue to use it for that purpose but also use it nearly everyday for work. I no longer take a notepad with me to meetings and instead type my notes on the iPad. I also travel quite a bit and no longer take a laptop with me. I haven't undocked my work laptop in 2+ months or so. I'm getting another one tomorrow for my daughter (15). My wife home schools the kids and this will be here primary computer to do her work. We've been testing it out for the last few weeks and she's able to do everything she needs with the Pages, Keynote and Numbers applications. Our two younger boys will continue to use an iMac. Mine is a 16gb non-3G version and so will the one I get tomorrow. I have not experienced any space issues at all with the 16gb version.
 
I like the iPad, too. I think what's happening here is a subtle shift towards a new class of device. In the long term it will include tablet-like products from other companies as well as Apple, but the iPad has set a pretty high standard, in my opinion, which will be good for the category overall.

I remember earlier this decade when the Blackberry email device (no phone) came out, and a lot of people said there's no way I can type on that little keyboard. But we adapt pretty easily when the idea and the implementation are good, and they move the technology forward a little.
 
I was one of the ones bashing it. I still think that it is a square peg for most people, but you really can't deny the numbers its doing. I expected big numbers in the first six months, and then a huge tailing off once people came to their senses and realized that the use case for the device was fairly narrow. My presumption was that the device was too restrictive to replace any existing device or act as a device consolidator, and was far too expensive to justify the walled garden of the app market.

6 months later, I still think that the price point is too high for the tech that it delivers, but the market clearly doesn't agree with me... and the market rules.
 
They stopped a little short on features to get there first and in order to not completely cannibalize their desktop and notebook business.

When they add a front facing camera and a couple other things [hopefully 2.0 in the spring] I am in.
 
HH93,
don't you miss the ability to print from the ipad considering all you describe to use it for? That is the thing that keeps me from jumping in. When you can hook up to a printer I'm in mainly for the portable email and web on a screen size I can see.
 
PrintCentral is available for printing from an iPad now and iOS 4.2 due next month will include it in the OS IIRC.

Apple is so far ahead of the competition at this point that the others may never catch up. Of the competing devices announced so far, none of them holds a candle to the iPad. And there's a new iPad coming within 6 months would be my guess. That's when I make my move. Front facing camera, lighter, thinner, more RAM, and faster processor would be on my list of likely enhancements.

And then there's the whole AppleTV and AirPlay tie-in that is just getting off the ground. I expect those to add a whole new dimension to the iPad.
 
As mentioned there are currently ways to print and it will soon be native to the iOS once the new update is released next month. Honestly though it hasn't been an issue for me. I generally don't print my meeting notes so no big deal. For my daughter she simply emails her assignments to mom and then mom review, edits or grades directly on her MacBook. If she really needs to print she just synchs it to iDisk or emails it to herself and prints from the iMac. Those steps will be eliminated with the next update.
 
The first serious competitor from the Android pool, Samsung's Galaxy Tab, seems to be pricing itself into irrelevance. Early word says the 3G unit will sell subsidized at $399. While that is more than $200 cheaper, it comes with a 2 year commitment to a data plan. The unsubsidized model looks to cost the same as the iPad... and at that point, why not just buy the iPad?
 
Open vs Closed, repeated ad nauseum like it really means anything to many people. Spin it another way: Fragmented vs Integrated.
 
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