One million units sold in first 28 days in the US.
Thousands queue in London, Tokyo and Sydney for product release.
And yet… reviewers aren’t quite sure what it’s for!
Yes, the ipad launches in the UK this morning with crowds of Apple fans trying to get their hands on the latest gadget (one 17 year old started queueing at 2pm yesterday), which is clearly an attractive, well put together and advanced bit of kit. But reviews are mixed, there’s already the usual moans about what it’s missing e.g. no usb port, no camera, no Word etc, but overall we’re told it can’t replace your laptop as it’s just not that practical for working on, also it’s not a phone, so what is it for?
Apple have been a little vague on why you would want one, apart from the fact that ‘it’s really, really great’ (according to Steve Jobs), it seems that you will buy it as a multimedia player/web surfer.
So why all the hype? A good question. Why queue for hours for something that will not do anything, or replace anything that you already own. This seems to the magic of Apple – they are known for their hype and product ‘pushing’ (the iphone has been hugely popular, with even corporates turning away from their beloved blackberries to get one) and it looks as though their phenomenal marketing machine has not failed them this time round (as of yesterday the Apple company overtook Microsoft in stock value).
So obviously this is the point where I say; ‘it’s all hype, don’t buy an ipad’ but errr, although I won’t queue for hours to get v1, I must admit to rather wanting one myself!
Written by Will Edwards – www.bluewoodtraining.com – May 2010.