Tech Talk: iPad
published in Campbellsville University's Campus Times
Book reading has become a norm in society ever since the printing press became widely available in the 18 century. Up until the 1970s, books had always been printed on paper. Then a revolution happened: the computer. Computers had been around for a while, but books appear as though they are slowly dying out.
For about a month or so, Apple advertised to select news outlets about an event that would be held January 27, 2010, with the tag line, "Come see our latest creation."
The event began with Steve Jobs coming out to much applause. He gave an introduction about a new device. In 1991, Apple released a new device, the Powerbook laptop. In 2007, Apple reinvented the phone by introducing the iPhone. Now, they are trying to fill the middle.
What could fit in the middle? Something that would be great at browsing the web, viewing email, enjoying photos, watching movies, playing music, and reading ebooks.
Apple thinks they found the solution: the iPad.
The iPad is a tablet computer about the size of a piece of paper. It looks like a gigantic iPod Touch, including a home button, volume controls, a power/sleep button, speakers, and (perhaps when it officially launches) a camera.
A story was published last year in the Campus Times about eBooks, or electronic books. Dr. Roger Foster, assistant professor of business administration at Campbellsville University, explained that eventually, he saw printed books being wiped out in favor of ebooks. Not only are they cheaper, they're portable as well.
The Amazon Kindle is very limited. It is a digital media reader (similar to the iPad). Unfortunately, it can't do much else. Once again, it seems Apple has introduced a revolutionary device. The iPhone is now the phone to have, and soon the iPad will be the ebook reader.
As stated earlier, the iPad doesn't just read books. It can get on the Internet, download email, playing games, watch movies, looks at photos, and much more.
Perhaps in about 10 years universities will start carrying ebooks, rather than print. Not only would it be so much cheaper, it would be convenient. For example, let's say I go back to college in 10 years (hopefully not), and ebooks are available for my schoolbooks. I'd rather pay $499 for 8 semesters of school than the usual $2000-$4000. Instead of notebooks, I just pull out my iPad, and takes notes using that. What a handy tool that would be!
Unfortunately, the steep price of $499 or $599 (depending on the model you choose) is a major turnoff for a lot of people. The average battery life is around 10 hours. If you are planning to buy an iPad, make sure that it's not a replacement for a computer. Sure, it somewhat looks and act like a regular computer, but if you are planning to do some important papers on the machine, be sure to check out the battery meter every now and then.
The iPad is coming out within the next couple months. From where I'm looking, if you're going to buy an Amazon Kindle, I recommend an iPad instead. Not only can it read eBooks, but it also has so much more to offer. Unfortunately, if you aren't a book reader, there is no real reason to buy the device.
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