Apple has finally unveiled the latest gadget: the iPad. But that is not really the most interesting thing. Rather the interest lies in how for months on end rumors and speculations have been ever more rampant. Someone knew for sure that Apple was going to unveil a netbook. Analysts insisted that unless Apple dove into that low (no) profit market segment, the company would cease to exist. And because some have made their own netbook hackintoshes (making Mac OS X run on a plain vanilla PC), we were ensured that Apple would enter that arena.

Then there was the ebook reader. Surely Apple needs to corner that market. When they didn’t get there first, the commentators cried doom and gloom. Or the coming Apple tablet would save the magazine and newspaper industry. Take your pick.

Recently there were speculations about what features the iSlate (certainly to be revealed by Apple on January 27) would contain. One commentator suggested that the magic machine would have up to 10 slots for tiny memory cards, each card holding a book. I wonder what rock that person has been sleeping under. Hello, this is 2010! Books are downloadable.

Then came the announcement and if the collective voices prior were about how the Apple iTablet would be the ultimate gadget to change the course of human history, now those collective voices seem all focused on the letdown that the iPad was. It doesn’t … or … or … They even say the name isn’t cool enough.

A few days ago, I wondered how even Steve Jobs’ presentation skills and Apple design could possibly live up to all the hype invested in the then mythological device. Of course the answer is, nothing could live up to the hype, to what everyone knew the device would be able to do. So of course there is now a letdown and disappointment.

Meanwhile, Apple is releasing a real product and time will tell if or how it is a game changer. I think it could be, and I also think it is showing us an interface direction for the future: more touch interfaces, on notebooks and eventually even on desktops.

From what I’ve seen so far, it could be a great tool to take to client meetings where you don’t want to appear to be setting up office by hauling out the old laptop computer. If I can show my demo reel or run a presentation from it, all the better. It may even have its place on a location shoot, where access to script and other documents is necessary and a laptop is just too cumbersome, but the trusty iPhone is not enough.

I know I look forward to actually trying one out. I guess it really was too much to ask for Steve Jobs to say “and it is shipping today.”

Claes

posted in news, usability

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