iPad: Love It or Hate It?

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As is often the case with Apple products, the iPad seems to have polarized the tech world a day after its launch. A quick scan of the blogosphere will display two prevailing feelings about the device, sheer love and devotion and utter contempt and disgust. But what can you expect after an Apple launch?

Those that come down on the contempt and disgust side have a very singular voice. They argue the iPad is just a glorified and oversized iPod touch. They argue that it doesn’t address any of the common complaints against the iPhone OS; no multitasking, no USB ports, no SD card slots, no removable battery, and the list goes on and on. They argue the netbook so widely slammed by Jobs during the keynote yesterday has twice the versatility at half the price.

Those that come down on the love and devotion side have a fairly singular voice as well. They argue the netbook and Touch comparisons are unfair. They argue that the iPad is a new category all its own with no direct competition. It doesn’t work like a netbook because its not one. It doesn’t work like a laptop because it isn’t that either. They argue that Jobs himself argued yesterday that this device falls squarely in between the smartphone and the laptop; greater than a phone but less than a computer.

Personally, I see the potential in the iPad environment. Apple has built a platform who’s uses can’t be completely comprehended yet because they largely haven’t been invented. Who would have thought a smartphone had the potential to do so much when the iPhone came out only 3 years ago? Just imagine what we’ll be doing with our iPads in 3 years.

Where do you fall? Is the iPad an overpriced accessory for the snooty Starbucks crowd? Is this a case of Apple creating a void for them to fill with high priced hardware? Or has Apple just completely destroyed the competition and remade the mobile space in full blow? Drop us a comment and let us know.

By: Erin Peterson

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