My initial reaction to the question, "Is the iPad more magical or more revolutionary?" was 70% magical and 30% revolutionary.
My initial (first 30 minutes) experience with the device was that it was more magical (its so fast, there is no delay in anything, instant power, instant boot, typing on the virtual keyboard was amazing, books looked great, etc) and less revolutionary (the screen and hardware technology was more an "evolution" than a "revolution" of iPhone and netbook-type technology)
But I think I misinterpreted the meaning of the use of the term revolutionary...I originally interpreted the revolutionary connotation to mean the hardware itself: it was an engineering feat of size, weight, processing power, screen technology, and battery life.
But after using it for a day, I changed my understanding of the marketing... I think Apple meant that it was the approach that the device took to computing in general was what was revolutionary....
...Its a new way of computing, a new way of consuming, no OS to manage, no file system to navigate, no external devices to interface with, simply touch the technology...
New assessment: 50% magical, 50% revolutionary
The magic is how fast the darn thing is. Super fast. Why isn't my quad-core, 8GB RAM, high-end graphics machines as fast?
The magic is how the technology simply disappears when using it.
You are looking through the glass into the software itself...
You are touching the data...
The revolution is a new way of looking at computing.
A revolutionary UI.
A revolutionary file system.
A revolutionary device.
Like Apple changed the world with the introduction of GUI and mice, and the abandonment of command-line driven software interfaces, he iPad introduces a new touch interface, and abstracts away file and OS management.
Comments