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The Forever Misunderstood iPad
Is it a Computer or an Accessory?
“What we want to do is we want to put an incredibly great computer in a book that you can carry around with you and learn how to use in 20 minutes.” — Steve Jobs, Center for Design Innovation Speech, 1983
40 years ago the former CEO of the worlds richest company and an animated girl who talks to her dog had roughly the same idea: an easy-to-use powerful computer in a light form that you can easily take with you anywhere that has no learning curve. In 1983 such things were in the realms of science fiction. On stage in 2010 Apple announced to the world that it had developed something in a new product catagory. Combining the ease of use of the iPhone with the utility of the Mac, the iPad would go on to sell over 540m units in just 13 years and cement its reputation as one of the most successful consumer products of all time.
And yet time has been a little unkind to the iPad. Its no secret Apple has stalled a little with sales in recent years, not helped by their confusing marketing and a reputation amongst computing nerds as not being much good at anything at all. Seen more in the hands of bored children than productive adults, has the tablet-that-could had its day?
To find out what the iPad is we have to look what it was originally intended for and for that we have to go back in…
