After a massive amount of pre-release press and chatter, Apple’s iPad launches today. The companies successful track record with new tech - and particularly the iPhone -means various media industries are nervously watching the launch and public reaction.
Sitting somewhere between a fancy phone and a small laptop, the touch-screen device is more portable than a laptop but sits in a no-mans land that has never taken off with the public before. But it’s hard to write Apple off - despite a few notable failures in the past.
Depending on price, this new device could at least annihilate the competition in the burgeoning virtual book market led by Amazon’s Kindle. But not just that… the iPad will likely mix smooth internet use with video, music, books and… newspapers?
The rumour is that online newspaper formats will be very suited to devices of this type. In this way the timing could be perfect for a publishing industry that has been hit hard by advertising drop off and by having to put all content online for free. The idea being that subscription for online broadsheets might sit well with a device of this sort.
Either way it’s all very exciting! With new tech like this it’s likely that the results on will be a little different to that which is predicted. One thing we can be fairly certain of… based on previous Apple launches, it seems prudent to wait for the 2nd generation model before buying.