Amid great expectation of consumers who have made hundreds of thousands of advance orders in recent weeks, the new Apple computer table, the IPAD, arrives to U.S. stores today.
The IPAD that is available today has Wi-Fi and the 3G version is expected to appear later this month.
Apple has confirmed that the two versions of its new flagship will be available in Spain, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Japan, Canada and Australia in late April, but it is unknown when displayed in the world.
According to reports, Apple has already received 240,000 orders for the new computer in the last two weeks since it announced its preorders, out of this 120,000 were only the first day. It is estimated to sell between one and five million units the first year. Not even its manufacturers were planning such a tremendous success of the iPad.
Today the countdown reaches zero and the faithful guests waiting at the door of the Apple stores may finally have their hands on IPAD.
For the ones who have not placed a pre sales order, Apple has delivered in the United States a small number of devices to consumer electronics chains, such as Best Buy. From the information received each store will receive 5 units of each model (16GB, 32GB and 64GB), that is a total of 15 iPads by trade.
What we here have to keep in mind is that this is an original device and nobody can predict what its actual performance would be and the reaction that it will arouse among consumers.
One of the main points to note is the lack of a USB port. The company’s intentions are that all one needs to be purchase the content over the Internet. This implies that it will be very difficult to enter content (music, photos, books, videos) by the traditional cable. Another pitfall is that the t first-generation iPad lacks cameras and other devices that are now widespread in phones and laptops, thus making it an incomplete machine.
Its been called as the Apple’s “Laptop-Killer”. The iPad is the much-touted touch screen that is insanely-thin.
The iPad will not hit stores until Saturday, but the races to unlock its mysteries have started several weeks ago. Armed with heat guns, suction cups and other tools of the trade, the company iFixit, will set out on Saturday to reveal some of the tablet’s most closely guarded secrets: the design and components that make it tick.
Another controversy doing the rounds at the time of its release is linking the iPad to global warming. According to a report called “Make I.T. Green: Cloud Computing”, released by Greenpeace, the instant access that we have grown accustomed to is creating a demand for electricity that is far surpassing the use in years past.
For the iPad to be a success, the machine must find an audience in the mass market, beyond hardcore Apple customers and tech geeks who will drive sales during the first year.
But for sure it’s unlikely the iPad could be an outright failure for Apple and most analysts, seem to predict a far better result.