The iPad was mocked at launch, has been threatened by rivals throughout, and yet still remains the best-selling tablet ever made, 15 years after it first shipped to customers on April 3, 2010.
It’s easy to name alternatives to the iPad, you could be here all day listing myriad Android tablets. But it’s impossible to name even one true iPad competitor.
For after all of these years since it launched, and after all of the rival devices that have launched after that moment, there isn’t any one tablet that sells enough on its own to compete with the iPad. Its competition is the mass of cheaper rivals, which is not to be ignored, yet none of them have come close to the success of the iPad.
The closest is surely the Microsoft Surface, but if that’s the best and the best-known rival, it doesn’t appear to be doing all that well.
Which has got to hurt Microsoft, because before Apple entered the market on April 3, 2010, Microsoft had it all. It was just that it was a very small kind of “all.”
Still, today if you think of a tablet device, you’re thinking of an iPad. But prior to 2010, if it even occurred to you to think about tablets, it was Microsoft you pictured.
The difference is that despite Microsoft pressing away at tablets for many years, nobody was buying them. Then it seemed that once Apple’s iPad was available, everyone was buying that.
Darkest before the dawn
There was a brief moment when everyone knew a tablet was coming from Apple, but Apple was not yet saying a word. It was a brief, fascinating, and even delicious kind of moment as rivals scrabbled to beat Apple without knowing what they were really aiming at.
What they were sure they knew was that Apple’s device was going to be called the iSlate, and that alone was enough to change the industry. Watch then Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer getting in ahead of Apple with the launch — or rather just the promise of a future launch — of this slate PC, and that slate PC, and this other slate PC.
We’re now so used to the name iPad that iSlate sounds peculiar. But at the time, Fast Company writer Alissa Walker superbly skewered the name iPad and how it sounded like a tampon.
Her piece was headlined “Apple’s iPad Name Not the First Choice for Women. Period.”
It didn’t take long for the iPad name to seem normal, though, and that was helped by just how many Apple sold. By July, fewer than four months after the release of the iPad, Steve Ballmer said that Apple had “sold more than I’d like them to sell.”
“Today, one of the top issues on my mind, hey there’s a category — tablets,” he told investors. “Apple has done an interesting job.”
An interesting job
Bill Gates popularized the idea of a tablet device, at least as far as anyone had managed to do before Apple, with his 1996 book “The Road Ahead.” If the founder of Microsoft could not turn that idea into a profitable reality, there was a serious question of whether anyone could.
Maybe it wasn’t that tablets pre-iPad were poor, it was that they were expensive and big. Apple had to not only beat those issues but also the perception those issues had created, too.
This is why although Apple launched the iPad with a 90-minute presentation, it was 8 minutes and 40 seconds before we first heard the word “iPad”. Everything up there was a really cleverly fashioned presentation that took us down a path to feeling it was inevitable that it should be Apple who would produce a tablet.
Steve Jobs first described the market, positioned Apple as the sole company that could do something in this space, and only then introduced the iPad.
That launch was in January 2010, while the iPad didn’t come out until April. This gave plenty of time for critics to argue that it was a disappointment, that ultimately it was just an iPhone with a larger screen.
And not even that much larger. A surprising thing about holding an original iPad for the first time was how small it felt.
Now, holding that original, it feels bulky, it feels heavy, but it still feels small. Yet back in 2010, it would only take a moment’s use for you to forget its size and just become immersed in the internet in your hand.
But many, many critics didn’t wait for that, they didn’t wait to actually use the device. Business Insider said that the iPad was a “big yawn,” for instance, and that Jobs “didn’t deliver” the great device that had been predicted.
At least Business Insider waited for the unveiling. Infoworld was against the iPad from even before then, saying Windows 7 devices were obviously better than this, at that time, non-existent iPad.
And clickbait-happy columnist John C Dvorak wrote the iPad off instantly. “I’m of the opinion and hope that this device is only released as a market test and placeholder for something more spectacular in the future,” he wrote.
Not everything changes
Most of the clickbait criticism vanished after people could actually buy an iPad, and especially when so many of them did that reviewers began taking a second look. There was still the valid argument that the iPad was an overgrown iPhone, but as iPad-specific apps kept growing, that criticism went away, too.
The belief that something else would or should take the place of the iPad has never left us, though. A typical example came one year after the iPad was released, when BlackBerry announced a tablet called the Playbook, which was of course going to beat the iPad forever.
Or so you hoped if you ran the BlackBerry company and also never looked out of your window to gauge the market. BlackBerry’s April 2011 marketing of the Playbook campaign was aimed entirely at the iPad, but it shot itself in the foot with both barrels.
“Yeah,” said the billboard sign. “You should have waited.”
Telling your customers that they were idiots for buying an iPad when they could have had a BlackBerry Playbook if they’d only waited a while, does not seem like a winning formula.
But even that wasn’t the issue, that wasn’t what would make anyone in the market for tablet jolt at the billboard. The issue was BlackBerry should have waited.
For, insanely, BlackBerry launched that tablet without email. It was not possible to send or receive email on that device. Email was one of the enormous benefits of BlackBerry phones, it was a simply essential component of any device — and it wasn’t there.
The iPad is dying
If BlackBerry was just one of the rivals who couldn’t cut it, and if even Microsoft took years to make a mildly successful tablet, somehow there is still always a kind of constant expectation that the iPad is failing.
On the iPad’s fifth anniversary, AppleInsider said its “astounding success remains indisputable,” but also noted that its sales were declining.
For much of its life, the iPad has been expected to fail or to be superseded, but it keeps on commanding the market. It does that even though at times its sales drop significantly, such as in 2022 when it was hit by supply constraints
And iPads tend to last longer than rivals, so overall they are better value, but sales drop because people don’t need to upgrade very often.
There are always reasons to upgrade beyond an iPad just becoming old, though. The original iPad was followed by iterations on its design, then the iPad Air and the iPad mini, for instance.
The first iPad Pro in 2015
Then the iPad Pro came along in 2015 and today, you can choose from six different models.
That’s a far cry from when there was one iPad and myriad other devices competing with it. But Apple doesn’t appear to have randomly expanded the range just to see what sticks, and instead it has made one to suit different budgets
Apple is consistently really good at thinking through what users need, and thinking through simple ways to help that. It’s this steady, deeper thought, that really marks out the difference between an iPad and the many rival tablets.
Even if there is an argument that this thought has been just a little lacking in the very latest iPads.
A lineup that can confuse
If you are unfamiliar with iPads and looking to buy your first, the current lineup is no more confusing than it ever has been. There’s the basic iPad at the lowest price, there’s the iPad Pro at the highest, and there are a few tiers in between.
Plus you have to decide between a model with only Wi-Fi, or one that also has cellular. And whose cellular feature means you paying more both at time of purchase, and with a monthly carrier plan.
Except there is also the iPad mini. That was originally the iPad for people who couldn’t afford — or perhaps justify — the cost of an actual iPad.
That’s changed dramatically, though, with Apple realising that for at least some users, the smaller size of the iPad mini is actually a benefit. So now the iPad mini costs more than the regular iPad.
And that regular iPad is now the only one that can’t support Apple Intelligence.
Plus it’s possible that Apple misjudged how it differentiated between the higher end models. For nearly a decade, if you wanted a larger screen iPad, you had to buy the iPad Pro, but as of 2024, the cheaper iPad Air comes in the same 13-inch size.
The iPad Pro launched at the same time has an OLED screen and it appears Apple thought that would be a big draw — but it didn’t turn out to be.
Nonetheless, if it now gets more complex to pick an iPad the closer you look at the range, it is still the case that the best tablet for anyone remains an iPad.
Rivals will continue come and go, and hopefully there will be a stronger competitor soon. But the iPad just keeps on going.
ADVERTISEMENT:
Hello, para pengemar slots pernahkah mendengar semboyan “slot gacor”? Kalau belum, bersiaplah jatuh hati sama konsep ini. slot gacor merupakan mesin slots yang selalu memberi kemenangan. Yup, mesin-mesin ini bisa dibilang sebagai andalannya tuk bawa pulang hasil. any way, cemana sih
tekniknya nemuin slot gacor yang benar? Tenang Bro, kita beri tenang saja di sini
Game terbaik saat sekarang satu-satunya di Indonesia hanya di akan memberikan return terbesar
Daftarkanlah hanya di :
Informasi mengenai KING SLOT, Segera Daftar Bersama king selot terbaik dan terpercaya no satu di Indonesia. Boleh mendaftar melalui sini king slot serta memberikan hasil kembali yang paling tinggi saat sekarang ini hanyalah KING SLOT atau Raja slot paling gacor, gilak dan gaco saat sekarang di Indonesia melalui program return tinggi di kingselot serta pg king slot
slot demo gacor
slot demo gacor permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama kdwapp.com
akun demo slot gacor
akun demo slot gacor permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama kdwapp.com
akun slot demo gacor
akun slot demo gacor permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama kdwapp.com
akun demo slot pragmatic
akun demo slot pragmatic permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama kdwapp.com
akun slot demo pragmatic
akun slot demo pragmatic permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama kdwapp.com
akun slot demo
akun slot demo permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama kdwapp.com
akun demo slot
akun demo slot permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama kdwapp.com
slot demo gacor
slot demo gacor permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama jebswagstore.com
akun demo slot gacor
akun demo slot gacor permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama jebswagstore.com
akun slot demo gacor
akun slot demo gacor permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama jebswagstore.com
akun demo slot pragmatic
akun demo slot pragmatic permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama jebswagstore.com
akun slot demo pragmatic
akun slot demo pragmatic permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama jebswagstore.com
akun slot demo
akun slot demo permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama jebswagstore.com
akun demo slot
akun demo slot permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama jebswagstore.com
slot demo gacor
slot demo gacor permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama demoslotgacor.pro
akun demo slot gacor
akun demo slot gacor permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama demoslotgacor.pro
akun slot demo gacor
akun slot demo gacor permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama demoslotgacor.pro
akun demo slot pragmatic
akun demo slot pragmatic permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama demoslotgacor.pro
akun slot demo pragmatic
akun slot demo pragmatic permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama demoslotgacor.pro
akun slot demo
akun slot demo permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama demoslotgacor.pro
akun demo slot
akun demo slot permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama demoslotgacor.pro
slot demo gacor
slot demo gacor permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama situsslotterbaru.net
akun demo slot gacor
akun demo slot gacor permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama situsslotterbaru.net
akun slot demo gacor
akun slot demo gacor permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama situsslotterbaru.net
akun demo slot pragmatic
akun demo slot pragmatic permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama situsslotterbaru.net
akun slot demo pragmatic
akun slot demo pragmatic permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama situsslotterbaru.net
akun slot demo
akun slot demo permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama situsslotterbaru.net
akun demo slot
akun demo slot permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama situsslotterbaru.net
situs slot terbaru
situs slot terbaru permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama situsslotterbaru.net
slot terbaru
slot terbaru permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama situsslotterbaru.net
jablay88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama jablay88.biz
jadijp88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama jadijp88.com
jazz88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama jazz88.biz
jurutogel88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama jurutogel88.net
kangbet88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama kangbet88.biz
kilau88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama kilau88.asia
kuningtoto88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama kuningtoto88.net
lomboktoto88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama lomboktoto88.org
mager88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama mager88.biz
mantul888 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama mantul888.biz
mawartoto88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama mawartoto88.asia
meriah88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama meriah88.biz
moba88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama moba88.org
paristogel88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama paristogel88.biz
parsel88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama parsel88.net
paus13 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama paus13.com
pay7777 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama pay7777.net
planetliga88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama planetliga88.net
ratuslot88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama ratuslot88.biz
rtp100 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama rtp100.net
ruby88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama ruby88.org
rungkad88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama rungkad88.biz
senopati88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama senopati88.biz
sis88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama sis88.biz
sistoto permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama sistoto.net
sontogel88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama sontogel88.com
spin98 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama spin98.biz
totosaja88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama totosaja88.com
warung22 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama warung22.com
warung88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama warung88.asia
winrate999 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama winrate999.biz
wuzz888 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama wuzz888.com
999jitu permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama 999jitu.org
adu88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama adu88.asia
basket88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama basket88.net
batu88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama batu88.biz
berita88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama berita88.biz
bukalapak88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama bukalapak88.net
cipit888 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama cipit888.asia
delta888 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama delta888.biz
dosen88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama dosen88.org
jago17 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama jago17.com
jalantoto88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama jalantoto88.biz
janjigacor88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama janjigacor88.org
jitujp88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama jitujp88.com
jokiwin88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama jokiwin88.net
juragan66 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama juragan66.biz
kenzototo88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama kenzototo88.biz
kkslot77slot permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama kkslot77slot.com
kompas88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama kompas88.biz
kopi88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama kopi88.biz
kudajitu88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama kudajitu88.biz
kursi88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama kursi88.biz
liputan88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama liputan88.net
livitoto88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama livitoto88.net
lotus88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama lotus88.asia
m77casino88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama m77casino88.com
majujp88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama majujp88.org
mamikos permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama mamikos.org
mamikos88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama mamikos88.com
masterplay88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama masterplay88.asia
masterplay999 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama masterplay999.net
medantoto88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama medantoto88.biz
medusa888 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama medusa888.com
meja88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama meja88.biz
midasplay88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama midasplay88.biz
mijit888 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama mijit888.net
mposun88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama mposun88.net
ibisbudget88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama ibisbudget88.com
mercure88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama mercure88.com
hotel88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama hotel88.net
sheraton88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama sheraton88.com
ubud88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama ubud88.asia
hardrock88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama hardrock88.com
kuta88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama kuta88.asia
nasigoreng88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama nasigoreng88.com
sate88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama sate88.com
rendang88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama rendang88.asia
gadogado permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama gadogado.org
kfc88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama kfc88.net
pizzahut88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama pizzahut88.net
starbucks88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama starbucks88.live
sederhana permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama sederhana.org
kopikenangan permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama kopikenangan.asia
angkawin permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama angkawin.net
rockygerung88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama rockygerung88.com
monopoli88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama monopoli88.com
kimjongun permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama kimjongun.asia
catur88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama catur88.asia
tato88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama tato88.org
speaker88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama speaker88.net
rajah permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama rajah.asia
kunci gitar permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama kuncigitar.org
gitar88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama gitar88.asia
gambartato permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama gambartato.com
gambar88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama gambar88.org
maxwin888slot permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama maxwin888slot.com
rumah permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama rumah.asia
nada888 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama nada888.info
musik88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama musik88.asia
sewarumah permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama sewarumah.biz