iPad Release in Partnership with Publishers
Months of speculation finally ended on Wednesday, January 27, 2010, when Apple CEO, Steve Jobs, announced the release of the company’s latest gadget offering on the market: the iPad. Apple, the company that introduced revolutionary gadgets like the MacBook and the iPod, hopes that the new iPad will be the next big thing in the technology market. A slender tablet computer, the iPad looks like a crossover between the laptop and the smart phone.
However, the biggest question still remains as to whether or not this new gadget will duplicate the success that other Apple gadgets have had with consumers and the over-all market. The iPhone, another very popular gadget released by Apple a few years back, has the distinction of transforming the telecom landscape and forcing other mobile phone companies to catch up with its technology.
The device will be available worldwide this March and it is being positioned by the company as a “pioneer in a new genre of computing.” Steve Jobs admits that the bar has been set pretty high, and that is why the iPad should do better than its competitors in the key areas where it is expected to deliver.
The device is 0.5 inch in thickness and weighs around 1.5 pounds, making it very sleek and easy to carry around. The iPad will accommodate eBooks, newspapers, web pages and videos; all in its 9.7 inch glass touch screen. The release of the iPad opens up a new market for publishers to enter, especially since print media has been steadily declining through the years.
When Steve Jobs introduced the iBook application integrated into the newly-launched gadget, he added that five of the world’s largest publishing houses have already agreed and promised to provide eBook content for the new Apple tablet. These publishers include the HarperCollins Publishers, Hachette Book Group, Penguin, Simon & Schuster, and Macmillan.
