Introducing....the iPad

The iPad is a tablet computer developed by Apple Inc. Announced on January 27, 2010 it is positioned in a category between a Smartphone and and laptop computer.

Similar in functionality to a larger and more powerful iPhone or iPod touch, it runs a modified version of the same operating system (iPhone OS), with a user interface redesigned to take advantage of the larger screen. The iPad has a 9.7 LED backlit multi-touch display with a pixel resolution of 1024x768, 16 to 64 GB of memory, a 1-gigahertz Apple A4 Processor, Bluetooth 2.1 and a 30-pin dock connector to sync with iTunes and connect wired accessories.

The iPad and its iPhone based OS are controlled using the multi-touch touchscreen that takes up most of the device's front side. The iPad also has external buttons for sleep, screen rotation lock and controlling the volume as well as a button to return to the home screen. It also has a accelerometer (for motion sensitivity) and a digital magnetic compass. Unlike the iPod, the iPad supports a screen rotation of any angle (in increments of 90 degrees), essentially meaning the device functionality has no "up" of "down" no matter how the device is held- from the perspective of the user, only the position of the home button changes. The switch that was originally used to mute the device was replaced just before the device's release by a button that locks the device's screen rotation, which was reportedly intended to improve the device's ease of use when lying down.

Apple will sell several iPad accessories, including:

• Keyboard Dock with hardware keyboard, 30-pin connector and audio jack
• Case which can be used to stand the iPad in various positions
• Dock Connector to VGA Adapter for external monitor or projector
• Camera Connection Kit including a USB Type A connector adapter and a SD card reader for transferring photos and videos

The iPad will include the iBooks application, which displays books and other ePub-format content downloaded from the iBookstore. For the iPad launch on April 3, 2010, the iBookstore will be available only in the United States. Several major book publishers including Penguin Books, HarperCollins, Simon & Schuster and Macmillan have committed to publishing books for the iPad. In February 2010, Condé Nast said it would sell iPad subscriptions for its GQ, Vanity Fair and Wired magazines by June. In April 2010, The New York Times announced it will begin publishing daily on the iPad.

For the world of education the iPad seems like a cool new invention. Imagine this: Colleges and Universities build the cost of an iPad into an incoming students tuition, the iPad is preloaded with information and programs which will aid the student at the said school. At the beginning of every semester, instead of students going to the bookstore and purchasing 50-60 lbs of textbooks, the bookstore sells codes which can be entered into the iPad to download a digital textbook. That way a student’s whole repertoire of textbooks is in one convenient location. Add to that a word processor App to the iPad and the student has everything they need for note-taking in class. The teacher also would have the ability to display the digital textbook through the iPad’s projector attachment. It will be exciting to see how the iPad is received once it makes it debut on April 3.