Tech Diva: Steve Jobs, What Have You Done?

Posted by Lady Mel On Thursday, January 28, 2010 0 comments

Apple's latest invention, "The Ipad", has arrived and everyone is talking. The developments of the much-hyped computer tablet has been known for years. But when Steve Job finally introduced it to the world at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts San Francisco yesterday, it automatically became a part of the popular culture commentary and discourse. On Twitter, people have tweeted up a storm about it for its witty name reference to female menstruation and the female genitalia.

Jezebel.com's Latoya Peterson compiled a list of the best Ipad "period" jokes off of Twitter. I personally think Apple should have chosen a hipper and more sophisticated name to market its newest product, but I think Apple was innovative enough to pick the name to get everyone to gossip about it, even if it is being compared to a tampon. Bad press is better than none. I wonder if SNL will make a  "IPad" parody soon. Wait a second. MadTV, despite its TV cancellation last year, already beat us to it with its 2007 Ipod parody sketch!


Lets get down to business. I have been reading and hearing mixed results about Apple's new "netbook". Wired.com senior editor Nick Thompson was a guest on CNN yesterday and he asserted that the Ipad was a good product but not revolutionary like how the Ipod and the Iphone revolutionized the music and smartphone industries respectively. According to a Gadget Lab poll, out of 892 Wired.com readers, 41% said that the Ipad did not live up to the hype but will gain traction among high end costumers. Only 14% believed that it was better than expected.

So what is my take on the announcement? Well, I think the Ipad will be revolutionary in the near future. Just like when the Ipod came out in 2001, it was a bit bulky in size and did not come in color. There were bugs and technical problems with it, but over the past several years and several Ipod generations later, the current Ipods are nothing like the first Ipods. They are more smaller and slicker and come in different vibrant colors and sizes than its predecessor. Plus, the current Ipods can hold more music, video, and audio files than the first IPod model.

I believe that the first model of the Ipad will be imperfect and it will take some time for the bugs to be corrected. But like many Apple consumers, they are going to buy this first model and purchase all the newest versions because this is Apple that we are talking about. Apple is going to reinvent the Ipad over and over again until new applications are added and it becomes the perfect netbook. Whether or not the Ipad will save the media and publishing industries, I do not know.

However, media and publishing industries that have been given consumers access to their free web content for years (I know who are you!) should not rely on just one company to save them from extinction. Apple is not the federal government, giving away our taxpaying money (bailout money) to the greedy media companies because print journalism in many respects is dying and free content generate little  profit. (I am so awesome). These companies should think of innovative ideas to gain more annual revenues and reach more viewers. That is why marketing directors and experts are hired to work in these organizations in the first place. Use them wisely.

If you want more information on the linguistics and highlights of the Ipad, click here. If you want to view parts of Steve Job's Ipad announcement online, watch it here. If you want a hands-on demonstration, Time Magazine's Techland site has it all.

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