Each Apple gadget has had its own respective selling point, necessitating itself in the lives of the American consumer and making (sometimes empty) promises of fulfillment, efficiency, and happiness. The pioneering 1976 Apple I Computer Kit bragged of being hand built by the designer and offering a circuit board (keyboard and television set monitor not included).
Not to be outdone, the Apple II laid an integrated keyboard and a disk drive on the table and received national acclaim, inciting biannual Olympic-like duels around each January and October, when Apple often releases new products. Since Apple II's merciless eclipse of Apple I, their chrome younger siblings have been besting each other, reducing preceding models to their year of origin and replacing reviews of "innovative" with "unfashionable." One has to wonder, is there a glass ceiling on Apple, Inc.'s fervent development and production
The previously unsurpassed 2007, iPhone compacted the iPod's mp3 player and Wi-fi Internet connection (both of which compromise the iPod touch) with a camera phone, therefore incorporating an element that no consumer electronic company had before. With these features, the iPhone further promises the capability to support thousands of applications and, therefore, the capability to adapt and stay current. This removes the owner from the buying treadmill to procure the newest and best on the market and elevates Apple Inc., above the game (in the iPod/Phone market, at least).
Highly paid Apple developers strive to focus on what constitutes a good product, with little room for change outside of internal updates. Thus, their answer to that focus: maximize the product, literally. Welcome to the world, iPad, born on April 3, 2010, 1.5 pounds, 0 ounces, 9.56 inches tall.
Proud parents Apple Inc. will be the first to argue that their "magical, revolutionary" iPad is not simply a larger iPhone, boasting that, at almost a month old, iPad "sees the web, email, and photos like never before." Despite its new dimensions, which inevitably would cause one to see a screen's content slightly differently, as well as improved speakers, a rechargeable battery, and a modified Wi-fi fee, there are no distinguishing features.
While die-hard subscribers to the Apple product family will not be able to enjoy reading books on an iPad (as opposed to its competitor, Amazon's Kindle, or even worse, actual text!), it is not innovative, by definition, as compared to the iPhone. This isn't to say that the iPad isn't commendable (and arguably a pragmatic size for a touch screen portable computer), just that it is not all that different from Apple's most recent pride and glory and is, therefore, most definitely not inducing radical change. The latter statement has one large exception, however: the iPad has unquestionably created positive change for holders of Apple stock.
Despite fluctuations in the stock upon the announcement of the iPad in late January of this year, since the announcement of the iPad's (relatively) low price of US$499 and the product's release, the estimated 300,000 iPads sold thus far have amounted to a 21 percent overall increase in the value of the Apple Stock since February 21, far beyond even the lofty estimates of market analysts. These numbers may be better indicators of Apple's marketing and of American consumer culture.
The continued sales of the iPad, which show signs of a plateau, but will be revitalized by the anticipated release of the iPad 3G in late April, speak for themselves. It may be a product that stands on its own... until the release of something historically bigger, newer and somehow automatically better comes in October.
