iPad - Evaluation

Technology and its development affect our daily life directly. A tablet personal computer is a portable personal computer equipped with a touchscreen as a primary input device and designed to be operated and owned by an individual. The iPad is a tablet computer by Apple released in April, 2010. This device has many features that make it very popular nowadays among students and businessmen. The design of this device facilitate for the user reading e-books, watching movies, surfing the internet, and listening to music. Specifications available in this device, such as a touch screen and light weight contributed to the spread of this device all over the world. This device has many different aspects which will be evaluated in this essay like screen, input, battery life, storage, optional accessories, technical specifications, software, and usage. This essay will provide information about the iPad and it will cover both positive and negative sides of this device.

The iPad’s touchscreen display is a 9.7 in (25 cm) liquid crystal display (1024 x 768 pixels) with finger print resistant and scratch resistant glass. These advantages provide for the user ease of use in browsing, surfing websites, and typing without the need for the keyboard which is used in the laptops and desktops. The iPad built-in application support screen rotation help the user adjust the screen in all four orientations. Despite all these features, an ordinary keyboard is faster in typing than the keyboard in the touchscreen; for example, if you want to write an article or essay it will be harder for you to use the iPad’s touchscreen keyboard instead of the ordinary keyboard. But the good thing is that Apple provided a good solution for this problem by connecting a wireless keyboard dock to the iPad through Bluetooth. Furthermore there is a wireless iPad mouse in case the user prefers to use the ordinary mouse.

The iPad uses an internal rechargeable lithium-polymer battery (LiPo). These batteries can be recharged in two ways, electrically or by plugging a standard USB port from a computer, but may charge much more slowly, consequently, it will take a longer time to charge the battery. Apple claims that the iPad's battery can provide up to 10 hours of video, 140 hours of audio playback, or one month on standby. The disadvantage of iPad’s LiPo battery is that the battery loses capacity over time and it’s not designed to be user replaceable. Apple will replace an iPad that does not hold an electrical charge with a refurbished iPad for a low fee, however. The time that iPad’s battery provides is a really good and quiet enough comparing to its size.

The iPad was released with three options for internal storage size a: 16, 32, or 64 GB flash drive. iPad comes with an SD card reader, but it can only be used to transfer photos and videos. All data is stored on the flash drive, and there is no option to expand storage. In case the user run out of storage, there is a USB port to connect an external hard disk, and this option will give the user an opportunity to save all the data in an external hard disk. All the differences between the iPad’s storage sizes and specifications give the user the opportunity to choose the suitable size and specifications depending on the user needs.

The iPad provides several accessories for the user to choose. There are many iPad optional accessories for the user like a keyboard dock, mouse, cases, an iPad dock and audio jack, VGA adapter for external monitor or projector, camera connection kit, and USB power adapter. All these accessories make the iPad easy to use in several areas and provide for the user a comfortable environment.

The technical specifications in the iPad are advanced in relation to the size of the device. The iPad’s processor speed is 1GHz which is quite enough for its size and for simple usage like browsing and surfing the internet. The iPad provides wireless features like Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, and 3G. The iPad’s weight of 1.6 lb (730 g), is very light compared to the MacBook Pro weight of 5.6 lb (2.5 kg). In addition, the device has environmental sensors, for instance, accelerometer, ambient light sensors, and magnetometer for digital compass. The operating system that runs in the iPad is same as the operating system running in the iPhone and iPod which is iOS 4.2.1 and because of that iPad is able to execute iPhone applications and vice versa. This property makes it easy for the user to transfer applications and files between the iPad and the other apple’s devices.

The usage of iPad is becoming increasingly prevalent in these days because of the availability of many characteristics that make it easier for the user perform his work in several areas like business, education, sport, and music. Examples for uses iPad in business include attorneys responding to clients, medical professionals accessing health records during patient exams, and managers approving employee requests. The iPad has several uses in the classroom and has praised as a valuable tool for homeschooling. The student can use the iPad to make notes in the class, reading an ebook, or sending emails. Some universities began offering rentals for iPad, for instance, Youngstown State University in Youngstown, Ohio for its fall 2010 semester. The iPad also provide many applications to manage videos and music like iTunes. These include sound samplers, guitar and voice effects processors, sequencers for synthesized sounds and sampled loops, virtual synthesizers and drum machines, theremin style and other touch responsive instruments, drum pads and many more. iPad is a really powerful device for the student especially, it will help the student organize the homeworks, take notes, read books, and access internet easily.For example, I have personal experience with the use of this device in the university and found a lot of benefits, including the small size of the device, which may be lighter than the book, as well as the multiplicity of its uses helped me a lot in different fields of study and organize my files.

There are several applications come with iPad including safari, mail, photos, video, youtube, iPod, iTunes, app store, iBooks, maps, notes, calendar, contacts, and spotlight search. The iPad’s applications designed to be user friendly, so that any user with minimum knowledge of using computers will be able to get advantage of all the available applications in iPad. The app store application makes it easier for the user to buy and download any new applications available in the Apple app store website and install them easily in the iPad. There is also an optional application called iBooks can be used to download e-books from different websites like amazon, ebay, and yahoo. The books reader in the iPad let the user read the book and highlight important information easily just by selecting the information through the touchscreen, in addition, the user can read the ebook and browse between the ebook pages just like reading the original book. All these applications that are mentioned above make it a lot easier for the user to get advantage of this device in different areas and fields.

In conclusion, iPad has succeeded to provide a comfortable environment for the user through all the features mentioned above screen, input, battery life, storage, optional accessories, technical specifications, and software. But iPad could not be able to eliminate the role of the laptop which is still necessary for most of the people nowadays in several areas. iPad usage is still limited to a specific uses.. In my point of view, iPad considered as an accessory not something necessary for most of the people nowadays maybe next iPad generations in the future will have more advanced options and features will make the iPad more effective and necessary.