Yeah, there will be a disproportionate amount of iPad coverage this week. However, we promise not to run a single April Fools Day post. Fair enough?
The first round of reviews are in, and they’re not surprising given all we know. The tone is generally very positive, yet we’re cautioned to keep our expectations in check. As the iPad is an amazing media consumption device, but perhaps suitable for only light duty content creation.
Apple’s press relations team primarily seeded mainstream print media with devices. As such, the Mossbergs, Pogues, and Baigs are limited in the breadth and depth of their discussion. In fact, many of these reviews aren’t much different from iPad launch coverage. And questions remain. Fortunately, one tech enthusiast publication received a review unit. And PC Magazine dug deeper, providing 4,000 words, tons of photos including an unboxing gallery, and the video above. So I suggest you start your research with them.
PC Mag
Apple iPad: What a Tablet Should Be
A difficult-to-pinpoint target customer and a few pesky omissions are overshadowed by the excellent overall experience you get with Apple’s iPad. And it sets the bar high for competing products in this nascent Internet tablet category.
New York Times
Looking at the iPad From Two Angles
The iPad is so fast and light, the multitouch screen so bright and responsive, the software so easy to navigate, that it really does qualify as a new category of gadget. Some have suggested that it might make a good goof-proof computer for technophobes, the aged and the young; they’re absolutely right.
USA Today
Verdict is in on Apple iPad: It’s a winner
Apple has pretty much nailed it with this first iPad, though there’s certainly room for improvement. Nearly three years after making a splash with the iPhone, Apple has delivered another impressive product that largely lives up to the hype.
Wall Street Journal
Apple iPad Review: Laptop Killer? Pretty Close
After spending hours and hours with it, I believe this beautiful new touch-screen device from Apple has the potential to change portable computing profoundly, and to challenge the primacy of the laptop. It could even help, eventually, to propel the finger-driven, multitouch user interface ahead of the mouse-driven interface that has prevailed for decades.
Boing Boing
Apple’s iPad is a touch of genius
It strikes you when you first touch an iPad. The form just feels good, not too lightweight or heavy, nor too thin or thick. It’s sensual. It’s tactile. I like it a lot. But it’s the things I never knew it made possible — to be revealed or not in the coming months — that will determine whether I love it.