The iPad was rumored long before it was announced — luckily the one aboutit cost $ 1,000wasn’t genuine — but even afterSteve Jobs walked us through its apps and features , we still did n’t get it , not exactly . citizenry said it wasjust a big iPod trace . Those people were wrong .
Once the first iPad shipped April 3 , 2010 , it quickly became clean : the iPad is a biz - record changer . It was n’t the first pill , but it was the first one that really matter to the populace , and the rest of the industry has been seek to capture up ever since — for five years and counting .
@macworldI finally got my mother to comprehend technology . You could n’t get here more than 5 feet off from her iPad to this Clarence Day
I don’t want to upgrade
I bought a first - gen iPad for my boyfriend as a endowment before I want one for myself . I had petty stake in a tablet , preferring to use my iPhone and MacBook , but he wanted one . mischievously . I finally came around to the idea in 2012 , but I was about to uproot my liveliness to move to San Francisco , so dropping a few hundred dollars on a new gadget was n’t a gamy precedency . Before I left , he gave me the ultimate bye talent : a third - gen iPad tucked inside a vintage red American Tourister traveling bag .
That iPad kept me companionship while I headed off to the Bay alone . I still use it every day ( which is more than I can say for the traveling bag ) , and while it ’s slowing down in its modern old age , I do n’t want to promote . That iPad was more than just a pill : It cheered me up with FaceTime date and episodes of30 Rockthrough a tough but rewarding twelvemonth . But my mawkishness will misplace out to a new iPad sooner rather than afterwards , because it ’s about time.—Caitlin McGarry
@macworldUsing one in good order now … and have “ iPad neck ” with sore muscles to evidence it ! Just ask my masseuse !
My own personal reading machine
What sell me on the idea of the iPad was using it as a fancy version twist , so I load my first iPad up with basically every news reader uncommitted as shortly as I got it ( though I never liked using it to translate books — I still opt newspaper ) . Two of those early iPad apps are now so ingrained in my iPad purpose that I forget that they launched so early in the game — Flipboard and Instapaper .
Flipboard ’s figure of speech - heavy layout and gesture - friendly design makes it super easy to browse subject . My Flipboard is fulfil with opus on travelling , scientific discipline , and wildlife — material that I like to read about , but that is n’t important must - know fabric that would make my Feedly tilt . Instapaper , of track , dominate the read - it - former category thanks to its cross - platform consolidation and uncomplicated layout . Although both apps launch early on , they launched unattackable , and continue to get expert and better.—Leah Yamshon
@macworldmy first - gen iPad inspired / forced me to go forward my originative writing as it was so easy and fit all the reference textile I need .
A killer lean-back device
My first - gen iPad grade the very first time I waited in a long retail cable to corrupt an Apple Cartesian product on the very first day . I had the tablet within hours , and it now replaced my iPhone as my go - to “ kick back on the sofa and filch through internet site ” gadget . I knew it would become a major part of my digital life before buy it , and was n’t disappointed . But the forged news for Apple ? I ’ve only mat up the need to upgrade my iPad once.—Jon Phillips
@macworld#iPadTurns5made all the difference in taking my presentation to schools and cons to teach ego publish of comic strip and literacy
The best product I never needed
I was at the launching outcome for the first iPad , and had been dubious before the invitations went out that Apple would really make a tablet . They were so negative about netbooks , and the ab initio bruit $ 1,000 damage leak successfully to theWall Street Journalseemed far too high-pitched for the kind of espousal necessary .
But then the invites move out and it seemed clear it was die to encounter . I have a few distinct store . How thin Steve was , his pant baggy . The foreignness of expend so long on iWork apps . And then being pass on a twist in the demonstration surface area to trifle with freely — holding a sky - map app overhead and seeing the stars wheel around me .
It seemed impossible , like a gimmick that dropped out of the hereafter , but also one that I was n’t certain I would ever need . I ’d long discover by then not to sample to predict consumer response to Apple ’s products , and they tapped into a need . I ’ve owned four and still own two , but truth be tell , almost no one in the kinfolk consult them : it ’s iPod Touch , iPhone , TV , and laptop all around.—Glenn Fleishman
@macworldThe iPad changed everything : workings , reading , mind to music , watching movies , mailing , search . opt it to the Mac .
Family technology
My home did n’t even have a computer until I was in mediate school , but my 3 - year - old Logos intend that pretty much every screen he sees is a touchscreen , and he need them all to be the iPad . The two of us have spent hours persona - playingToca Store , cooperate on Plants vs. Zombies degree , and using veridical - lifetime objective to manipulate onscreen natural action with Osmo .
Its kidskin - friendly storybooks and videos have keep us both sane during recollective trips . ( I aboveboard do n’t be intimate how masses flew with toddlers before the iPad . ) We use its cameras to video - chat with far-off grandparent . But more than anything , it ’s been a friendly , hands - on introduction to engineering and the many ways it can empower its drug user . I ca n’t wait to see what he contract into next.—Susie Ochs
