The first-generation iPad ( ) (retrospectively referred to unofficially as the iPad 1, or original iPad) is a
tablet computer
A tablet computer, commonly shortened to tablet, is a mobile device, typically with a mobile operating system and touchscreen display processing circuitry, and a rechargeable battery in a single, thin and flat package. Tablets, being comput ...
designed and marketed by
Apple Inc.
Apple Inc. is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, United States. Apple is the largest technology company by revenue (totaling in 2021) and, as of June 2022, is the world's biggest company b ...
as the first device in the
iPad
The iPad is a brand of iOS and iPadOS-based tablet computers that are developed by Apple Inc. The iPad was conceived before the related iPhone but the iPhone was developed and released first. Speculation about the development, operating s ...
lineup of tablet computers. The device features an
Apple A4
The Apple A4 is a 32-bit package on package (PoP) system on a chip (SoC) designed by Apple Inc. and manufactured by Samsung. It was the first SoC Apple designed in-house. The first product to feature the A4 was the first-generation iPad, followe ...
SoC, a 9.7" touchscreen display, and, on certain variants, the capability of accessing cellular networks. Using the
iOS
iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also includes ...
operating system, the iPad can
play music
Google Play Music is a discontinued music and podcast streaming service and an online music locker operated by Google as part of its Google Play line of services. The service was announced on May 10, 2011; after a six-month, invitation-only be ...
, send and receive email and
browse the web. Other functions, which include the ability to play
games
A game is a structured form of play, usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator sports or games) or art (such ...
and access
references
Reference is a relationship between objects in which one object designates, or acts as a means by which to connect to or link to, another object. The first object in this relation is said to ''refer to'' the second object. It is called a ''name'' ...
,
GPS navigation
A satellite navigation device (satnav device) is a user equipment that uses one or more of several global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) to calculate the device's geographical position and provide navigational advice.
Depending on the s ...
software and
social network service
A social networking service or SNS (sometimes called a social networking site) is an online platform which people use to build social networks or social relationships with other people who share similar personal or career content, interests, act ...
s can be enabled by downloading
apps.
The device was announced and unveiled on January 27, 2010, by
Steve Jobs
Steven Paul Jobs (February 24, 1955 – October 5, 2011) was an American entrepreneur, industrial designer, media proprietor, and investor. He was the co-founder, chairman, and CEO of Apple; the chairman and majority shareholder of Pixar; a ...
at an Apple press event. On April 3, 2010, the Wi-Fi variant of the device was released in the
USA
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
, followed by the release of the "
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi () is a family of wireless network protocols, based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, which are commonly used for local area networking of devices and Internet access, allowing nearby digital devices to exchange data by radio wave ...
+
3G" variant on April 30. On May 28, 2010, it was released in
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
,
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
,
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
,
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
,
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
,
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
,
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
,
Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
and the
UK.
The device received positive reviews from various technology blogs and publications. Reviewers praised the device for its wide range of capabilities and labeled it as a competitor to laptops and
netbook
Netbook was a commonly used term that identified a product class of small and inexpensive laptops which were sold from 2007 to around 2013. These machines were designed primarily as cost-effective tools for consumers to access the Inte ...
s. Some aspects were criticized, including the closed nature of the operating system and the lack of support for the Adobe Flash multimedia format. During the first 80 days, 3 million iPads were sold. By the launch of the
iPad 2, Apple had sold more than 15 million iPads.
On March 2, 2011, the first generation iPad was discontinued following Apple's announcement of the
IPad 2
The iPad 2 is a tablet designed, developed and marketed by Apple Inc. Compared to the first iPad, as the second model in the iPad line, it gained a faster dual core A5 processor, a lighter build structure, and was the first iPad to feature ...
. Remaining stock of the first iPad were temporarily available from Apple at reduced price.
History
![Steve Jobs with the Apple iPad no logo (cropped)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e0/Steve_Jobs_with_the_Apple_iPad_no_logo_%28cropped%29.jpg)
Apple co-founder Steve Jobs stated in a 1983 speech about the company:
Apple's first tablet computer was the
Newton
Newton most commonly refers to:
* Isaac Newton (1642–1726/1727), English scientist
* Newton (unit), SI unit of force named after Isaac Newton
Newton may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Newton'' (film), a 2017 Indian film
* Newton ( ...
MessagePad 100, introduced in 1993, which led to the creation of the
ARM6 processor core with
Acorn Computers
Acorn Computers Ltd. was a British computer company established in Cambridge, England, in 1978. The company produced a number of computers which were especially popular in the United Kingdom, UK, including the Acorn Electron and the Acorn Archi ...
. Apple also developed a prototype
PowerBook Duo
The PowerBook Duo is a line of subnotebooks manufactured and sold by Apple Computer from 1992 until 1997 as a more compact companion to the PowerBook line. Improving upon the PowerBook 100's portability (its immediate predecessor and Apple's t ...
-based tablet, the
PenLite, but decided not to sell it in order to avoid hurting MessagePad sales.
Apple released several more Newton-based PDAs; the final one, the
MessagePad 2100, was discontinued in 1998.
Apple reentered the mobile-computing market in 2007 with the
iPhone. Smaller than the (not yet announced) iPad and featuring a camera and mobile capabilities, it pioneered the
multitouch
In computing, multi-touch is technology that enables a surface (a touchpad or touchscreen) to recognize the presence of more than one point of contact with the surface at the same time. The origins of multitouch began at CERN, MIT, University of ...
finger-sensitive touchscreen interface of Apple's iOS mobile operating system.
By late 2009, the iPad's release had been rumored for several years. Such speculation mostly talked about "Apple's tablet"; specific names included ''iTablet'' and ''iSlate''.
The actual name is reportedly an homage to the Star Trek
PADD
In the ''Star Trek'' fictional universe, LCARS (; an acronym for Library Computer Access/Retrieval System) is a computer operating system. Within ''Star Trek'' chronology, the term was first used in the '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'' series ...
, a fictional device very similar in appearance to the iPad.
The iPad was announced on January 27, 2010, by Jobs at an Apple press conference at the
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (YBCA) is a multi-disciplinary contemporary arts center in San Francisco, California, United States. Located in Yerba Buena Gardens, YBCA features visual art, performance, and film/video that celebrates local, natio ...
in
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
.
Jobs later said that Apple began developing the iPad before the
iPhone,
but temporarily shelved the effort upon realizing that its ideas would work just as well in a mobile phone. The iPad's internal codename was K48, which was revealed in the court case surrounding leaking of iPad information before launch.
Apple began taking pre-orders for the iPad from US customers on March 12, 2010.
The only major change to the device between its announcement and being available to pre-order was the change of the behavior of the side switch from sound muting to that of a screen rotation lock. The Wi-Fi version of the iPad went on sale in the United States on April 3, 2010.
The Wi-Fi + 3G version was released on April 30.
3G service for the iPad in the United States is provided by
AT&T
AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the world's largest telecommunications company by revenue and the third largest provider of mobile tel ...
and was initially sold with 2 prepaid contract-free data plan options: 1 for unlimited data and the other for 250 MB per month at 1/2 the price. On June 2, 2010, AT&T announced that, effective June 7, the unlimited plan would be replaced for new customers with a 2 GB plan at slightly lower cost; existing customers would have the option to keep the unlimited plan. The plans are activated on the iPad itself and can be cancelled at any time.
The iPad was initially only available for purchase on Apple's online store and its
retail locations; it has since become available through retailers including Amazon, Walmart, and network operators. The iPad was launched in countries including Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan and the United Kingdom on May 28.
Online pre-orders in those countries began on May 10.
Apple released the iPad in Hong Kong, Ireland, Mexico, New Zealand and Singapore on July 23, 2010. Israel briefly prohibited importation of the iPad because of concerns that its
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi () is a family of wireless network protocols, based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, which are commonly used for local area networking of devices and Internet access, allowing nearby digital devices to exchange data by radio wave ...
might interfere with other devices. On September 17, 2010, the iPad was officially launched in Mainland China.
Features
Software
The iPad originally shipped with
IPhone OS 3.2. On September 1, 2010, it was announced the iPad would get iOS 4.2 by November 2010; to fulfill this, Apple released
IOS 4
iOS 4 is the fourth major release of the iOS mobile operating system developed by Apple Inc., being the successor to iPhone OS 3. It was announced at the Apple Special Event on April 8, 2010, and was released on June 21, 2010. iOS 4 is the fi ...
.2.1 to the public on November 22. It comes with several applications, including Safari, Mail, Photos, Video,
IPod
The iPod is a discontinued series of portable media players and multi-purpose mobile devices designed and marketed by Apple Inc. The first version was released on October 23, 2001, about months after the Macintosh version of iTunes ...
,
iTunes Store
The iTunes Store is a digital media store operated by Apple Inc. It opened on April 28, 2003, as a result of Steve Jobs' push to open a digital marketplace for music. As of April 2020, iTunes offered 60 million songs, 2.2 million apps, 25,00 ...
,
App Store
An App Store (or app marketplace) is a type of digital distribution platform for computer software called applications, often in a mobile context. Apps provide a specific set of functions which, by definition, do not include the running of the co ...
, Maps, Notes, Calendar, and Contacts.
Several are improved versions of applications developed for the iPhone or
Mac.
The iPad syncs with iTunes on a Mac or Windows PC.
Apple ported its
iWork
iWork is an office suite of applications created by Apple Inc. for its macOS and iOS operating systems, and also available cross-platform through the iCloud website.
It includes the presentation application Keynote, the word processing and desk ...
suite from the Mac to the iPad, and sells pared-down versions of
Pages
Page most commonly refers to:
* Page (paper), one side of a leaf of paper, as in a book
Page, PAGE, pages, or paging may also refer to:
Roles
* Page (assistance occupation), a professional occupation
* Page (servant), traditionally a young mal ...
,
Numbers
A number is a mathematical object used to count, measure, and label. The original examples are the natural numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, and so forth. Numbers can be represented in language with number words. More universally, individual numbers can ...
, and
Keynote
A keynote in public speaking is a talk that establishes a main underlying theme. In corporate or commercial settings, greater importance is attached to the delivery of a keynote speech or keynote address. The keynote establishes the framework fo ...
apps in the App Store.
Although the iPad isn't designed to replace a mobile phone, a user can use a wired headset or the built-in speaker and microphone to place phone calls over Wi-Fi or 3G using a
VoIP
Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), also called IP telephony, is a method and group of technologies for the delivery of voice communications and multimedia sessions over Internet Protocol (IP) networks, such as the Internet. The terms Internet t ...
application.
On October 12, 2011,
iOS 5
iOS 5 is the fifth major release of the iOS mobile operating system developed by Apple Inc., being the successor to iOS 4. It was announced at the company's Worldwide Developers Conference on June 6, 2011, and was released on October 12, 2011. ...
was released to various iOS devices, including the first-generation iPad, and was downloadable through iTunes. The update was reported to contain hundreds of new features and tweaks, including
Twitter
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
integration, Notification Center and
iMessage
iMessage is an instant messaging service developed by Apple Inc. and launched in 2011. iMessage functions exclusively on Apple platforms: macOS, iOS, iPadOS, and watchOS.
Core features of iMessage, available on all supported platforms, includ ...
, which is a feature that allows users to send messages or multimedia files to other users on iOS or
OS X
macOS (; previously OS X and originally Mac OS X) is a Unix operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc. since 2001. It is the primary operating system for Apple's Mac computers. Within the market of desktop and lapt ...
, the operating system for Apple computers.
iCloud
iCloud is a Personal cloud, cloud service from Apple Inc. launched on October 12, 2011 as a successor to MobileMe. , the service had an estimated 850 million users, up from 782 million users in 2016.
iCloud enables users to sync their data to t ...
, an iOS app and Apple-provided internet storage service which allows users to sync and backup their user data and settings to/from other devices, was also made available through this update. On June 11, 2012, it was announced that
iOS 6
iOS 6 is the sixth major release of the iOS mobile operating system developed by Apple Inc, being the successor to iOS 5. It was announced at the company's Worldwide Developers Conference on June 11, 2012, and was released on September 19, 201 ...
would not be available for the first-generation iPad, making
IOS 5.1.1 the final operating system officially available for the device.
Hardware
![Apple A4 Chip](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/17/Apple_A4_Chip.jpg)
The first-generation iPad features an
Apple A4
The Apple A4 is a 32-bit package on package (PoP) system on a chip (SoC) designed by Apple Inc. and manufactured by Samsung. It was the first SoC Apple designed in-house. The first product to feature the A4 was the first-generation iPad, followe ...
SoC,
which comprises a 1 GHz processor, 256 MB of
RAM
Ram, ram, or RAM may refer to:
Animals
* A male sheep
* Ram cichlid, a freshwater tropical fish
People
* Ram (given name)
* Ram (surname)
* Ram (director) (Ramsubramaniam), an Indian Tamil film director
* RAM (musician) (born 1974), Dutch
* Ra ...
and a PowerVR SGX535
GPU
A graphics processing unit (GPU) is a specialized electronic circuit designed to manipulate and alter memory to accelerate the creation of images in a frame buffer intended for output to a display device. GPUs are used in embedded systems, mobil ...
.
There are four physical switches on the iPad, including a home button near the display that returns the user to the main menu, and three plastic physical switches on the sides: ''wake/sleep'' and ''volume up/down'', plus a software-controlled switch whose function has changed with software updates. Originally the switch locked the screen to its current orientation, but iOS 4.2 changed it to a mute switch, moving the rotation lock function to an onscreen menu. In the iOS 4.3 update, a setting was added to allow the user to specify whether the side switch was used for rotation lock or mute.
Unlike its successors, the first-generation iPad has no cameras.
The iPad's
touchscreen
A touchscreen or touch screen is the assembly of both an input ('touch panel') and output ('display') device. The touch panel is normally layered on the top of an electronic visual display of an information processing system. The display is often ...
display is a 1,024 by 768 pixel,
liquid crystal display
A liquid-crystal display (LCD) is a flat panel display, flat-panel display or other Electro-optic modulator, electronically modulated optical device that uses the light-modulating properties of liquid crystals combined with polarizers. Liqui ...
(diagonal ), with
fingerprint- and scratch-resistant glass. As a result of the device's screen dimensions and resolution, the screen has a pixel density of 132
ppi.
The display responds to other sensors: an ambient light sensor to adjust screen brightness and a 3-axis
accelerometer
An accelerometer is a tool that measures proper acceleration. Proper acceleration is the acceleration (the rate of change of velocity) of a body in its own instantaneous rest frame; this is different from coordinate acceleration, which is accele ...
to sense the iPad's orientation and switch between
portrait and landscape modes. Unlike the iPhone and iPod Touch's built-in applications, which work in 3 orientations (portrait, landscape-left and landscape-right), the iPad's built-in applications support
screen rotation
Page orientation is the way in which a rectangular page is oriented for normal viewing. The two most common types of orientation are ''portrait'' and ''landscape''. The term "portrait orientation" comes from visual art terminology and describes ...
in all four orientations, including upside-down. Consequently, the device has no intrinsic "native" orientation; only the relative position of the home button changes.
The iPad was equipped with 16 GB, 32 GB, or 64 GB (1 GB = 1 billion bytes) of solid-state (flash) storage for program and data storage. Furthermore, the device was available with two connectivity options:
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi () is a family of wireless network protocols, based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, which are commonly used for local area networking of devices and Internet access, allowing nearby digital devices to exchange data by radio wave ...
only or Wi-Fi and 3G.
Unlike its successors, the Wi-Fi +
3G variant of the first-generation iPad could only support carriers that utilized
GSM
The Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) is a standard developed by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) to describe the protocols for second-generation ( 2G) digital cellular networks used by mobile devices such as ...
/
UMTS
The Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) is a third generation mobile cellular system for networks based on the GSM standard. Developed and maintained by the 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project), UMTS is a component of the Inte ...
standards and was not compatible with
CDMA
Code-division multiple access (CDMA) is a channel access method used by various radio communication technologies. CDMA is an example of multiple access, where several transmitters can send information simultaneously over a single communication ...
networks; however, like its successors,
assisted GPS
Assisted GNSS (A-GNSS) is a GNSS augmentation system that often significantly improves the startup performance—i.e., time-to-first-fix (TTFF)—of a global navigation satellite system (GNSS). A-GNSS works by providing the necessary data to the ...
services are supported.
Bluetooth was also available on all models.
The weight of the first-generation iPad varied, dependent upon the connectivity options chosen. The Wi-Fi only variant weighs whereas the variant with Wi-Fi + 3G weighs .
Its dimensions, however, are identical across the entire range of variants, measuring 9.56×7.47×0.5 in (243×190×13 mm).
Accessories
![IPad in Black Case](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/de/IPad_in_Black_Case.jpg)
Apple offers several iPad accessories, most of which are adapters for the proprietary
30-pin dock connector
A dock connector is a connector used to attach a mobile electronic device simultaneously to multiple external resources. The dock connector will typically carry a variety of signals and power, through a single connector, to simplify the process o ...
, the iPad's only port besides the headphone jack.
A dock holds the iPad upright at an angle, and has a dock connector and audio line-out port. Each generation of iPad requires a corresponding dock. A dock that included a physical keyboard was only supported for the original iPad, but all generations are compatible with Bluetooth keyboards that also work with
Macs and
PCs
A personal computer (PC) is a multi-purpose microcomputer whose size, capabilities, and price make it feasible for individual use. Personal computers are intended to be operated directly by an end user, rather than by a computer expert or techn ...
. The iPad can be charged with a 10 W standalone power adapter, which is also compatible with iPods and iPhones.
Reception
Critical reception
Media reaction to the announcement of the device and the device itself was mixed. The media noted that thousands of people queued on the first day of sale in a number of countries with many of those who waited claiming that "it was worth it."
Walt Mossberg
Walter S. Mossberg (born March 27, 1947) is an American technology journalist and moderator.
From 1991 through 2013, he was the principal technology columnist for ''The Wall Street Journal''. He also co-founded '' AllThingsD'', ''Recode'' a ...
(of ''The Wall Street Journal'') wrote, "It's about the software, stupid", meaning hardware features and build are less important to the iPad's success than software and user interface, his first impressions of which were largely positive. Mossberg also called the price "modest" for a device of its capabilities, and praised the ten-hour battery life. Others, including
PC Advisor ''Tech Advisor'', previously known as ''PC Advisor'', is a consumer tech website and digital magazine published by Foundry, a subsidiary of IDG Inc, which also produces ''Macworld, PCWorld'' and ''TechHive.'' IDG Inc was acquired by Blackstone in 2 ...
and the
Sydney Morning Herald
''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper i ...
, wrote that the iPad would also compete with proliferating
netbook
Netbook was a commonly used term that identified a product class of small and inexpensive laptops which were sold from 2007 to around 2013. These machines were designed primarily as cost-effective tools for consumers to access the Inte ...
s, most of which use
Microsoft Windows
Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...
. The base model's price of
US$
The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...
499 () was lower than pre-release estimates by Wall Street analysts, and Apple's competitors, all of whom were expecting a much higher entry price point.
The media also praised the quantity of applications, as well as the bookstore and other media applications.
In contrast, some sources, including the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...
, criticized the iPad for being a closed system and mentioned that the iPad faces competition from
Android-based tablets.
However, at the time of the first-generation iPad's launch, ''
Yahoo! News
Yahoo! News is a news website that originated as an internet-based news aggregator by Yahoo!. The site was created by a Yahoo! software engineer named Brad Clawsie in August 1996. Articles originally came from news services such as the Associate ...
'' noted that the
Android tablet OS, known as "Honeycomb", was not open source and has fewer apps available for it than for the iPad,; although later
Google
Google LLC () is an American multinational technology company focusing on search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, artificial intelligence, and consumer electronics. ...
released the source code for Honeycomb. ''
The Independent
''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
'' criticized the iPad for not being as readable in bright light as paper but praised it for being able to store large quantities of books.
After its UK release, ''
The Daily Telegraph
''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally.
It was fo ...
'' said the iPad's lack of
Adobe Flash
Adobe Flash (formerly Macromedia Flash and FutureSplash) is a multimedia Computing platform, software platform used for production of Flash animation, animations, rich web applications, application software, desktop applications, mobile apps, mo ...
support was "annoying".
The iPad was selected by ''
Time
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...
'' magazine as one of the 50 Best Inventions of the Year 2010, while
Popular Science
''Popular Science'' (also known as ''PopSci'') is an American digital magazine carrying popular science content, which refers to articles for the general reader on science and technology subjects. ''Popular Science'' has won over 58 awards, incl ...
chose it as the top gadget
behind the overall "Best of What's New 2010" winner
Groasis Waterboxx
The Groasis Waterboxx is a device designed to help in growing trees in dry areas. It was invented and developed by Dutch former flower exporter Pieter Hoff,Witkin, JimDeveloping a ‘Water Battery’ for trees''New York Times'', 9 April 2010. Acces ...
.
Commercial reception
300,000 iPads were sold on their first day of availability. By May 3, 2010, Apple had sold a million iPads;
this was just half the time it took Apple to sell the same number of original iPhones. After passing the one million mark, they continued selling rapidly, reaching 3 million sales after 80 days.
During the financial conference call on October 18, 2010, Steve Jobs announced that Apple had sold more iPads than Macs for the fiscal quarter.
In total, Apple sold more than 15 million first-generation iPads prior to the launch of the iPad 2
– more than all other tablet PCs combined since the iPad's release, and reaching 75% of tablet PC sales at the end of 2010.
Criticism
CNET criticized the iPad for its apparent lack of wireless sync, which other portable devices such as
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washing ...
's
Zune
Zune is a discontinued line of digital media products and services marketed by Microsoft from November 2006 until its discontinuation in June 2012. Zune consisted of a line of portable media players, digital media player software for Windows Per ...
have had for a number of years.
Walt Mossberg called it a "pretty close" laptop killer.
David Pogue
David Welch Pogue (born March 9, 1963) is an American technology and science writer and TV presenter. He is an Emmy-winning correspondent for ''CBS News Sunday Morning'' and author of the "Crowdwise" column in ''The New York Times'' Smarter Livi ...
of ''The New York Times'' wrote a "dual" review, one part for technology-minded people, and the other part for non-technology-minded people. In the former section, he notes that a laptop offers more features for a cheaper price than the iPad. In his review for the latter audience, however, he claims that if his readers like the concept of the device and can understand what its intended uses are, then they will enjoy using the device.
PC Magazine
''PC Magazine'' (shortened as ''PCMag'') is an American computer magazine published by Ziff Davis. A print edition was published from 1982 to January 2009. Publication of online editions started in late 1994 and have continued to the present d ...
's Tim Gideon wrote, "you have yourself a winner" that "will undoubtedly be a driving force in shaping the emerging tablet landscape." Michael Arrington of
TechCrunch
TechCrunch is an American online newspaper focusing on high tech and startup companies. It was founded in June 2005 by Archimedes Ventures, led by partners Michael Arrington and Keith Teare.
In 2010, AOL acquired the company for approximately ...
said, "the iPad beats even my most optimistic expectations. This is a new category of device. But it also will replace laptops for many people."
PC World
''PC World'' (stylized as PCWorld) is a global computer magazine published monthly by IDG. Since 2013, it has been an online only publication.
It offers advice on various aspects of PCs and related items, the Internet, and other personal tech ...
criticized the iPad's
file sharing
File sharing is the practice of distributing or providing access to digital media, such as computer programs, multimedia (audio, images and video), documents or electronic books. Common methods of storage, transmission and dispersion include r ...
and printing abilities, and
ArsTechnica
''Ars Technica'' is a website covering news and opinions in technology, science, politics, and society, created by Ken Fisher and Jon Stokes in 1998. It publishes news, reviews, and guides on issues such as computer hardware and software, sci ...
critically noted that sharing files with a computer is "one of our least favorite parts of the iPad experience."
The lack of
Adobe Flash
Adobe Flash (formerly Macromedia Flash and FutureSplash) is a multimedia Computing platform, software platform used for production of Flash animation, animations, rich web applications, application software, desktop applications, mobile apps, mo ...
support was criticized with ''The Daily Telegraph'' saying that the iPad's lack of
Adobe Flash
Adobe Flash (formerly Macromedia Flash and FutureSplash) is a multimedia Computing platform, software platform used for production of Flash animation, animations, rich web applications, application software, desktop applications, mobile apps, mo ...
support was "annoying."
Timeline of iPad models
See also
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List of iPad accessories The iPad is an iPadOS-based (previously iOS) line of tablet computers designed and developed by Apple Inc.; it has a wide variety of accessories made by Apple available for it, including a screen cover specifically for the respective models of iPa ...
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E-book reader
An e-reader, also called an e-book reader or e-book device, is a mobile electronic device that is designed primarily for the purpose of reading digital e-books and periodicals.
Any device that can display text on a screen may act as an e-read ...
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Comparison of tablet computers
This is a list of tablet computers, grouped by intended audience and form factor.
Media tablets
Multimedia tablets are compared in the following tables.
Larger than screen
Following two tables compare larger than screen multimedia tablets rele ...
References
External links
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{{Apple
Products and services discontinued in 2012
*1st generation
iPad (1st generation)
The first-generation iPad ( ) (retrospectively referred to unofficially as the iPad 1, or original iPad) is a tablet computer designed and marketed by Apple Inc. as the first device in the iPad lineup of tablet computers. The device features ...
Tablet computers
Touchscreen portable media players
Tablet computers introduced in 2010