iPad Mad!

After playing for a good long while in the Amsterdam Apple shop, a close friend of mine decided to buy an iPad; a lavish treat for himself after not spending the entirety of his budget on a trip round Europe.

I know no-one else with an iPad; in fact I continue to marvel when I see people in public places, casually handling their wonderful gadget where onlookers can swoon.

It is a truly stunning piece of technology; in fact the guardian calls it ‘hypnotically beautiful’ and once you spend time on one, you begin to understand why.

The average photographs of Venetian scenery taken on an equally average digital camera come alive with the screen on the iPad, so fabulous the visual that one can’t help but to glance through them, again, again and again.

And the apps, the apps are just as delightful, from catching up with the news on the Times (for a price) or free with the Telegraph or the BBC, to gliding through the glossies on Conde Nast’s Vanity Fair or on the wonderful style.com. There is such precision of the articles, video’s and photographs that the presentation is immaculate.

iBooks, the popular apple app provides a virtual bookstore where you can download and subsequently read the latest best selling books or any other of your choosing, all presented in the style of the actual book – pages and all. Whilst having a bookstore literally at your fingertips may seem appealing, it comes at a cost and buying the hardcopy is in most cases cheaper.

The games available on the iPad are also pretty damn good, available in high definition, ‘real racing’ is particularly impressive with stunning graphics and hands-on action!

A new generation of devices is born with the introduction of the iPad, ‘slabs’ are being designed by everyone from Blackberry to Dell and the Microsoft experts with those in the know naming 2010, ‘the year of the tablet’.

I am no technology expert, I have no idea how far along the boffins are in creating the next work of genius but I wonder whether these tablets will become increasingly accessible. As it stands, the iPad is pretty expensive and out of price range for penny counting students, so will it catch on?

I’m unsure. Whilst applications such as ‘Pages’ have been created for the iPad to make working on them possible, it is still impractical, too small and too awkward.

I predict that the iPad, or any future tablet will remain little more than a toy for the time bein. Having said this, it’s fun, it’s an eye-opener to the latest technology and if you were to seriously splash out and buy one, I believe everyone would be green with envy.