iPad Launched 10 Years Ago Today, App Developer Reflects on Getting Access to a Top-Secret Prototype

[mannyvel]

"The difference between an iPad and an iPhone is the difference between a bathtub and a swimming pool." - people after using an iPad for the first time.

 

[Duncan-UK]

Why would it have been a prototype if they were given access after the public unveiling. Surely they aren't trying to hype up the story?

 

[xDKP]

To be fair all of those "it's just a big iPod touch" were not far off. I was probably one of those who thought that way since I never bought the first one, actually none of the first generations until they introduced the Apple Pen. Now that it has a pen, keyboard, trackpad and the software has matured (to some extent) it doesn't feel like a big iPod anymore.

I loved mine - it definitely was ahead of its time regarding Flash etc. but it was and still is an amazing surf machine

 

[MisterSavage]

I wasn't that interested in iPads when they first came out but once I eventually got one it was a revelation. It's by far my most used Apple device and I can't imagine not having one.

 

[Xiroteus]

The biggest issue when first released is that it could not do flash which made it quite useless since flash was still everywhere.

 

[Nanotyrns]

I loved mine - it definitely was ahead of its time regarding Flash etc. but it was and still is an amazing surf machine

That's what occurred to me after purchasing the first iPad. You pick it up, surf, and then put it down. Lot's of people don't need the power of a laptop. It's perfect for them.
[automerge]1585947103[/automerge]

I don’t understand what the hype was all about. It was literally nothing more than a large iPhone. Without the phone.

The iPad was in development before the iPhone then set aside for a bit while they worked on iPhone. So, let's be clear about this...

The iPad is not a big phone.

The iPhone is a little iPad.

 

[nihil0]

I don’t understand what the hype was all about. It was literally nothing more than a large iPhone. Without the phone.

My friend bought iPad 2 in 2011. Back then, I was still skeptical to all things Apple but when I saw it and he let me use it and read some magazines etc. I was stunned by it. What an awesome device it was and still is!

 

[mazz0]

I never understood the “it’s just a big iPod” line. From the moment I got an iPhone I wished they did a big one that would live on my couch. Then they did, and it was amazing.

 

[sideshowuniqueuser]

I wasn't that interested in iPads when they first came out but once I eventually got one it was a revelation. It's by far my most used Apple device and I can't imagine not having one.

Interesting! For me, I got my son an iPad mini, and I played with it a few times, but I always found it a poor cousin of both a MBP and an iPhone. The MBP has the nice big screen which props up automatically on my lap or desk, OS, keyboard, and functionality. The iPhone has the mobility to fit in my pocket. My son used his iPad all the time, but then I got him an old second hand iPhone and MBA, and he never bothers with his iPad anymore, for similar reasons. I even mentioned maybe getting him a newer iPad, but he was like "nah, I'll never use it". Each to their own I suppose.

 

[moorey]

Let me get this straight: Agile won a prize for a rigged competition by Apple?

 

[georgivelev]

I don’t understand what the hype was all about. It was literally nothing more than a large iPhone. Without the phone.

I’ve never understood that argument. I am typing this on my iPad Air 2 which has the same screen size as the original iPad. I also have the iPhone SE whose screen size is more or less the same as that of the iPhones in 2010

I find quite a lot of use cases where the small SE screen doesn’t cut it in comparison with an iPad the main ones being browsing the internet, reading books, watching movies, creating a Pages document. Even iTunes is clumsier on an iPhone. That’s why I only use the SE for phone calls, viber, weather forecast programs. And as an internet hotspot for the iPad.

 

[bobob]

I don’t understand what the hype was all about. It was literally nothing more than a large iPhone. Without the phone.

Apple has sold about 400 million iPads.

Some of those buyers must have found them to be actually useful and not just a hype induced buying error.
[automerge]1585996659[/automerge]

Let me get this straight: Agile won a prize for a rigged competition by Apple?

No, they were just more Agile than their competition.

 

[nikon1]

The only Apple device I have ever stood in line for, was totally worth it.

Same with me. I passed on all the iPhones until the 4 — I just didn’t see what all the hype was about until the iPhone 4 — but the iPad really had me at first look & touch.

 

[nylonsteel]

whoa..ten years already
feels like 7
anyway i remember the day ipad was announced for released and told another tech person about ipad - he just had a blank look on his face like - what the heck is an ipad? and had the look of no interest
time flies by. wish i had those 10 years back - to live over - knowing what i know now...

 

[The Game 161]

I love all my apple products but what a product the iPad has been

 

[Mainsail]

You can own an iPad 7 ($250 on sale) plus Apple Keyboard plus Apple Pencil plus an inexpensive BT mouse for about $500, complete with iPadOS and free iWorks, iMovie and Garage Band. In 2010, this was the Entry level price of an ipad running iOS 3 and you had to pay extra for iWorks etc.. No cameras. No touch ID. No pencil support. No smart connector. No mouse support. No Retina display. 250 MB of RAM. 50% heavier than the iPad 7. The list goes on and on. The original iPad didn’t really even function unless you plugged it into a computer.

The IPad platform has come a long long way. The current base iPad is probably the best value in tech.

 

[Dephtones]

never forget baba booey called it "a bit of a stumble"

 

[waveman]

And now, GuitarToolkit is dead and hasn't been updated since 2016, also, it has far too many bad reviews, and there is nothing in it you wouldn't be able to get for free, yet it's not the full price of the app, you pay for the app, and then you have to pay for additional features.

 

[magicschoolbus]

Give the iPad a file system and a better UI .. it’s made strides but still needs work.

 

[doelcm82]

I still have mint condition 1st gen iPad top model running iOS 3 and great battery health.

Mine is not in mint condition, but it still works, the screen is good, and it has decent battery life. The kids use it to play Talking Tom, and they stream from Amazon.
[automerge]1586033879[/automerge]

They weren't wrong. It's a blown up iPod running iPodOS.

With the advantages that a blown up iPod offers.
[automerge]1586034154[/automerge]

I wasn't that interested in iPads when they first came out but once I eventually got one it was a revelation. It's by far my most used Apple device and I can't imagine not having one.

I was an early adopter. I brought mine with me to a job I was working on in England. One of my coworkers over there was so excited about it that he had cut out a picture from a magazine to practice pinching and zooming. It wasn't released there yet. I gave him the box mine came in, and he was happy as a clam.

 

[Saturnine]

I was one of those people who thought “the iPad is just a big iPod touch” and had little interest in it.

On launch day, I just happened to be in an Apple Store. I forgot it was even iPad launch day.

I played with one for a few seconds and bought it on the spot. I didn’t “get” it until I used it.

 

[tyranne201]

When the first iPad came out, I wasn't too impressed. I thought it was cute, but I considered it to be a toy -- something you might buy for your kids if you didn't want to buy them a more-expensive Mac. Over the course of the year, though, I had several friends and coworkers tell me, "You have to use it to appreciate it. Trust me: you'll love it." I vowed to buy an iPad 2 when it was released. Alas, when the day came (and all of the following week), the iPad 2 was sold out everywhere. Then my cell-phone provider, AT&T, deeply discounted the iPad 1. I figured it was an inexpensive way to give the iPad a try. If I really liked it, I'd upgrade to the iPad 3 in a year. If I didn't like it, well, I wouldn't have wasted much money.

I knew within two days of purchase that I'd never be without an iPad again. My friends were right: once I started using it, I was able to appreciate that it wasn't just a bigger version of my iPhone or a dumbed-down version of my MacBook Pro. I upgraded to the iPad 4 when it came out, and then to the 2018 9.7" iPad, which is still going strong. Barely a day has gone by in the past decade that I haven't pulled out my iPad to check my email, surf the web, view my photos, listen to music, watch streaming video, read an ebook, and/or use one of my many apps.

I still use my 2019 iMac and 2015 MacBook Pro for the heavy lifting. For me, an iPad Pro can't replace a Mac. However, when the time comes to replace my MBP, I'll seriously consider an iPad Pro/Magic Keyboard/Apple Pencil combination. If I had to replace my MBP today, I'd get a MacBook Air. In a couple years, though, who knows?

I can totally see iPad being used for coding. It is just a matter of time, or iPadOS.

 

[mi7chy]

I can totally see iPad being used for coding. It is just a matter of time, or iPadOS.

There's nothing stopping Apple from doing it now except they want you to sell you two devices. They just need to expose the underlying BSD unix like Termux on Android that provides a userspace Linux shell with installable packages so you can access gcc, g++, go, rust, Metasploit, Bettercap, etc. Instead, Apple is intent on keeping my iPads more like a blown up iPod.

 

[Abazigal]

There's nothing stopping Apple from doing it now except they want you to sell you two devices. They just need to expose the underlying BSD unix like Termux on Android that provides a userspace Linux shell with installable packages so you can access gcc, g++, go, rust, Metasploit, Bettercap, etc. Instead, Apple is intent on keeping my iPads more like a blown up iPod.

I think Apple is more focused on the more common use cases at the moment, as well as implementing new functionality to further differentiate the iPad from the Mac. Coding is such a niche use case that I can’t imagine it ranking particularly high on Apple’s priority list for the iPad right now.

 

[badawat]

Right? I have stories, but NDA is foreva!

Usually it's until the info is released into the public domain, e.g. advertising campaign, if there's a date specified or if permission is given to release details of the NDA.