iPad (tablet) greatest tech invention in recent history?

[rowspaxe]

I see the ipad as a rescale of the smart phone with really no additional functionality at all. The ipad put the tablet on the map but its development since 2010 has be unimpressive. My personal impression of the ipad is informed by what it lacks: a file browser and a pen digitizer. It remains for the ipad pro or the surface pro 3 to payoff on the promise of tablet computing. Meantime, enjoy the big phone--i do

 

[irDigital0l]

Get an ipad and your MBA will collect dust! Lol

Actually it became the opposite for me.

Had an iPad, got a MBA and I traded in my iPad back when Target gave the awesome $200 deal.

You can just do so much more on a laptop.

 

[sviato]

Right, because reading books is the primary purpose of an iPad? If you want to save a few dollars, don't even try an iPad. It's the sort of the thing that just takes on a life of its own once you start using it.

I just think it's best for reading, everything else my MBA does better.

Get an ipad and your MBA will collect dust! Lol

Well I torrent and stream a lot which iOS can't do very well so dust would probably be minimal.

What do you guys use your iPad for that's superior to a laptop?

 

[eggersj]

What do you guys use your iPad for that's superior to a laptop?

For me it's the optimal browsing machine (well, pre iOS 7). More ergonomic fir me to scoop it up and go browse, check email, etc.

But I prefer my MBA when I need to type or do any file management... Thesis, longer emails, excel, etc...

Just this guys opinion. FWIW

 

[haruhiko]

Yes, it's great.

But not as much as what the iPhone did for smartphone's starting in 2007, a mere 7 years back. Crappy resistive touch with stylus, or billion tiny button cluster****, to the smooth projected capacitive iPhone display.

Look at how the smartphone market has exploded since.

They are our true portal computers.

And yet people like to rewrite history as if iPhone was not something revolutionary and was "copied" from other phones at the time.

 

[Technarchy]

The iPad has changed a lot of industries. It truly is a bigger product than anyone could have dreamed of.

I see them in restaurants, doctors offices, theaters, sport stadiums, malls and lord knows where else. I'm not just talking surfing either. I mean changing the way people do business and consumer expectations related to business interaction.

It's more than one considers at a glance.

 

[kathyricks]

Actually it became the opposite for me.
Had an iPad, got a MBA and I traded in my iPad back when Target gave the awesome $200 deal. You can just do so much more on a laptop.

Same here. After 2 months of owning and using an iPad Air I dumped it in favor of a retina MBP. I desperately missed the fuctionality of OSX when using the iPad Air. The iPad Air experience did got me hooked on retina, however, even to the extent of also motivating me to get rid of my 24" iMac desktop.

 

[AppleRobert]

I actually think smartphones are the greatest tech creation of our era, with the iPhone leading the charge. They got a strong penetration in society (almost everyone has one of those now), they are the basis of many cultural phenomen (the "selfie" craze, part of the popularity of Facebook is due to instant access everywhere, etc), and having access to a (relatively) good camera all the time has changed people a bit.

Smartphones get my vote as well. Much more handy than an Ipad or Mini. They offer quick access to time, calendar, tasks, notes, calculator, weather, camera etc. etc.

 

[CEmajr]

From a commercial standpoint I could agree with the topic title about iPad. There were tablets before but Apple essentially created a new market segment that has made billions for them and other manufacturers who later followed. So it was almost like making money out of nowhere.

From a usefulness standpoint I would say the iPhone is the greater tech invention. The iPhone started the smartphone market that has exploded since then and you would be hard pressed to find anyone not walking around with a touchscreen smartphone these days. Whereas the iPad and other tablets still haven't become an item that "everyone" has. Mostly because computers can perform most of the tasks that tablets can and usually with more efficiency for complex tasks.