Today Marks the 11th Anniversary of Steve Jobs Unveiling the iPad

[smorrissey]

My Mother still have one brand new sealed, now its garbage (She was busy working at the time).

 

[KPOM]

Here is the original MacRumors forum discussion on the iPad launch.

The haters always gather in full force for these events and reading their comments 10 years later show just how wrong they were.

And a prescient post about Apple making its own chips for the Mac (off by a few years, but still).

 

[mannyvel]

I bought one on launch day and have never looked back. I use my iPad (now an IPP) every day. Plus I sold the unlimited data SIM that I got with my iPad 1 for more than the cost of the iPad a few years later. Win!

 

[macduke]

I stood in line for one on launch day. Wasn't disappointed. I'm looking at it right now on my shelf. It is in fairly pristine condition. My first gen iPhone and first gen Apple Watch are also on the shel. The iPhone has a dented corner from the time it slid off my pants onto the parking lot ground in college (can't even believe I used that thing caseless). The Apple Watch has a crack running down the side of the display from election night 2016 because…reasons.

 

[ackmondual]

I am most productive with an iPad on the toilet. It's a total game changer.

This was pretty much a major reason why you shouldn't use someone else's iPad... because it's been with them while on the toilet

 

[ackmondual]

• March 2011: iPad 2 unveiled with thinner and lighter design, dual-core A5 chip, front and rear cameras, and new white color option

Definitely a nice boost! It was 9x as fast, and faar thinner! 1st Ipad wasn't bad, but it was "night and day" difference of bulky going from 1st gen to 2nd gen!

• October 2013: iPad Air unveiled with a 64-bit A7 chip, thinner and lighter design, and slimmer bezels

That's my iPad! Purchased it about 4 years ago. Still works, although the battery is severely degraded. I also never updated past ios8, so my choices to buy new games and do updates on apps have been quite limited. OTOH, I can still play a lot of the games that never got redone for 64-bit support.

I'm tempted to get a new iPad, but since it's been mostly a gaming device, at this point, I'd rather just buy a Nintendo Switch. Still, had a lot of fun with the one I have now!

 

[its93rc]

I was a teen when this iPad came out and I rushed the first day to buy it. The joy when I held it first -- indescribable. But, the iPad 2 was a huge update. That thing was gorgeous back then.

 

[Phil77354]

It is always very bittersweet to recall these milestones, the big Apple events when Steve Jobs introduced products for the very first time.

Brings back memories that are both wonderful and very sad, thinking of how great those events were.

 

[Apple_Robert]

The iPad is a great consumption device. Thank you, Steve.

 

[TechFann]

Ordered the original first gen iPad the day they opened orders for it. Loved the device but realized when the new ones came out and Apple stopped providing updates to the OS for the first gen that Apple was really expecting me to toss it in a landfill and buy a new one every couple of years like an iPhone, so haven't gotten one since. When they start supporting them for five or more years then I'll think about getting another.

They have done that with the iPad Air 2. It came out in 2014 and it’s still getting updates today (my sister just updated her’s to iPadOS 14.4 today).

 

[svanstrom]

My Mother still have one brand new sealed, now its garbage (She was busy working at the time).

Give it time and it's a collectors' item, give it a bit more time and it becomes something some grandson of yours could retire on.

 

[jjudson]

My iPad Pro is my workhorse. As I sit here at my desk with my Mac on the right and my PC on the left, my iPad is right in front of me in the middle. I use it for note taking with Notability, checking the weather with Weather Mate, reading books with Kindle, watching movies while I workout or while traveling with Netflix, Prime, and HBO Max. I use it as a sound machine at night to hear brown noise instead of the neighbor's dog or the people in the hotel room next door. I cook with it using the New York Times Cooking app. I review and annotate documents using Word, Excel, and Adobe. I present Powerpoints to clients connected to a projector. I track and schedule my travel with the American Airlines, Hilton, and Flight Aware apps. I order hotel room food through Uber Eats. I practice my guitar with Guitar Pro, ChordBank, and the Amazing Slowdowner. I read a number of magazine subscriptions. I check my email and surf the web. I edit photos with Lightroom and Photoshop.

All the while I'm doing this, oftentimes my Mac and PC are sitting there lonely on my desk or nestled in my backpack.

This is the perfect tech for people like me. I can't image working or traveling without it.

 

[Kiimora]

They’ve definitely come a long way with a few bells & whistles; I am currently on my 5th iPad since I jumped on the band wagon in 2012.

 

[TechFann]

I remember when Jobs did this keynote! This was the first Apple device that I finally saw the draw of Apple products and didn’t look back. I got an iPad 4th gen as a high school graduation gift from my Aunt and Uncle (my first Apple product). My mom still uses it to this day! I use my iPad everyday for a variety of things. Thinking about getting a iPad Air 4th gen.

 

[arossco]

It’s replaced the newspaper 😉

Not quite as absorbent though ! 😋

 

[arossco]

Give it time and it's a collectors' item, give it a bit more time and it becomes something some grandson of yours could retire on.

I think if it's sealed it is already a collectors' item !

 

[Phil77354]

Ordered the original first gen iPad the day they opened orders for it. Loved the device but realized when the new ones came out and Apple stopped providing updates to the OS for the first gen that Apple was really expecting me to toss it in a landfill and buy a new one every couple of years like an iPhone, so haven't gotten one since. When they start supporting them for five or more years then I'll think about getting another.

What you are describing is a characteristic of any new technology that will initially have a very steep learning curve and rate of improvement, which will gradually decrease over time.

It is not something unique to the iPad or any other particular device.

And if you want to avoid that experience, then the best course to follow is simply wait a couple of years after any given new product type is first released, before purchasing one. You'll end up getting a more advanced, more capable, and likely less expensive product if you have the patience to do that.

 

[omihek]

I miss these keynotes.

 

[iGüey]

I remember when Jobs did this keynote! This was the first Apple device that I finally saw the draw of Apple products and didn’t look back. I got an iPad 4th gen as a high school graduation gift from my Aunt and Uncle (my first Apple product). My mom still uses it to this day! I use my iPad everyday for a variety of things. Thinking about getting a iPad Air 4th gen.

Go buy it, you will not regret it.

 

[OldCorpse]

I watched that presentation. I wasn’t against the iPad, but knew it was a first gen and it would be a long time before it was useful to me. How long? My first iPad was the Air 3 (on which I’m typing this post 😉), and even though it has limitations, I’m happy with it. It can’t replace a Mac for me, but I spend fully 60% of my computing time on it.

My next iPad will be an 11” iPP, maybe in a couple of years. I think the hardware is there, what with USB C, pencil 2, good enough screen, speakers, camera.

What is still lagging behind - badly - for me, is iPadOS and the app ecosystem. The file system is a joke, importing/exporting and manipulating files, narrow range of files you can work with... terrible. And even when you can do something, it’s often a cumbersome workaround compared to MacOS. Consumption grade A+, production still, all these years later, C-... of course, that’s for MY needs and workflow... YMMV! Apps for iPadOS are still vastly inferior to the MacOS versions or choices (again, for MY use scenarios - YMMV!).

I have no doubt the iPad and its OS will continue to improve, but to me it’s already decently usable. I can’t wait to see what Apple will do with this platform in the coming years... I see a fabulous future!

 

[Virinprew]

The closest competitor is the Surface. Even then, it's super rare to see one of those. The app ecosystem is everything.

 

[SirAnthonyHopkins]

Not , because I didn’t knew at the time that it was so bad at “computing”. iPadOS is iOS , didn’t knew that , thought it would be more than that.

I still don't see why you couldn't have found out what OS a device runs before dropping $1000+ on it.

 

[The Game 161]

and still now the iPad has zero competition

 

[jouster]

Fail. It's just a big iPod Touch.

 

[sracer]

Wow, time flies. I remember when the iPad was first announced. The $499 price blew the industry away (pundits predicted a $999 price). I've owned a few tablets before the iPad and it was indeed revolutionary.

I pre-ordered the iPad and keyboard dock (anyone remember that?!) on day-1 for pre-orders.

I still have that 1st gen iPad. It now serves as a "digital picture tube" for a vintage TV...