iPad availability and first commercial

Are you thinking about getting an iPad?  Late last week, Apple announced on its website that the iPad will be available to purchase starting Saturday, April 3, 2010.  And starting this Friday, March 12, you can pre-order an iPad from the Apple Online Store or you can go to any Apple Retail Store and reserve an iPad that you can pick up on April 3, 2010.  If I've learned anything from the launches of the different models of the iPhone, it is that supplies will be limited on the first day, so if you want to starting using your iPad on April 3, you should make plans to give Apple your $499 (or more) early this Friday.

Last night was the Oscars (I guess technically it was called the 82nd Annual Academy Awards) and Steve Jobs was in attendance.  I'm sure that he was thrilled to see that his other company, Pixar, won the Oscar for Animated Feature Film for its latest movie, Up.  (What a wonderful film, from its amazing first ten minutes to the beauty and humor throughout the movie.)  But by not being at home, Jobs missed the chance to see the first televised commercial for the iPad.  Hopefully he has a DVR. 

If you also missed it too (or just want to see it again), you can view the ad here on Apple's website, or here is a version from YouTube:

I presume that one reason for running the ad was to publicize the April 3 availability date.  But this was also Apple's first chance to show the public at large what the iPad is all about.  In the ad, Apple chose to show off the following built-in apps: Safari (displaying the New York Times and Facebook websites), Photos, Videos, iPod, Calendar, Maps and Mail.  The ad also shows off two of the apps developed by Apple that you can download from the App Store:  Pages, which costs $9.99, and iBooks, which is free.

This isn't the first time that Apple has used the Oscars to show off the iPhone operating system.  On February 26, 2007, Apple ran an ad for the original iPhone during the Oscars.  It was a great commercial, one which served not only to whet the public's appetite for the first iPhone but also as an homage to many great actors.  Here it is from YouTube:

It is incredible when you think how far Apple has come with the iPhone operating system over the last three years.

I didn't buy the original iPhone when it first came out, although I was mighty tempted to do so.  Likewise, I don't plan to buy an iPad on April 3, 2010, but let's be honest, we all know that I'll get one at some point.  It's just a question of when.  Maybe, like the iPhone, I'll wait until the second model comes out.  Or maybe not.  I suspect that many of you are having similar thoughts.

Comments

[AA]

Your thoughts on the iPad are spot on. I did not get an iPod until the 3rd gen, and my first iPhone was the 3GS. With the iPad it is indeed not a question of if, but of when and what generation I will get.

Also, a follow-up on the Lexis app., in case any students are reading the comments. I was at a moot court competition over the weekend. Unlike real cases where you read opposing counsel's brief, you do not know your pairing until the day of the competition. I was able to use my iPhone along with the iDisk application to read the other team's brief (I had downloaded all of the brief PDFs to my iDisk), the competition website also would have worked.

In our opponent's brief, they cited one case I had never heard of. I was able to use the lexis app to read the case and know perfectly how to distinguish it before arguments started. I am sure fastcase would have worked as well, but the Lexis headnotes were very helpful given the time crunch.

It is always neat to do some lawyering (fake in my case) with the iPhone.

[Philippa (PTLaw)]

I plan to get an iPad, but will probably wait until the 2nd generation. My iPod Touch is the 2nd generation and I waited until the 3G to buy an iPhone. The iPad looks super cool. I think Apple is on track with making the iPad a touch device, like the iPhone. Previous tablet computers were to much like laptops. The iPad is like a big iPhone, but then, it's not.

I have several of Cliff Maier's apps on my iPhone. When I buy an iPad, I will have his apps there too. I would have loved being able to carry my law books on an iPad. Much easier on the back. ;) The iPad, I think, will really change how law students study and how lawyers practice. I can't wait to create some Keynote presentations on one.

I like the Lexis app too. I think it is great.