iPad FirstLook

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Now that our iPad has been unboxed we thought we would provide a quick tour of the unit and offer a few observations about the physical aspects of this device:

• Height: 9.56 inches (242.8 mm)
• Width: 7.47 inches (189.7 mm)
• Depth: 0.5 inch (13.4 mm)
• Weight: 1.5 pounds (0.68 kg) Wi-Fi model
• Display: 9.7-inch LED-backlit glossy widescreen Multi-Touch
• Resolution: 1024-by-768-pixels at 132 pixels per inch (ppi)
• Fingerprint-resistant oleophobic coating
• Dock connector port
• 3.5-mm stereo headphone jack
• Built-in speaker and microphone

The frame is made from a single piece of aluminum. It is tapered out from the center to the edges, giving the iPad a much thinner overall appearance. It is not just a nice visual trick, the curve also makes the iPad more comfortable to hold. Unlike the unibody laptops, the iPad’s edges are nicely beveled. The first thing we noticed was that the feel of the iPad is much more substantial compared to that of the Amazon Kindle. The finish of the back is smooth but matte so fingerprints do not show. The glass of the LCD has an oil-resisting (oleophobic) coating to minimize the amount of fingerprints. This is not to say the screen will stay clean, far from it. It will get smudges and lots of them. However, they will wipe off easily. We recommend using a microfiber cloth.

The switches and button are at the front (home), on the right (volume, orientation lock), and on the top (power) of the frame. These buttons are there for convenience, as all of them could have been implemented in software. The mic and headphone jack are on the top left. The connector and speaker are at the bottom. One thing we did notice was that the USB port from our MacBookPro was not sufficient to charge the iPad. Using the AC charger with the USB cable worked just fine for recharging the iPad’s battery.

Typically, small display screens have a high pixels per inch (ppi) count so they can display a good image without aliasing. The iPad screen at 132 ppi is amazingly dense for a display of this size. It is certainly sharper than most computer monitors or TV screens in productions today. The high ppi number translates to gorgeous images, great looking videos, and easy to read text.

We have not been this excited about a device since the launch of the 128K Mac in back in 1984. The discussions today around “Why an iPad” reminded us of trying to explain to all the IBM PC-DOS folks of what a GUI was and why it was better. They would keep saying…”why would anyone want a mouse? Our arrow keys work just fine for moving the cursor up and down lines of text.” A little more than 25 years later, we find the same type of folks asking, “Who would want to use their fingers? My mouse and keyboard work just fine.” Sometimes, all one can do is just smile and wait for everybody else to catch up. While it is often quoted that Windows has 95% of the market. That is all fine. However, at this moment, AAPL’s market cap is $215.09B and MSFT’s is $257.24B. Hmmm….