iPad. Success or Failure?

If you have even glanced at any of the internet hot-spots (Yahoo, Google), you know that the latest thing on the market is the Apple iPad. Apple is known for its top of the line merchandise and the iPad is no exception.

The question is though, is it worth the minimum price of $499? Personally, I think that is a surprisingly low price for the market. However, if you're thinking of it as a computer, you have to add on the price of a USB attachment and a wireless keyboard and that tacks on another $200. At the price of $699, it is no longer a cheap item.

There are quite a few people out there that are speculating there be a release of second generation iPad in the next year and are withholding buying the first generation because there is an anticipated camera addition and that could revolutionize the use of Skype. Simply having the camera right there in your lap would be extremely handy.

But is this "iPad" a failure? I certainly think the name is a failure. They could have probably easily come up with some more clever names than iPad. First of all, it comes with a lot of jokes regarding female sanitary napkins... This new contraption is basically an iPod, so why not name it the iPod Tablet? They have the iPod Classic, the iPod Mini, the iPod Nano, the iPod Touch, you see? It would fit in nicely. As for the whole idea? I don't consider it a failure. I consider it a major success. It will greatly improve the market of iBooks and will help the college population because they will be able to have all their textbooks in one place. This will create huge revenue on Apple's part.

The reason some could consider this new phenomenon a failure is because it really didn't live up to its speculated expectations. There are websites (such as this one) out there that show that the iPad that was originally introduced was to have a camera. Then suddenly it wasn't marketed with one. Also, the fact that it doesn't come with the USB ports is a major downside. I would expect that more people would purchase it then because they could use their own keyboards. As I mentioned, you must then purchase the wireless keyboard from Apple, which would add on an extra $100.

All in all, I want this. But most likely I will be waiting until the 2nd generation comes out. I will for sure be going in to Best Buy to play with the iPad just to experience it, but I won't be purchasing it.

Will you like the iPad?