For many people, the premiere of iPad is like a second Christmas in one month. The expectations for Apple's tablet computer were immense. People were looking up to it as a product that would change the industry forever.

Apple is capable of such a breakthrough, considering that Steve Job's company has already shaken the status quo with its iPod and iPhone.

The speculations started from a built-in solar panel and peaked to the tablet coming out accompanied by a unicorn. Journalists and book-publishers, for whom profiting from the online content of their work is a task hard to accomplish, were also hoping that Apple's tablet can serve as a platform for sale of digital publications.

The high expectations collided with the iPad -- a tablet with a color screen and the look of a big iPod Touch. "It is much more intimate than a laptop and way more powerful than the smart phone," is how Steve Jobs announced the product at its premiere in San Francisco on Wednesday.

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Thus far, the iPad has not distinguished itself as something revolutionary, which has caused analysts to approach it with mixed feelings. A few days before the premiere, when Apple was not commenting on the buzz that it will be launching the tablet, the company's stocks were above $210. A day later, they dropped to below $200.

It's partnership with the American telecommunication company AT&T is also not good news for many iPhone users, who were complaining about the bad network coverage of the leading American telecommunication operator.

The disappointed users also indicate that the product lacks a camera, Flash (i.e. leaving the Farmville world behind), and the simultaneous work of multiple software (one cannot listen to music while browsing the Internet). However, not everybody is so reserved. "These and other new possibilities will soon come up for iPad. It is not the hardware that matters, but the software and its media content," commented for Capital Juan Antonio Giner, president of Innovation, a consultant firm in the sphere of media.

It is certain that Netflix, the supplier of video on demand, will not be among iPad's partners. The company announced that at least in the near future, it will focus on larger screens.

The analyst Yair Rainer from Oppenheimer, on the other hand, increased his prognosis to up to 1.1 million produced pieces of iPad for the financial year 2010, and four million for the year of 2011. He also considers that this year's tablet's share from common incomes can reach 1%.

The tablet has a limited connectivity, has no USB port (!) and will be managed by iTunes. The full control of Apple, however, is not necessarily a bad thing. "This prevented the appearance of many viruses and allowed Apple to control the traffic of the cell network from the operators," Edd Eigerman says. The lack of Flash will additionally speed the work of the processor.

Eigerman explains the lack of camera with the ongoing negotiations between AT&T and Apple. The telecom insisted that the web video would load its network too much and that's why he exchanged it with more reasonable subscriptions to the mobile Internet, the ex-engineer of Apple says.

Sometimes, however, the full control creates problems. "So far nobody was able to create a keyboard for iPhone. Apple just does not allow this to happen. But why? This is due to the fact that they are waiting for the release of iPad. If you are planning on writing a lot, Apple would like to sell you a bigger and more expensive device," Aigerman says.

And what do you think about the name of the new tablet? "Apple went too far with those i-names," thinks Laura Reese. "iPad is the worst name Apple has thought of so far," adds the Internet expert Nicholas Carr. "Moreover iPad is a brand of product for personal hygiene in the United States," Edd Eigerman adds.

Of course the success of the product does not depend on the rough comparisons made by hardware specialists, but on the decision by the end consumer who would like to use simple and comfortable technology.

In this line of thoughts, what matters are things like the name of the product or whether people would be careful to take out the tablet either while waiting in line, when using the public transportation, or just on the street. We are soon to find out whether Apple will change something or the people would neglect the "disadvantages" iPad has, as happened with iPhone regardless of what the skeptics expected.

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(c) Economedia, published with permission

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