A New Era Arrives
Its been awhile since I last posted, so I must start out by publicly apologizing to any readers of this blog. I have had a lot of work to accomplish in the past few months as owner of Acxsis, LLC (my IT company in NJ/NY). There is good news however, as I do not foresee having to take a break like that any time soon, however if I should, I will be mindful to let my readers know that I haven’t fallen off the edge of the planet! Again, I deeply apologize for any confusion this may have brought about as to the direction of this blog or its existence, and send special thanks to the loyal readers of infosource.net!
For those of you out there celebrating Easter today, Happy Easter! It is a particularly Happy Easter for Apple as they rejoice in their newest innovative device launched yesterday, the revolutionary iPad…or is it? The topic of much debate currently is circling around whether or not the iPad actually is revolutionary or not. I mean sure, it certainly is innovative, and definitely is the first tablet device introduced by Apple, but is it revolutionary? To understand whether or not this device is truly revolutionary, we have to start by trying to understand what it is we are trying to define. When used as an adjective, the term revolutionary refers to something that has a major, sudden impact on society or on some aspect of human endeavor according to Wikipedia, whereas Merriam-Webster defines revolutionary as constituting or bringing about a major or fundamental change. Is the Apple iPad revolutionary? I think it may be too soon to tell, but as more information is gathered and more reviews come in, I will be sure to come back to this topic of interest as soon as I can make an official stand on this intriguing and controversial issue.
The Wait Is Over
For many people, Wednesday, January 27, 2010 was no ordinary day. On January 27, 2010, Apple announced for the first time to the world that all the rumors and speculation over an “Apple tablet device” were true. This was the first time that we heard the term Apple iPad, and the buzz was incredible! Some people claimed the iPad to be nothing more than an oversized iPhone, some claimed it to be “the netbook killer”, and others saw it as a multimedia haven to where printed media can finally meet the digital age in a single, accepted format. Whatever the claims, and wherever you were, there was plenty of buzz surrounding this product that was announced to be 60 days away from general availability. Then, finally when Apple announced the availability to start preordering the iPad for its arrival on Saturday, April 3, 2010, people started slowly finding their way into their nearest Apple Store location to talk about the newest addition to the Apple device family. Many people reserved the Apple iPad, and I too was one in that crowd. I walked into the Apple Store in the Staten Island Mall in Staten Island, NY and spoke with Mark Chessler, a Business Representative from Apple, about reserving the new device. I was surprised at how easy the reservation process was. I have worked with a few different Apple Stores, and in each of them have had exceptional experiences, and Staten Island is far from an exception to those experiences. If you are ever in the Staten Island, NY area, I highly suggest going over and introducing yourself at the Apple Store in the Staten Island Mall, you will not be disappointed.
As I awoke yesterday morning at 7:30 AM, it actually dawned on me that the wait was over. The day that many were waiting for in anticipation had finally arrived. The day a new era arrived was here…the launch of the Apple iPad. I arrived at the Staten Island Mall, in Staten Island, NY around 9:30 AM. Standing in the mall, onlooking the Apple Store with its line of people outside the store, there was a tinge of excitement in the air, you could feel it. As I walked over to the Apple Store, there were two lines formed; one for purchases without reservation and a separate line for those who had reserved the iPad. Both the window displays at the Apple Store featured the newly released iPad setup and displayed the new device in all of its glory running through what appeared to be a looping video of some of the features that you can take advantage of with the new device. Bellow, you will find pictures and video that I took from the official launch of the iPad on Saturday at the Apple Store in the Staten Island Mall in Staten Island, NY.
I was greeted by Mark Chessler as I walked in, who was nothing short than amazed with the iPad product. That was the moment that I actually held the officially released iPad in my hands for the first time. It was quite a rush to actually see the screen display as vividly as I had hoped it would. With such a crisp and clear display, the graphics were the first element to draw you in. The second thing to strike me was the reality of the raw size of the device in your hands and realizing that you already knew your way pretty much around the interface of the device (for those who are proud iPhone users). From the first stroke on the screen, that I actually hesitated to make in raw amazement of the device, to the launching of several iPad applications, the device never lagged nor shown any signs of stress.
The Brains Behind the Beauty
The processor was easily the center of attention when it came to technical review. For those of you who don’t know, a processor is essential for the operation of any computing unit and handles processing of data and operations, such as flicks, clicks and gestures on the iPad just to name a few. It operates much in the same way as a human heart, in that it can only do so much within a single heartbeat or cycle providing a vital role for the life of the entity in which it serves. Our hearts pump blood through the body in a rhythm that is measured in beats per second whereas a processor processes calculations and operations across the computer and to its various devices in a rhythm that is measures in hertz or calculations per second. You may have seen your processor notated with “MHz” or “GHz” next to your computer unit when you went to purchase it. Well, MHz, or megahertz is a unit of measurement that stands for millions of calculations per second, which means that something operating at 850 MHz can process up to 850 million calculations per second! That’s nothing however in comparison to GHz which stands for gigahertz or billions of calulations per second! A device with a processor that operates at 3 GHz for example will be able to calculate up to 3 billion calculations per second. Processors act as the central hub, or brain of the computing unit and are generally designed to handle specific requirements like power consumption, video graphics, application processing, or even playback of music! Because of the central dependency that many computing devices have on processors, they are commonly referred to as central processing units or graphics processing units (A CPU or GPU respectfully).
The A4, Apple’s newest processor released and designed exclusively for the iPad device, is no ordinary processor however! This specialized chip controls not one, but all of the operations of the computer from graphical display, opening applications, power consumption to something as basic to us as surfing the web! Those who have ever had to handle multiple job positions while still being told to accomplish their original level of work will appreciate how much work this little processor does! The A4 operates at 1 GHz, or 1 billion calculations per second, which is 40% faster than even the latest Apple iPhone processor released! This ability to run the entire system on a single processor is known as SoC, or System on a Chip technology and makes for a much less demanding computing device as it generally requires less power than a multi-processor based system such as a notebook computer. The lack of such high power demands for the Apple A4 SoC is also what allows the device to retain such a long battery lifespan no matter what settings you have set, but I’m sure as you can see from the image, having two batteries cradled in the device can’t possibly hurt either.
The Launch
These images and video were taken from the event on Saturday, April 3, 2010 at the Apple Store in the Staten Island Mall, in Staten Island, NY. It was a crazy day, but exciting nonetheless!
Talk is Cheap
So after all the reviews from other sites and people talking techno-babble galore with this new innovation, I’m sure you would rather just see what the device can do and how to set it up, no? Well you’re in luck as this week will be focused mainly around the Apple iPad as I blog about unboxing the device, setting up the iPad for the first time, and showing you how you can get the most out of what Apple is calling, a revolutionary device. Is it revolutionary? I don’t know just yet, but I invite your comments and feedback as we will be taking a far greater look together at what this Apple iPad can do together, and how it can be used to create this “revolution”. Until then, have a relaxing and safe weekend, and to those who celebrate it, Happy Easter!
James Zepp
April 5, 2010
Tags: 2010, A4, App Store, Apple, Apple Store, applications, Apps, Business, compatibility, Easter, General, info, information, infosource, intro, iPad, iPhone, James Zepp, launch, Mark Chessler, new, NY, overview, processor, review, revolutionary, SoC, Staten Island, tablet Posted in: Apple, Apple, Apple, Business, Consumer, News, iPad, iPad
Name: James Zepp
Occupation: CTO
Company: Acxsis
Age: 26
7 Responses
I agree! It was a very exciting day for all of us. Great post!
What type of apple do you think inspired apples logo?
I was so excited to find an iPad in my easter basket. Thank you apple and Easter bunny!
Having just receied my IPad, I am very excited to use it. My primary use will be in sales and marketing of two businesses. A carpet clening business and a custom window blind business. I have already loaded pictures of our work and pictures of sample blinds. The slide shows will prove invalueble as a marketing tool to show the customers what an item looks like. My plan is to also set up my pricing guidleines which right now are in a 3 ring binder, and have them on the ipad as an ibook. this will allow me to look up prices as i am on a job preparing a bid for a client. the entire presentation will be much more professional and will set our companies apart from others. Our customers will remember the visual presentations more than any other companies.
I will post more later about my experience. Oh BTW this is my first experience with any apple products, so if I can use it so can you!
Man Tucker your lucky that damn Easter Bunny didnt bring me crap. All i got was a choclate bunny. Ghetto ass Easter Bunny
Having just receied my IPad, I am very excited to use it. My primary use will be in sales and marketing of two businesses. A carpet clening business and a custom window blind business. I have already loaded pictures of our work and pictures of sample blinds. The slide shows will prove invalueble as a marketing tool to show the customers what an item looks like. My plan is to also set up my pricing guidleines which right now are in a 3 ring binder, and have them on the ipad as an ibook. this will allow me to look up prices as i am on a job preparing a bid for a client. the entire presentation will be much more professional and will set our companies apart from others. Our customers will remember the visual presentations more than any other companies.
I will post more later about my experience. Oh BTW this is my first experience with any apple products, so if I can use it so can you!
Hi, I’m very interested in Linux but Im a Super Newbie and I’m having trouble deciding on the right distribution for me (Havent you heard this a million times?) anyway here is my problem, I need a distribution that can switch between reading and writing in English and Japanese (Japanese Language Support) with out restarting the operating system.
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