iPad: They know what you think of the name; they just don’t care.
Photo: gdgt.com
It’s been announced. It’s been explained and demonstrated onstage by Steve Jobs (in a presentation of which, for some reason, Apple refused to provide a live video stream, making the nerds of the world resort to listening to crappy cell phone feeds, not that I’m bitter or anything). Discussion of it has taken over Twitter, news sites, Facebook, and every other corner of the internet.
I have a few thoughts on the matter, which I will share with you now.
1. THIS IS SO COOL
Seriously, people. We are getting closer and closer to living in Star Trek. (Minus the faster-than-light spaceships, the end to hunger, poverty and greed and the onset of world peace.) Frankly, I think we’re all getting a bit jaded about the proliferation and excellence of the consumer electronics already in our lives — from the iPhone to the Wii to our super powerful laptop computers. This stuff is awesome, and let us relish that we are among the privileged few on the earth who can possess it.
2. I’M NOT GOING TO BUY ONE
Yet. As much as I wish I were an early adopter of hardware, I’m not. I can’t afford to be. I wait a couple of years for the bugs to work out, which, let’s face it, is important when it comes to Apple products. That said, I do look forward to owning a tablet device in the future. However, I’ll probably buy an e-paper reader before I get a tablet, since, as many have noted, the iPad is not really a must-have device if you already have a laptop and a smartphone. Which I do.
3. ENOUGH WITH THE JOKES
People are asking, “Did the marketing people at Apple not google ‘iPad’ before giving the device that name?” You know what? I think they did. And they didn’t care. Apple doesn’t care about an old MadTV sketch, nor do they care that you’ll be making “macs ipad” cracks for the next few weeks. In the end, they will bend the cultural context surrounding the word to their own will.
So, instead of repeating a tired feminine hygiene joke, how about making a donation to buy menstruation products for Ugandan girls, who often have to leave school for lack of them? [GlobalGiving]