In the nearly century and a half since Thomas Edison first ran electricity through the world’s first viable electrical light bulb, a lot has changed. Though not the first to run electricity through a fiber held within a vacuum to create light, Edison’s bulb was the first to demonstrate the traits of longevity, efficiency and the ability to be reproduced at a cost point which would make it accessible to the average American family.
Following this breakthrough, the challenge became finding a method for providing homes across the country with the electricity to power this new invention, as well as the myriad other electrical appliances which followed afterward. In a shockingly small period of time, electricity was as all-pervading in the average home as was running water; possibly even more so.
Electricity spread rapidly until it was found in virtually every American home and shortly thereafter followed radio, then television and other inventions emblematic of the modern age came into being. However, many present day technophiles, and who knows, maybe many future historians as well, would consider all this a mere preamble to the device which promises to replace almost all of them: the iPad, and more recently, the iPad 2. In the off chance that you’ve been living on the moon or under a log in a remote northern forest somewhere, the iPad 2 is Apple’s tablet PC, a wonder of state of the art touch-screen technology that defies classification, at least with regard to any currently existing class.
The Apple iPad 2 truly is in a class by itself, though there have of course been numerous competing tablet-type devices brought to the market in recent months. But for those who buy iPad 2, there’s rarely any buyer remorse or looking back. Apple’s entry truly is the first, and best, of all tablet PCs on the market.
First off, the iPad handles most functions of a regular laptop or desktop computer, though through a touch-screen interface rather than through a mouse or keyboard. For those who do a great deal of writing, however, several keyboard options are available for the iPad, the best of which is a keyboard that actually folds over the iPad’s screen, forming a sturdy aluminum travel case.
Numerous other devices also can be replaced with the iPad, including the radio; copious programs, or “aps” are available that allow the iPad to function as a radio, often playing songs or programs selected by the user, rather than whatever happens to be “on the air,” as is the case with conventional radio. The device also functions as an mp3 player, a video console and more.
Should Edison ever witness the culmination that his original electrical device has taken us, even he might be amazed.
iPad 2 Review and Features
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