Today, Apple releases the iPad in the international market. While we have gotten used to mobile apps, emails, calendars, and the occasional web surfing on mobile devices over the 3G network, the iPad promises to place a much larger demand for content. Average users, not just “power” users will be everywhere able to surf the web, download content, etc. with more ease than even sitting at home on their computers. Even with devices such as the iPhone, with it’s limited browsing capabilities due to it’s small screen size, we saw a much larger demand on the 3G networks that is driving the carriers to upgrade their backhaul networks to cope. Will the iPad have a large impact if it is as successful in the international market as it’s release in the US? Are the carriers ready to handle this today?
The nine markets released today are:
- Australia
- Canada
- France
- Germany
- Italy
- Japan
- Spain
- Switzerland
- UK
Do you have an iPad or plan to get one? Tell us what your experience is and your likely uses for it! Comment below.
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I plan on getting mine today! I’ll let you know what I think!
Got mine delivered yesterday, only the WiFi model mind – I don’t do enough travelling to justify the 3G edition.
So far so good. If you have an iPhone, you’ll be right at home with the OS. Looking forward to OS 4.0 though which will enable the multitasking… much needed!
What I’ve noticed is that it’s a “connector” rather than a “computer” to use Kevin Kelley’s terminology (of Wired Magazine Fame). He used to say that computers were nothing without the Internet…this device really epitomizes that statement.
With over 2 million sold worldwide in 2 months, this type of mobile connectivity is going to be a huge burden on the carriers. In the US, the one carrier tied to Apple is AT&T and they announced that the previous “unlimited” data plans are no longer. An obvious sign that their network is stressed…and they are working to bring in more revenue to cope with the upgrades required. I think that as more people outside of the techie groups…and I bet that everyone that reads this blog is in that group…begin to use devices like this to connect for news, books, social sites, etc that the bandwidth demands are really going to take off.