To the delight of iLovers everywhere, Apple CEO and turtleneck aficionado Steve Jobs recently announced the iPad 2.
The magical successor to last year’s “Jesus Tablet” was once again hyperbolized to death at Apple’s iPad event last Wednesday in San Francisco.
The iPad 2 boasts some distinct improvements over last year’s model.
The biggest (or should I say smallest) improvement is the device itself.
The iPad 2 taps in at a mere 1.3 pounds and 8.8 millimeters thick — both lighter and 33 percent thinner than last year’s model.
On the inside, the iPad 2 is rocking Apple’s new A5 dual-core processor capable of running two times faster than the original iPad as well as pushing nine times faster graphics, according to Jobs.
The iPad 2 will also join the iPhone 4, new iPod Touch and iMac with the ability to use FaceTime.
Using the two new video cameras installed on the device, users may video chat over Wi-Fi with other users who own the device.
The iPad 2 also boasts the same 1024 by 768 screen resolution, 10-hour battery life and comes in black or white.
The iPad 2 will be released Friday in 16-, 32- and 64-gigabyte flavors for $499, $599 and $699 (Wi-Fi only) or $629, $729 and $829 (Wi-Fi + 3G), respectively.
While the iPad 2 is an impressive piece of technology and a big improvement over last year’s model, it isn’t the only tablet on the market anymore.
Many tablets, like the Samsung Galaxy Tab and Motorola Xoom, have been released recently with their eyes on taking down Apple — some with more success than others.
Apple and Jobs acknowledged this at the keynote speech last week.
Jobs proclaimed 2010 as the “Year of the iPad.”
Jobs claims 15 million iPads were sold between April and December, making up more than 90 percent of the market share and raking in $9.5 billion in 2010.
Impressive numbers, for sure.
Jobs also poked fun at the competition — misquoting Samsung Vice President Lee Young-hee and bragging about how many more apps the iPad has over Android’s new tablet, OS Honeycomb, which launched a week before the speech.
After verbally degrading the competition, Jobs rhetorically asked, “2011: Year of the Copycats?”
While it’s true more companies are starting to rush tablets onto the market to compete with Apple’s new pride and joy, it doesn’t necessarily mean they are copying Apple.
I agree with Jobs and the rest of the iFanatics that the iPad revolutionized the tablet PC market, but tablet PCs were around before the iPad.
Sure, the iPad has made tablets mainstream, fun and easy to use, but it’s not a new product by any means.
While Jobs may be berating the competition in terms of market share, the fact of the matter is the iPad did its own share of copying.
On Feb. 24, two weeks before the iPad 2 launch, Motorola released the Xoom.
The Xoom is an Android-powered tablet PC with a dual-core processor and front and rear cameras for video conferencing — neither of which were on the original iPad.
Other tablets like the Dell Streak 7 also had a dual-core chip before the iPad 2.
In short, it doesn’t look like anyone is copying Apple or even vice-versa — but it doesn’t matter.
Apple will continue to sell more iPads than I can count, Jobs will continue to stretch truths and exaggerate facts, and the competition will still continue to follow far behind Apple’s footsteps.
Adam Arinder is a 21-year-old communication studies senior from Baton Rouge. Follow him on Twitter @TDR_aarinder.
 
—-
Contact Adam Arinder at [email protected]