iPad 2: The Missing Manual, 2nd Edition

Introduction

Steve Jobs revealed the original iPad on January 27, 2010, finally confirming rumors that had been swirling for years: Apple was making a tablet computer! And when that first iPad model hit stores a few months later, the public snapped up 300,000 the day it went on sale.

Less than a year later after the first one arrived, Apple put out an even better iPad in March 2011. Thinner, lighter, faster, and equipped with a pair of cameras, the iPad 2 created its own huge lines around the country when it went on sale. Apple’s inventory pretty much sold out the first weekend.

So what’s the big deal? Tablet computers are nothing new. Tech companies have tried the concept since the 1990s. But those flat slabs never caught on for a variety of reasons. Some required input with an easy-to-lose stylus; some had slow, unresponsive touchscreens; and some were so heavy it felt like you were hauling around a patio flagstone that happened to run Windows XP. Most of the public took one look and went: “Nah.”

So why has the iPad proven so popular, even as competitors rush to put their own clunkier imitations out there, lurching for Apple’s thunder? One theory: combine a growing desire for Internet access and a shift to digital music, books, and video with a sophisticated, fast, lightweight touchscreen device and you have a gadget perfectly suited to the emerging world of personal media devices. Sure, the iPhone does all that, but you don’t have to squint on the iPad. The iPad is both an evolution ...