News Report 2

Apple’s iPad, perhaps the biggest tech gadget of recent history was launched earlier this year and once again Apple revolutionized technology with the release of their highly anticipated iPad.  The iPad, a tablet device would serve as the newest must have device from the highly touted Apple lineup.  Among the device’s features, the newest, the iBooks store was Apple’s answer to the Electronic Readers that were already on the market from Barnes and Noble and Sony.  The iPad tackled that market by not only being a book reader but it’s also a media library where you can also stream Netflix movies, and also watch YouTube videos, straight from the device…not to mention it had a built in iPod as well, and the ability to access the App Store with over 200,000 apps available to the everyday user, the iPad is the no-brainer buy.  The glossy screen, and the 10 hours battery life made the device more desirable than the competition, which after almost a whole year, they remain to be unchallenged. 

After Apple released the iPad, the competition scrambled to jump in this field of tablet devices, but to no avail (as of yet) nothing has worked.  All of the other devices have not made it through the final testing stages, and if so they don’t work nearly as good as the iPad, so why bother even releasing them.  Although Apple did leave the door open for the competition by not putting a camera on it, the competition has mainly failed to step up to the plate.  But Apple’s biggest competitor in the field of mobile devices, Google is desperately trying to compete.  Android operating systems will be on almost all of the new devices and they will include cameras, which the current iPad does not have.  BUT, right in time for the Holiday Season Apple is said to release the newer iPad devices which will be sure to have a front-facing camera that will allow users to run Face-Time a video conferencing app from Apple.  By doing this Apple puts itself two steps ahead of the competition, and it doesn’t look too good for the other companies right now.  The iPad sold 80 millions units the first weekend of sales…I foresee Apple continuing its dominance with the release of the first iPad, and then also the second-generation iPad to stay ahead of the curve.  You have to love Apple.

Bosker, Bianca. "New 'iPad 2' To Be Released in Time For Holiday Season?" The Huffington Post. N.p., 14 Sep. 2010. Web. 14 Sep. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/09/13/new-ipad-2-release-set-fo_n_714604.html>.

Reading Response 1

It’s no surprise that the Internet is filled with hoaxes and other schemes of people trying to take advantage of those who are unsuspecting.  But what does surprise me is the absurdity of some of the schemes that are out there, and who are these people who fall for them?  I can see that some of these “counterfeit sites” may actually look and operate like a legit site would, but the average computer user should be able to notice the difference.

I work at Best Buy and a lot of my customers come into the store and try to match prices from websites that are clearly fake, and they still try to get over.  I think this dark side of the Internet has created a popular subculture of hackers, and schemers, and it’s sad to say that these sites flourish because of the unsuspecting people who surf the web unaware of all of the dangers on the web. 

             This all boils down the fact that the Internet is FREE and people can post whatever they want to on the web.  I think Freedom of Speech plays a very important role in the heads of the people who create these sites, and although wrong and misleading, everyone is entitled to their own opinion.  That’s just the way it works, but there should be some sort of laws put in place that slander, and schemes, and anything considered “counterfeit” should be banned from the Internet and punishable by law.  If not then this will continue and only get worse.