Happy 5th Birthday, iPad!

Five years ago today –– that would be January 27, 2010 –– Apple and then-CEO Steve Jobs introduced the world to the iPad: A tablet device that many dismissed as just a a blown-up version of the iPhone.

The criticisms were loud and voluminous. Popular tech site Gizmodo published a list of “8 things that suck about the iPad,” including its lousy keyboard and lack of support for Adobe Flash. Others simply mocked the funny name, which reminded many of a feminine product. 

Boy, were they wrong.

Apple went on to sell millions upon millions of these things. Two years later, the company spun off a “mini,” 9.7-inch version of the original iPad, which, six versions later, still sits at 9.7 inches. The iPad mini became an instant hit, overtaking the full-size iPad in sales numbers for a period of time. 

iPad’s latest chapter is its Air series. Channeling the company’s MacBook Air line, the first iPad Air was introduced in 2013 to glowing reviews as a stunningly thin and speedy version of the original.

As the story behind the iPad goes, Apple cofounder Steve Jobs pushed his company to create a tablet computer before the iPhone was even a thought. Once the technology was developed, Jobs and Apple decided to use it to make the smaller-screened iPhone. The first iPad came a few years later.

Companies like Samsung, HTC, Toshiba, and LG have tried to emulate the success of Steve Jobs’s tablet, but using Google’s Android mobile software, a platform that has been less successful in drawing great tablet app designers.

Though sales of tablets in general have recently cooled off, Apple is still the industry’s top seller. 

Happy birthday, iPad. We think it’s safe to say that you’ve touched us probably just as much as we’ve touched you.

Source by Yahoo TECH