The Arrival of the iPad
In April, Steve Jobs launched his iPad. And it was good. The iPad was not the first eReader or Tablet on the market nor was it as multi-functional as the iPhone (you can't make phone calls with an iPad). But, as British actor and humorist Stephen Fry wrote in TIME's cover story about the device, Apple simply gets something fundamental about human habits better than any other tech company: "If you have an object in your pocket or hand for hours every day, then your relationship with it is profound, human and emotional. Apple's success has been founded on consumer products that address this side of us: their products make users smile as they reach forward to manipulate, touch, fondle, slide, tweak, pinch, prod and stroke." In the intervening months, the iPad has set the benchmark for all other eReaders, kickstarting a trend that may lead to the end of personal computing as we now know it.