iPad, designed by Jonathan Ive, developed by Apple Inc., manufactured by Foxconn, 2010

First generation Apple iPad with battery, power cord, detachable plug head, box (in two parts) and instructions.

Purchased in a brand new condition by the V&A in February 2011, shortly before the launch of the iPad 2 (acquisition registered file no. 2011/145).

The first tablet computer produced by Apple was the Newton MessagePad, which became available in 1993. The MessagePad was described in 1992 by then Apple CEO John Sculley as a ‘Personal Digital Assistant’ (PDA), a capable electronic Filofax. The iPad, however, is not specifically designed for business. Rather, it is a convenient meeting-point between a smartphone and a laptop computer which allows its user to easily experience audio-visual media on a platform more conveniently-sized, and lighter, than a laptop. On a related note, the designer of the iPad, Jonathan Ive, designed the MessagePad 110, the second generation of Apple’s Newton products.

In 2002, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates speculated that tablet computers would be the most popular form of computers sold in America within 5 years, a claim that did not come to fruition. However, in 2010 Apple sold over 3 million iPads within the first 80 days after release and by the launch of the iPad 2 they had sold more than 15 million. It is a policy of Apple to promptly remove from the market earlier versions of their products as soon as a newer version is made available. The first generation iPad was available for only 11 months: 3rd April 2010 (USA release date) until 2nd March 2011. The iPad 2 was launched in the USA on 11th March 2011. Additionally, Apple only supports updates to older versions of their operating system for a limited time after the discontinuation of the hardware for which it was designed. The iPad was initially shipped with the iPhone’s OS 3.2 software, which could only be upgraded until the release of iOS 5.1.1 in May 2012. Since then, first generation iPad users have not been able to update their operating systems to newer versions.

Like the iPhone, the iPad is controlled by a multi-touch display and virtual onscreen keyboard; the lack of external controls means that the operating system needs to be intuitive and responsive – easily navigated by young and old alike. Its functionality works best for consuming and interacting with information, rather than creating it; web surfing, watching video and sending e-mail. The iPad also boasts a 10-hour battery life. In a press release accompanying the launch of the iPad, Steve Jobs called the computer a ‘magical and revolutionary device… [that] creates an entirely new category of devices’.

This first generation iPad was purchased by the V&A in a brand new condition shortly before the launch of the iPad 2. It was designed by British-born Jonathan Ive, Senior Vice-President of Design at Apple. It is controlled by a multi-touch display and virtual onscreen keyboard; the lack of external controls means that the operating system needs to be intuitive and responsive – easily navigated by young and old alike. Its functionality works best for consuming and interacting with information, rather than creating it; web surfing, watching video and sending e-mail. The iPad is an innovative design, both in terms of its hardware and its software, which reinvigorated the flagging market for tablet computers. Indeed, Apple sold more than 15 million iPads by the time of the launch of the iPad 2 in April 2011, only 11 months after the original first came on the market.

W.2:1 to 7-2011