The Apple iPad

Tablet computers have been around for quite a while. They are a very specific niche market. The Apple iPad did not exactly break ground with the concept. However, they did break ground by having a massive array of applications readymade to utilize a tablet computer. As well as this, it was also able to handle 3G connections for roaming Internet virtually anywhere you can get a 3G signal (in later models). While it may be cheaper for someone to just buy a notebook – and give you some greater functionality – it may not be as user friendly or accessible for some people.

The Apple iPad has a very specific niche market. You are not required to be technologically savvy in order to use it. In fact, if you have an Apple iPhone or use a similar touch screen enabled phone then the learning curve in learning to use the Apple iPhone will be non-existent. The Apple iPad is a device that is better suited to people who need or want to use mobile computing as well as have the opportunity to use the Internet anywhere without hassle. A good example of how the Apple iPad can be a great mobile computing device is for people who have limited space to carry a notebook while traveling and still want to be connected to their email, various entertainment options and a machine in which they can use to work.

I am in the habit of using having a notebook sitting on my coffee table as I am watching television. If I ever want more information (or want to keep an eye on my email, shares or just fill the advertisement breaks with something fun or interesting) on something I can see, I have an Internet connection right in front of me to do so. This can also be considered a niche that the Apple iPad fulfils.

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Apple is world's most valuable brand: Forbes

New York: Global technology major
Apple tops the Forbes list of the
'World's Most Valuable Brands',
ahead of giants Microsoft and Coca
Cola.
The Forbes Top 50 list of the
world's most valuable brands,
compiled by the magazine, is
dominated by 32 US firms. The top
nine brands in the list were from the
US. No Indian company features in
the list.
Tech major Apple, which topped
the list, "is a company that has faced
setbacks before and bounced back
to become the world's most
valuable brand--worth USD 57.4
billion," Forbes noted.
The magazine further said, "Apple
shows just how a brand can
survive and thrive even when a
parent company stumbles. Apple's
sales in the late 1990s plummeted
46 per cent over a four-year stretch
while the company lost money
seven times over eight quarters."
Interestingly, tech brands accounted
for 30 per cent of the top 50 brands,
occupying four of the first five
places in the Forbes rankings.
Financial services and food and
beverage firms captured six spots
each.
Tech major Apple, which topped
the list, is followed by software
major Microsoft, with a brand value
of USD 56.6 billion.
Beverage firm Coca Cola was third,
with a brand value of USD 55.4
billion, followed by technology giant
IBM, now worth USD 43 billion and
search titan Google, which came
fifth in the ranking with a brand
value of USD 39.7 billion.
Other companies featuring in the
top 10 include US-based
McDonald's, General Electric,
Marlboro and Intel and Finnish
handset maker Nokia at the tenth
spot.
"The brands on our list fared a little
better, with sales, on average, flat in
2009. Some brands were hit hard
by the economic downturn as well
as their own missteps," Forbes said.
Among the other top 50 brands are
Toyota (11), Vodafone (13), Pepsi
(24), Nescafe (29), Frito-Lay (38),
ESPN (48) and Gucci (50).
News Source-BBC

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