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When Steve Jobs introduced the iPad in January, he talked about defining its niche. He explained that the iPad sits somewhere between an iPhone and a laptop and is meant for the same kind of use that is currently served by netbooks.
Despite that, we have been exposed to a lot of buzz about the iPad being nothing more than an oversized iPod touch. And although the hardware is, essentially, just that — a bigger version of the touch, running the same apps from the same App Store — there’s more to it than that simplified explanation.
Yesterday, TUAW explored eight use cases wherein the iPhone provides a better solution than the iPad, examining the iPhone-specific niche and situations where the iPhone took first place in usability. Today, we’re turning that comparison on its head. Of course, there are situations for which the iPad is better suited than the iPhone. Here is our incomplete list of how the iPad outshines its sibling.
Read on for the list…
Superior browsing. If you’re over the age of 40, chances are good that the iPad’s better screen size transforms your Internet browsing experience. Reading from the iPhone screen can be painful, especially for users with less than perfect vision. You needn’t be old, however, to recognize how the iPad brings browsing to the next level. Even with 20-20 sight, the crisp, large display enhances the Web, letting you see more of a page at once, and at a resolution that’s more human. The iPad display is nearly the size of real magazine page and that difference means a better browsing experience.
Better book reading. We originally had this point combined with the superior browsing, but decided to break it out into its own idea. That’s because iBooks on the iPad is, of its own, a winning point for the iPad over the iPhone. Yes, we know that books are coming to the iPhone, but that experience will always be a compromise because the iPad’s form factor is book-like and the iPhone’s is not. Pages that look like real pages, that read like real pages, that turn like real pages are a huge factor in making the iPad a perfect match to reading books. The iPad provides a superior experience not just for browsing live feeds on the Internet (our first point), but also for sitting and reading a book in a way that doesn’t demand compromise.
Only yesterday we expressed our hope that the iPad’s torments would end with microwaving. How much abuse can one gadget take? Obviously, a lot. If this trend continues, Apple will see a tidy profit from customers who bought the iPad merely to destroy it.
This time, the iPad has been turned into a skateboard. Does it work? Well, you’ll have to check it out for yourself in the video below (hint: no, it doesn’t). The stunt was part of an episode of Fuel TV’s show “Built To Shred,” featuring host Jeff King and pro skater Chad Knight.
If you thought Gameprom’s three top pinball titles looked good on the iPhone’s 3.5 inch display, wait till you feast your eyes on the iPad version. Pinball HD for the iPad includes all three tables; Wild West, The Deep and Jungle Style, featuring amazing new graphics with added enhancements.
Review
Gameprom’s Pinball HD is a 3-pack pinball game bundle all rolled into one app, made specifically for the iPad. All presented using gorgeous 3D graphics with realistic physics, you’ll get a Western style table (Wild West), an ocean theme table (The Deep) and a jungle theme table (Jungle Style). The tables can be played in both landscape mode ‘full table’ view and portrait mode ‘flying-table’ view (with the camera following the action).
To choose which table to play on, simply swipe up to play The Deep, swipe down to play Jungle Style or touch the screen to play the default table, Wild West. Controls are exactly like those found on the smaller iPhone version; tap the left side of the screen to activate the left flippers and the other side of the screen for the right, while giving the iPad a little shake will help move the table.
A clear set of instructions are provided with the game, along with local and global leaderboards. Although, I haven’t had the opportunity to try this out, the game also provides a stereoscopic imaging option which will make the table appear in 3D using a pair of 3D glasses.
I can’t say enough about Pinball HD’s graphics. They are absolutely stunning. Every detail provided in the smaller version can now truly be appreciated on the larger screen. The tables are not only bigger, but are better than ever before. If you want to show off what your iPad can do, this is the game to do it with.
Recommendation Pinball HD for iPad comes highly recommended to pinball fans of all ages. It’s a triple fun pack filled with great graphics, realistic gameplay that will provide many entertaining hours to come. Pinball HD is available now at the App Store for $2.99.
Check out Pinball HD’s game trailer on the video below.
Computerworld reports on comments from Broadpoint AmTech research analyst Brian Marshall suggesting that AT&T may have gained an extra six months of iPhone exclusivity in the United States with its bid to provide data service for the iPad, extending its window through the end of 2010.
"AT&T had to do something dramatic to get the iPad," said Brian Marshall, a Wall Street analyst at BroadPoint AmTech. AT&T’s move was to discount their normal wireless data plans by 50% to iPad customers.
As part of the tit-for-tat, AT&T got what it wanted. "For that pricing [on the iPad], AT&T was able to negotiate a six-month extension on the iPhone exclusive," Marshall said.
Marshall provides little evidence for his claim beyond the observation that Verizon failed to win the rights for iPad service. Numerous sources had indicated to Marshall that Verizon was a "certainty" for the iPad, suggesting that some major happened to push Apple’s focus to AT&T.
AT&T’s exclusivity window for the iPhone in the United States has been the subject of some debate, with early claims pegging it at five years being disputed by other reports that AT&T initially had a two-year agreement that extended through mid-2009 but gained an extra year when it increased the handset subsidies paid to Apple. A report from early last year suggested that AT&T was searching for a way to extend its exclusivity for yet another year until mid-2011, and its iPad data pricing offer may have been a means to get halfway to that goal.
A survey of iPad buyers found that 44 percent would purchase the touchscreen device instead of a notebook, and 41 percent would not buy an iPod touch as a result of their tablet.
The March 2010 Alphawise survey results, disclosed Thursday by analyst Katy Huberty with Morgan Stanley, give insight into the potential cannibalization of other Apple products due to the release of the iPad. The study found that of the 44 percent who would not buy a notebook, 24 percent would not buy a MacBook, while the other 20 percent would not purchase a PC.
The survey also found that 27 percent of users would not buy a desktop as a result of their iPad purchase, with 14 percent of those not buying a Mac desktop, and the other 13 percent passing on a PC. The survey also found that the iPad will affect e-reader and handheld videogame sales, two segments in which Apple does not have a dedicated device.
Huberty said that the iPad has already had an impact on portable computer sales, which have slowed since the start of 2010. The results suggest that the netbook market was most impacted by Apple’s iPad.
"U.S. consumer PC, and especially notebook, growth decelerated in January when Apple introduced the iPad and again in April when the iPad launched," she wrote. "Given the corresponding increase in (average selling prices) in the market, we believe much of the demand shortfall came from netbooks and low-cost notebooks."
When Steve Jobs introduced the iPad in January, he talked about defining its niche. He explained that the iPad sits somewhere between an iPhone and a laptop and is meant for the same kind of use that is currently served by netbooks.
If you thought Gameprom’s three top pinball titles looked good on the iPhone’s 3.5 inch display, wait till you feast your eyes on the iPad version. 
A survey of iPad buyers found that 44 percent would purchase the touchscreen device instead of a notebook, and 41 percent would not buy an iPod touch as a result of their tablet.
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