It always seems like such a weird twist of fate when a product designed with a certain type of person in mind is rejected by its own target audience.
The iPad is coming close to this scenario.
Apple’s new product, which was marketed to students of higher education, specifically for its portability and ability to store e-books, has been having some trouble with certain colleges.
George Washington, Princeton, and Cornell universities are all expressing doubts about whether the iPad can be accepted on campus due to “network compatibility issues.”
George Washington University has even issued a statement saying that the iPad may not be compatible with the on-campus network until next spring. Apple should have some serious worries for its new toy, right?
It doesn’t seem so. Teresa Brewer, an Apple spokeswoman, said she wasn’t familiar with the schools’ problems. More than 500,000 iPads have already been sold.
We aren’t denying the iPad is cool, the screen is crystal-clear or that we’ve wandered over to play with the display model at Best Buy. Still, one shouldn’t be surprised to find compatibility issues in adopting a new technology the second it comes out because the rest of us are still struggling to catch up. It’s OK to not always have the new, best thing right away.
As for UF, students have had problems adding the standard university e-mail to the device as well. Perhaps this problem doesn’t just fall to “some other university.”
