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The great iPad death watch, Part 2

By
Philip Elmer-DeWitt
Philip Elmer-DeWitt
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By
Philip Elmer-DeWitt
Philip Elmer-DeWitt
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June 1, 2010, 7:53 AM ET

Even as people were queuing up to buy the device, critics were dancing on its grave



AAPLinvestors‘ Terry Gregory, a longtime Apple (AAPL) stockholder, likes to collect what he believes to be misguided quotes about the company’s products.

His site hosts a fascinating list of early Macintosh reviews and what may be the definitive collection of dumb iPhone quotes.

In that spirit, he started a “death watch” collection for the iPad in January, after Steve Jobs unveiled his latest creation. We published a sample in March, before the April 3 launch.

But the fun hasn’t stopped. On the suggestion of reader FalKirk, here are some of the things the critics have been saying since then:

Alex Cook, Frontier Outlook, 3 April 2010:

“I don’t get it. It costs $500 for the basic model, when you could get a laptop with a lot more functionality for about the same price… I don’t buy the iPad hype. Analyst expectations for iPad revenue are way overblown. If I turn out to be wrong, I’ll gladly eat my words, but I’m pretty sure that I’m not wrong. ”

Paul Thurrott, Paul Thurrott’s Supersite for Windows, 5 April 2010:

“Anyone who believes this thing is a game changer is a tool.”

Reggie Fils-Aime, President, Nintendo of America, 7 April 2010:

“If our games represent a range between snacks of entertainment and full meals depending on the type of game, [Apple’s] aren’t even a mouthful.”

Rob Pegoraro, Washington Post, 9 April 2010:

“In short, I don’t get the ‘magical and revolutionary’ vibe that Apple chief executive Steve Jobs touted at the iPad’s January unveiling.”

Josh Belzman, MSNBC.com, 20 May 2010:

“The iPad is useless. Beautiful, but useless.”

See AAPLinvestor’s full list here.

See also:

  • 2 million iPads in 59 days
  • The great iPhone death watch
  • Jan. 1984: How critics reviewed the Mac

[Follow Philip Elmer-DeWitt on Twitter @philiped]

About the Author
By Philip Elmer-DeWitt
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