Apple iPad (Photo : Reuters)
Old devices, like classic cars, may appear Jurassic when compared to gadgets coming out of China and other manufacturing countries. However, it is also sturdier compared to today's high tech models.
Bendgate would have never happened to Apple during the days when the original iPad rolled out of Apple five years ago. Announced and unveiled on January 27, 2010, Americans were the first to get hold of the Wi-Fi variant on April 4 of the same year.
Weighing 1.5 pounds and with dimensions of 9.56 (height) x 7.47 (width) x 0.5 (thickness) inches, the device ran on iOS 3.2. In the first 80 days, Apple sold 3 million first-generation iPads.
Owners of these first-gen units likely have traded the $499-gadget with the latest iteration Apple tablet, but some of them still appreciate and use their units. One such owner, in an article in Empire State Tribune, paid tribute to his unit's durability.
The proud owner recalled that his unit has fallen, been stepped on, thrown and was the recipient of various body excretions, but it still is usable. The iPad even functioned occasionally as a temporary plate and a chew toy, but all the owner needed to do was wipe it with a rag.
The techie attributes the ease of young kids in learning their alphabet, digits and shapes, thanks to children-friendly tablets with touch screens, which was not possible with first-gen Apple PCs or laptops.
However, like the old days of classic Fords and Chevrolets with very thick chassis that could endure a lot of bumps and hits without placing the driver or passengers in danger, today's cars have very thin bodies that car collisions result in new Toyotas and Kias look like crumpled paper.
In the same way, tablets and smartphones have shrunk and become wafer-thin, large screens that easily shatter and mobile devices that bend when left in the rear pocket are not unusual "horror" stories that device owners complain of.
Adult users are willing to accept these trade-offs in exchange for faster units with high-resolution camera and water-proof cases. But for the owner of the first-gen, these ultra high-tech features do not matter at all to his three-year-old child whom he apparently does not want to acquire yet a selfie mindset that a front-facing camera would no doubt make the kid.
