[caption id="attachment_387" align="aligncenter" width="428" caption="Jared Levin (sophomore) with his brand new iPad."][/caption] Lindsey Bell Co-Features Editor Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Nope. It’s just the iPad. But what is this iPad, anyway? And why was everyone so hyped up about this oversized iTouch anway? But according to Phil from “Modern Family,” it’s more than just an oversized iTouch. It’s a movie theatre, library, and music store all rolled into one awesome…pad. But for those of us who have been so graced with the presence of this doohickey, have realized that it is no pad of any sort. According to the Free Dictionary by Farlex, a pad is “ (n.) A thin, cushionlike mass of soft material used to fill, to give shape, or to protect against jarring, scraping, or other injury.” Yes, the iPad is thin, however I don’t know where they got the idea that it is “cushionlike” nor is it made of any soft material whatsoever.  And if you have ever tried to fill it or force it to give shape, you probably broke it. It might come in handy has a makeshift shield if your in class one day and someone decides to start chucking spit balls at you, but I would not let my life depend upon the iPad to protect me against any serious jarring, scraping, or other injury that would do more than stick to me. The name is completely deceptive, not to mention the object of great ridicule for the remainder of its lifespan. Aside from the lack of an informative name, the iPad also lacks sufficient applications designed for the iPad, so you’re forced to touch the “2x” button to enlarge it, but it remains slightly blurry and grainy in some instances. But the question remains: What is the iPad? Here’s what a few of the Latin students have to say: “A very enlarged iphone minus the phone… and the camera.” – Jen Goldberg ‘10 “A touch screen laptop, a big ol’ iPhone, right out of the Jetsons.” – Evan Dent ‘11 “ If I were to ever get an iPad, I would hold it up to my ear and pretend that it is an iPhone on steroids- though, I think it is really, really cool.”- Nicolas Mendia ‘12 “I guess it’s kinda like a Kindle, but bigger and with the internet.” –Lana Ifergan ‘13 So I guess Phil was wrong and it really is just an oversized iTouch. And it seems that people are finding that bigger isn’t necessarily better. Unlike in “Modern Family” I did not have to camp out over night, wake up at 5 to get in line, or have it shipped from one of my online friends. I just walked into the Apple store (wait free) and asked if I could buy an iPad. The salesperson went behind the counter, where there were stacks of them, and within minutes my family possessed their very own iPad (which was shortly returned). I recommend waiting until Apple releases one with multitasking capability and more iPad applications are available. Who knows? Maybe one day, students will end up just carrying their iPad around rather than all of their heavy textbooks. But until the iPad is improved upon (or at least renamed), it’s an undeserving, overpriced toy.]]>