Jobs introduced the original iPad five years ago, today

Jan 27, 2015 13:59 GMT  ·  By
"I chuckled when I saw this," Jobs said, directing the audience's attention to a quote from friend publication WSJ
   "I chuckled when I saw this," Jobs said, directing the audience's attention to a quote from friend publication WSJ

On January 27, 2010, Apple’s cancer-stricken CEO took the stage at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco to unveil what was to be his last revolutionary product – the original iPad.

Dubbed by the media the “Jesus Tablet,” the first iPad was initially met with scrutiny. Many mocked the slate-shaped device for seemingly doubling as a bigger iPhone. Little did these people know that tablets would gain immense traction through the flurry of apps made available specifically for them, and that for some people, they’d even replace the desktop computer.

iPad has come a long way since, but in many ways it hasn’t really changed. It is the same highly-portable and highly-versatile tablet it has always been, only improved tenfold. It gives you blazingly fast Internet, amazing battery life, and a breathtaking visual experience. Unlike 2010, Apple now sells two separate versions of the portable computer – iPad mini and iPad Air – and reportedly plans to introduce a third (the 12-inch iPad Pro), later this year.

Embedded below is the famous keynote address featuring Jobs at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts lifting the cloth off the very first iPad. Less than two years later, in the autumn of 2011, Jobs would ultimately die from complications due to a decade-long battle with pancreatic cancer.