Apples big and small for genealogy -- Part One

Apple Inc. is a topic that draws both praise and criticism. In case you have been on an expedition to somewhere they don't have telephone, TV or Internet service, you may not be aware that Apple has just released a new product called the iPad. Apple now sells six, soon to be seven, major product lines, MacBook laptop computers, Macintosh desktop computers, iPods, iPads, iPhones and iTunes downloads. Just get a little perspective about these machines, by the third quarter of 2008, iPod total global sales had reached over 220,000,000 (a sizable percentage of the entire population of the U.S). The newer iPad reportedly sold over 450,000 units in the first week of sales. By early 2010, customers of the Apple iTunes store had downloaded over 4 billion apps. In the first week, iPad users had downloaded over 3.5 million iPad apps (programs). The seventh new product from Apple is the iBooks store which sold 600,000 books in its first week of operation.

The real question for genealogists is whether or not any of these lovely electronic devices or online services make our lives easier or help with doing real genealogy. As a side note, I do appreciate the insightful comments from Dick Eastman about his experiences with the iPad. He also recently provided a link to a review of the Reunion 9 program from Grant Brunner.
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