Steve Jobs announced Apple’s new iPad last week, and the pre-release hype seen for it is at levels we’ve really only witnessed for one other pre-release product: President-Elect Barack Obama. Given this, I figured it might be interesting to compare some ways in which the iPad is similar to President Obama:

• Like Obama, the iPad has been anointed as the symbol of a new revolution, and the hope for a new generation.
• Obama has been in office for a year, and still many people aren’t quite sure what he’s capable of. Many are questioning what the iPad will really be able to accomplish, too - though in the device’s defence, it is still a couple of months away from release.
• Obama has proven himself to be one of the world’s eminent public speakers. No word yet on whether the iPad will come equipped with a Brilliant Orator app.
• In the months leading up to his launch, future President Barack Obama was the leading topic of conversation in the Twitter-verse. Same with the iPad, which is currently enjoying an edge in tweets over Haiti, according to Twitter.
• Obama has had to deal with some unfortunate name comparisons to a notoriously infamous person. The iPod iPad has suffered similar comparisons.
• Before even setting foot in the White House, Obama was seen by some as the saviour of the American healthcare system; others saw him as its killer. The iPad, on the other hand, is being touted as either the saviour or killer of the journalism industry. (Obama, incidentally, hasn’t done a lick to change the U.S. healthcare system one way or the other. The iPad’s initial effect on journalism will likely be similar).
• The Grammy Awards, featuring the iPad (see vid below), drew 26 million viewers on Sunday night. Obama’s iPad-less State of the Union Address five nights earlier, on the other hand, managed to pull in 48 million viewers.

Advantage Obama, for now. Though I suspect we’ll have to wait for the release of both Obama 2.0 and iPad 2.0 to really decide which will have a more lasting legacy.

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