When Steve Jobs first unveiled the iPad, the Apple faithful had a twinkle in their eye, tech geeks pondered the implications and companies pondered the opportunities to incorporate it into their business plans.
But the rest of us had one question: who needs a device that is essentially a giant iPhone?
Despite big sales numbers and glowing reviews, that question has never really been answered...until now.
I recently came across a story about the Sumo Association in Japan purchasing iPads to help keep the various sumo stables. The reason for why they chose iPads over any other form of communication device is that the wrestlers' fingers are too thick for traditional texting methods.
So I'm sure this isn't quite the target demographic Apple had in mind when they basically super-sized their iPod Touch and launched the tablet craze. However, it is always interesting to see existing products being adopted by new and unique user segments.
And for Apple, the 60 iPads bought by the Sumo Association may be a drop in the bucket financially, but is an I-told-you-so moment Jobs can point to when people question who would ever need a giant iPhone or iPod Touch.
