iPad Announced

If the previous decade saw the launch of “smart devices” and “social media 1.0” with Apple’s iPhone and Facebook, the 2010s saw revamped iterations of these phenomena almost immediately. 2010 saw the launch of Apple’s iPad and Instagram, redefining the second generations of devices and social. In many ways, the year demonstrated society’s transformed relationship with mass media, ushering in the rise of mass-media art by the decade’s end. After years of speculation about the Apple Tablet, Apple finally announced the iPad in January 2010. The event, conducted by Steve Jobs in one of his last great Apple announcements, showcased a category-creating tablet that surpassed many expectations in terms of the device’s instant popularity and the way it would impact art with its enhanced flexibility. Procreate was launched in 2011, enabling artists to leverage the iPad as a canvas and forever impacting digital art, particularly 1/1 practices.