By the end of 2009 rumors about the iPad had been around for several years, and on January 27, 2010 Steve Jobs announced the iPad. It was not the first tablet to be sold, but it was the first one to sell in large numbers. It also was the first one that was controlled almost entirely by fingers touching the screen. Many of the earlier tablets (and PDAs, or personal digital assistants) used a lot of buttons or a stylus to control the tablet.