Let’s be honest right from the start. The iPad is perhaps the most poorly named, awfully positioned, not-seemingly-revolutionary product that Mr Jobs has recently described as revolutionary while standing on stage.
As a product meant to appeal to the Apple fanboy, the iPad appears to be a tremendous dud. It does not have what the fanboy needs that we don’t already get out of the combination of our MacBook(Pro) and iPhone. In fact, on its own, the iPad is inferior to both the iPhone and a MB(P). Its a phone without a phone (but with giant numbers). A laptop without real guts.
The iPad is the new Brick phone.
But even the Brick spawned a market for mobile phones. And its toward the construction of a new market that the iPad (better named) could really do something interesting.
The Church of Apple should have developed and positioned the iPad like Nintendo developed and positioned the Wii — a revolutionary-in-its-simplicity product targeted at people who are not “in the market” at the moment. For Nintendo, this market was people who might like to play video games, but don’t need the bravado of the xBox or Playstation. With a controller that doesn’t require 6 fingers on both hands to operate.
With the iPad the market is people who would like to have a computer-ish thing, with a simple interface and nice screen. These are humans who are now on the sidelines of the computer world. These people simply need a device with which they can get their email, read some news, and maybe watch a video of their grandkid. The device makes even more sense to this fringe class when combined with a reasonably priced 3G/4G connection, thereby ridding this fringe the challenge of GeekSquad managed not-so-personal Wi-Fi networks. These folks don’t need Word or Pages, they just need GoogleDocs. They don’t have 120GB music collections. A computer mouse is uncomfortable, and a laptop trackpad is frustrating. A touch screen is simple.
In Apple speak, it just works.
We should also expect to see this object in hospitals and other settings where a not-so-bulky, but reasonably processor capable device can do all that it needs to do. Surface some patient stats, scans, and other data when you need these data.
Badly named. Over-hyped. Perhaps not so revolutionary.
But some people don’t need a revolution. They just need something that works.
Filed under: internet | 2 Comments
I think the media is being very harsh on Apple and will be stunned at how well this sells. I would never have guessed in a million years that they would start the price point at under $500 and that is where the wow factor is. This thing is going to sell A LOT of units.
I’m a Church of Apple devotee and I’ll buy one and maybe two of these at launch. I won’t buy just because of the logo but because I really think this fits perfectly into my digital life. I’m home on a Saturday typing this on an iPhone. I’d much rather type this on an iPad. Why not type on my MacBook? I’m always surprised how often I choose my iPhone instead of my Macbook when given the choice. So now I’ll likely choose my iPad. I doubt the ipad will ever leave the house and will be used by everyone in the house.