It’s been less than 24 hours since the launch of iPad, the newest and brightest Apple creation. It’s a 9.7 inch tablet with touchscreen, 10 hours of battery life, 1Ghz proprietary processor built by Apple (!) and a way of running iPhone apps. Not much, really. Contrarily to what Apple usually does with its big style launch events, this one looks like it have seeded significantly more disappointment than enthusiasm.
The biggest issue appears to be at the technological level. Somehow, it seems that what is offered is a little bit low. At least compared with the hype. Not too much innovation. A touchscreen, yeah, we’ve seen that before. An accelerometer that flips the screen upside down, come on, we had this on entry level camera displays 3 years ago. An environment to run iPhone apps, really, like we don’t have iPhones already.
And still, I think we’re really witnessing a revolution. Here’s why:
1. It’s Not The Device, It’s The Experience
Apple proved the fact that its excellence is not at the technological level, although it had its share of innovations in the computing industry. If you look at the iPhone through a technological filter, there are a lot of other devices which are outperforming it in terms of camera, storage or alike. And still iPhone became a leader in a very crowded industry.
The reason: Apple never sold technology, it sold user experience. iPhone users feel like they are different than other phone users. And in many respects they are. If only they pay sometimes twice the price for such a device. Apple sells a new identity. There’s a technology wrap around this identity, it comes in the form of an iPod, iPhone or iPad, but in the end it’s a shift in how one perceives and interact with the world. For once, technology takes the second place.
2. The Apps Ecosystem
Apple already have 140.000 apps in its App Store. The number is absolutely mind numbing. 140.000 apps. How many apps are out there in the Windows ecosystem? Anyone counted? I’d be really curious. With this business model Apple created from scratch a new market. And, more important, a market which is under its total control.
If only a small fraction from the successful developers in the App Store will migrate on the new platform, then we’re in for a treat. Imagine how a productivity app will look on an iPad. Imagine how a musical app will look on an iPad. Not to mention how a multi-player game will be like. The potential here is absolutely huge.
Despite its early stupidities in the approval process on the App Store, Apple remained on top of its own monster. It really manages the whole process and I’m sure it can replicate it really nice for another piece of hardware.
3. The Price Tag
Apple fired a really, really long shot here. At 499 USD, the simplest iPad will be so accessible than many consumers will sign in almost blindly. It’s the cheapest and shiniest toy, the ultimate distraction tool. You will buy it instinctively.
And this is the real long shot: if Apple reaches to a huge audience really fast, the way they did with the iPhone, the core of the business will move from the hardware to the software ecosystem. Apple will finally sell what it sells best: experience, not devices. It will create a new space, a new reality (the famous “reality distortion field” surrounding Steve Jobs may finally be here).
Apple just couldn’t bet on the hype of the tablet the same way they did with the iPhone. Too risky. The consumer couldn’t buy the hype at huge prices twice. So they lowered the price and launched almost a mass market product. The challenge is to be there so fast that no one will have the time to react. If they win this blitz-krieg, iPad will rebuild the table computing from the bottom up.
***
The only thing that iPad will change will be the way we interact with information. I think the hardware race is over. It’s not really important who offers the best hardware, but who delivers the greatest experience. And I really think iPad will deliver here, provided that the price tag will remain unchanged (or lowered) and the App Store will start to pour in tons of new apps.
As totally un-geeky and out of the “let’s hate Apple for a change” flow as it may seem, I truly think this is how it’s going to be 
Liked it? Spread the word:
Save This To Delicious | Digg This | Reddit This | Stumble It! | Tweet About It
Because Thesis offers unparalleled customization and Scribe SEO makes it easy even for a newbie to apply high quality SEO improvements to my posts. If you want to know more about Thesis, feel free to read the following articles:
And if you're ready to move your blog to the next SEO level, read my Scribe SEO review:
Alternatively, you could just go buy Thesis and Scribe SEO now.
{ 1 trackback }
{ 0 comments… add one now }