IPAD wasn’t the big announcement, it’s EVERYTHING else!
Like many other people I sat on my sofa watching as patiently as possible for what was coming for Apple. Having recently switched to an iphone from a Blackberry, I had high hopes and great expectations. And I also made the assumption that many others did that there would be a tablet on their horizon. I wasn’t wrong but that wasn’t the big deal. Not in my opinion.
140,000 apps at your fingertips. From day one.
That is certainly a big deal. It’s super cool, and I’m probably more aware of how cool it is having used my new iphone for a couple weeks. But that’s just the beginning. The new iPad Also has the ability to dock to a keyboard. If you haven’t paid attention to me ranting about this in the last year, you won’t know one of the big reasons we didn’t choose an iphone sooner was no physical keyboard. I do miss it and this makes me really happy. Productivity will begreatly enhanced with this.
Watch out Kindle!
Another game changer from my perspective is iBooks. A beautiful, easy to use 
virtual bookshelf, the book reader and bookstore ‘just works’. Kindle over priced themselves, making their devices more expensive than many netbooks, and consequently their lack of extra abilities will make it impossible to compete with this new device. It’s unfortunate that they will be collateral damage but they will and so will all other book devices.
Unlimited 3G Data? YES!
If I had to pick a single part of the Steve Jobs News Cast this morning that really turned our world upside down, it has to be the 3G data plan for $30 a month, no contract, cancel anytime! I won’t repeat it but do think this will change the future landscape of mobile computing because this one statement invites competition that we haven’t seen for a long time. Competition will be good for our pocketbooks.
Now you’ve seen some of the neat pictures, I’d like to ramble for just a minute. I love this device. This is a device that in my mind is just about the coolest thing I’ve seen, since the pc. I was practically drooling, largely because I see how much this will change the future, our future.
Of course with the good comes the bad, and I would be remiss if I didn’t mention a couple of things that are lacking or outright missing. There is no camera. You can’t do video. You can watch it but no creation. Also, the storage ability, or lack there of makes it impossible to make this a primary computing device.
All of that said, the iPad has so much potential for putting something that was typically a tool associated with mac centric geeks in the hands of everybody. It will force us to change our computing behavior thereby creating acceptance of new ideas to further enhance our lives.
I’m so excited!
Technorati Tags: iPad, Apple, Steve Jobs, Kindle
on January 27th, 2010 at 4:44 pm
I agree that the iPad is a significant development and that it may even be a game-changer. I’m not sure yet WHICH game it will be changing, however. One of the big advantages of e-Ink devices (of which the Kindle is probably the most prominent) is that the reader does not spend long periods of time staring into a light source. This, it is claimed (and personal experience tends to confirm) eases eyestrain. Another advantage of the Kindle is, curiously, that it offers very little in the way of distracting alternatives to reading. When you are reading a Kindle there are no windows that pop up to announce the arrival of mail (or tweets, or instant messages). In this way it is more book-like than something like the iPad. I have no doubt that the iPad will cut into the Kindle market but I think the overlap may be less than your comments seem to suggest. The Kindle has its drawbacks, heaven knows, but it still may be perceived as preferable for long stretches of reading. I can even imagine that a significant portion of the Kindle public will want to own both a Kindle and an iPad.
All of this is speculation, of course. Time will tell.
on January 27th, 2010 at 5:31 pm
Barry you make some really great points. Not sure I entirely agree with you on some of them but they deserve attention.
First, what I do agree with is the eye strain possibility. We don’t really have a clear concept of what the iPad will do or how it will handle the ebook function, but I do think it important to say that should a person use one of the devices, eyestrain should be taken into consideration.
The largest market for e-books and their readers is by geeks. not the purist book person. Not that I’m saying anything at all about you, but the vast majority of people I know who are using them or interested in them are the more casual reader and those who see it as a niche gadget.
If you look at sheer numbers, in roughly the same period of time, the ipod touch, a similarly priced device as the kindle for the high end unit, sold over 10 times the number of kindles.
I think you are definitely right in that a majority of kindle owners will want an ipad as well. But when traveling, if they have to take only one with them it will likely be the iPad. A multi-purpose device almost always wins out.
If a concern is being bombarded by system messages, they can be turned off and or muted.
Also, let’s look at the economy. If all you have is 500 dollars, is a Kindle going to be your device of choice? Not likely. Not when you can get an iPad that essentially gives you both options in one. Value added!
In the end, Jeff Bezos at Amazon will have to decide what makes sense and it’s entirely likely he will weigh things and determine the book store is more valuable than is the device. It’s hard to compete with Apple in design and function.
I think the kindle will ultimately be looked at as an interim device, not an end unit. It filled a gap we didn’t know we had. Now we have an alternative.
I’m a book gobbler. I do NOT own a Kindle. I got a netbook, and I have an iphone and ipod touch. I LISTEN at bedtime to books but I haven’t really wanted to read a book on a reader. I might now that I can do other things with the device as well.
Thanks for commenting. It’s very appreciated!
I love good discussions.
on January 27th, 2010 at 5:37 pm
For me there are a couple of important things that I needed to synthesize.
First, the biggie, which you mention. 3G with no contract. All the AT&T network suckage is jsut noise in the marketpalce. It’s easily fixed, and the fact that AT&T juststood up 15 3G towers in our little town of Walla Walla speak to that. Their roadmap isn’t as public as Clearwire/Sprint, but they’ll deliver more in the long run. The no contract data to me proves that. Unless they knew they were going to win money, business and customers with that approach, AT&T simply wouldn’t have taken it. I worked their a long time and understand their DNA. What today’s announcement did was fire a connon shot across the industry signaling the end of overpriced data plans. Today was the beginning of data as a cheap commodity. The prices won’t go into freefall, but we’ll see steady declining rates follow.
Personally for me the keyboard is a huge deal. It means I can use the iPad for almost everything I want to do. It means when I write that next book or white paper series, I can drop it onto the keyboard and easily write away.Sure tools will be different and it will take some adjusting. That’s fine. I won’t be giving up the keyboard. If the content you generate is mainly text (mine is) that’s a HUGE bonus. If you generate audio/content the iPad isn’t a creation tool. It’s a consumption tool. Wel” have to have the right tool for the job, but that’s always been true,
I heard people saying they won’t take the iPad out for six months because it will be “new”. I say hogwash. It will be the best tool in a shoulder bag when traveling any of us have ever seen. I love the prospect of cross-country flight with entertainment and productivity in a tool that will be far more comfortable than a netbook in a cramped airline seat with the damned tray table in my lap.
I’m new to the iPhone, but this is the first device I’ve ever seen from Apple that on announcement day I can honestly say I want one. it’s a future tool, not tied to the past. That’s important. It was why I finally switched to the iPhone. It’s why I keep watching new products.
on January 27th, 2010 at 5:58 pm
Today is the day that Apple blessed us with the the glorious iPad. Personally it’s exactly what I thought it’d be practically a modified iTouch, I’m actually gonna wait to pick an Apple iPad up. I want to see one with a microphone, USB, a camera, and multitasking before I’ll make the jump. I especially think that a USB port is the most important feature it is lacking. What do you guys think?
on January 28th, 2010 at 3:32 am
I haven’t seen where it supports Bluetooth headsets or only headphones…
Also, how could they not put a font and back camera in this thing! Ridiculous!
A nice to have also would have been a GPS for all the cool location based stuff.
I’m also a little disappointed that it is running the iPhone/iPod OS instead of a full-blown OSx….
Here’s to hoping that the next Android or “Netbook” device to market has the same features plus the few extras I’d really like.
Thumbs up for the no contract data plan!
Mike
on January 28th, 2010 at 8:27 am
I’m truly unclear what they were thinking not putting a camera in it. That one boggles the brain.
It does have bluetooth, but no GPS though I hear that’s in the non 3G ones. People who haven’t touched it are complaining that it only has a 1GHZ processor but those who did touch it say it’s like lightning!
No flash means just like I can’t visit hulu on my iphone, I won’t be able to on my ipad, but I think that’s gonna be handled somehow, though I couldn’t tell you how just yet.
Pros and cons but there are in every purchase and every decision.I want one of these. I think it’s beyond neat. The no contract makes it the best deal on the market cause you can still use it for VoIP!
on January 28th, 2010 at 2:08 pm
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