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January 28, 2010
I tried to find a live video feed of Apple's launch of the iPad in San Francisco early this morning but there was none working. Twitter, however, was full on and I followed the live blogs of the event. Is there actually room for a multitouch screen tablet device between smartphones and laptops? Apple certainly thinks so.
Hence the minimalist designed iPad with synchronisation, wireless and 3G connectivity that functions as a web browser, bookshelf, video player, game console and communication device. It also has the capability to download photos from a camera. It has an entry price of $US500.
This is basically Apple's entry into the netbook market, using the stuff it's learned from the iPhone. Using it will be familiar to anybody who has tried an iPhone: it uses the same combination of swipes, pokes, jabs and sweeps of the finger of its smaller cousin. So sweeping your hand across its reactive 9.7-inch screen will feel satisfying and natural. But it does not have a camera, it means surfing the web without Flash and no multitasking.
There doesn't appear to any significant differences between the iPad and the iPod Touch, other than its size. It is a portable internet, full-fledged media device. Do people want a big iPod touch with e-publishing support? Who is going to use this? Is it for the casual surfer infront of the TV or existing iMac/iPhoners? I'm a Mac user and I'm not sure how this fits into my life. Where does one stick the iPad? I would worry about that glass screen bouncing around in your briefcase or backpack naked?
A lot of print media types hope that the iPad can really help move the ebook concept on a stage and help them start making money. It is unlikely to be a gamechanger, and unlikely that people will they pay for the same content they can get online for free. Mathew Ingram at Gigaom says:
Another thing the iPad makes abundantly clear is that if you want to succeed in a world ruled by a giant iPod touch, you had better develop (or acquire, or partner with someone who has) some serious multimedia chops. This device is designed to do large full-color photos, full-screen video (even HD) and much more. If all you have is a traditional newspaper-like page with a few small photos and some grainy video, you are going to get left in the dust.That might make things easier for magazines like Conde Nast, which are used to dealing with large-format, high-quality images and which understand design. But if you’re a newspaper, let’s be honest — large, high-quality images are not exactly your thing.
He adds:
Think about it this way: Have iTunes and the iPod rescued or saved the music business? Hardly. If anything, they have only accelerated the disruption in that industry, and exposed how out of touch, out of control and cost-prohibitive most of it still is when it comes to doing business online. The web has been doing the same thing to traditional media for the past decade or so, and devices like the iPad are only going to accelerate that process.
Secondly, the backlit screen doesn't come anywhere near the clarity of electronic ink, which means it's going to prove a lot harder on the eyes of book readers.
It is essentially a niche device in it’s current form: a media player that’s too large to carry around comfortably in your pocket, too small to be preferable for movie viewing to the TV, and could even represent a significant recurring money drain if you get 3G service. Will the iPad will be carried around the house and in bags to and from schools, colleges and workplaces?
It appears to be a screen for reading and watching—at some loss of convenience in creating even though it has an on-screen keyboard---and so a consumption device for playing movies and games at very high resolution. It is a little portable entertainment center connected to the AppStore, iTunes store, and the new iBook store. So we have an all-purpose content consumption device that opens the door to a digital library--a library without books. This is important since books have become so expensive that I've stopped buying them. Apple is going after the Kindle for sure.
Personally, as a heavy power user, I’m more concerned with getting stuff done than having a mobile entertainment device. However, I can see that it would be a way to present a portfolio of photos to people.
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Bruce Webb in The iPad is NOT a Computer, its a Briefcase w/Gizmos makes a good point: