Apple is a company that when it enters an industry that industry is forever changed. We saw this with the iPod in 2001 and in 2007 when Apple released the iPhone. Both of these products left their respective industries forever changed. So what will be Apple's new game changing product? Some would say the new Apple iPad.
On January 27 Steve Jobs took the stage to announce the highly speculated iPad, Apple's "tablet" computer. As with most Apple announcements the speculation made it seem like it would be the all encompassing, powerful, do-anything device, therefore, many people were disappointed. I would like to comment on just a few of the complaints that people have with the iPad: "it is just a big iPod Touch," no flash, it is locked down, and what is it good for.
People claim that is is just a "large iPod Touch," to which I say, what is wrong with that? The iPod Touch is a very beautiful device that is widely successful. This statement also assumes that the size of the screen equals a linear progression in quality which is not necessarily true especially in technology where products are known to improve exponentially. This bigger screen size will allow for application developers to greatly improve the quality of their applications with the ability to spread out the interface in a more logical interface and allow for interfaces that would not have been possible before. As a self proclaimed application developer I can see a great benefit in have more room to work with when developing.
A complaint that many people have with the iPad (the iPhone and iPod Touch also) is that there is no Flash support. Some people even point to Apple's comment that you have the "internet in your pocket" as a lie because the iPhone OS (which the iPad and iPod Touch run) does not have Flash support. My comment to that is this: if Flash is the internet, than I feel very sorry for us all. Currently there are very few mobile handsets that have Flash support so therefore I find a website that requires Flash to view as a failure on the developers behalf. The internet's usage is rapidly moving toward the mobile realm and therefore if a website wants complete exposure it can't use Flash for it's technology. That being said, Flash is primarily not used for to build out of websites but more commonly used for the display of video. For this there is a perfectly good standard in HTML 5's video tag. Apple's iPhone OS and Android have support for HTML 5 built into their browsers allowing for content that simply wasn't possible before on mobile phones. Desktop browsers are also quickly joining the HTML 5 party as well (although with a few differences). For complete support web developers can even support both. Simply put, the "problem" with the lack of Flash on the iPad is not a problem with the iPad but is a problem with the laziness of web developers. I applaud Apple for not bending on this and pushing for the adoption of HTML 5.
The next complaint is one that comes with almost every Apple product, it is too locked down. People that say this must not really know Apple that well because this is how they are with all of their devices. The unique difference to the iPad that may cause for the extra heat toward it is that Steve Jobs likened the iPad to a netbook. With this comparison the iPad really does look locked down but I really don't relate an iPad with a netbook, they are entirely different devices. The iPad is an appliance (more on this later) for content consumption and a netbook is made for creation and consumption. One might think from this connection that I just mean that the iPad is just more limited and you would be correct but also so wrong. The fact that it is limited makes it work so much more beautifully and correctly. From demos and first hand experiences I have heard one word common to all reviews that word is "speed." This is a word I have never heard related to a netbook. The locked down nature of the iPad is what makes it so appealing to people, not the technical, Linux-using people that are so prevalent in the tech community, but for the soccer mom who wants something she can pick up that works how she would expect and that she doesn't need a Ph.D to use.
Finally many people are having troubles figuring out what the iPad will be good for or used for. This is where I think Apple's new game changing move is. They haven't created a computer device like you would think, they have created an appliance. Just like you have a fridge or microwave you could now have a iPad. This is the kind of device you have laying on your coffee table to pick up and use to look something up, or the device you take with the teenager to do gaming, watch movie, and stay connected. I find this device to be a paradigm shift that many people haven't been able to completely grasp. As a computer the iPad really isn't that great in its current position, but as an appliance the iPad has a whole lot more appeal.
There are many aspects of the iPad that I have not had time or space to cover but I think what I have written gives a brief explanation against the vocal nay-sayers of the iPad. Even though I find this to be a great device that doesn't mean I think it will be successful. If the market begins to understand what the use case is for the iPad I believe it will be a huge success; however, if the market does not grasp this concept I have a feeling we may have another Newton on our hands.
