Apple toady announced the launch of the iPad. No surprise it is a bigger version iTouch or iPhone and you can use the touch screen to send emails, see photos, run slideshows, read books and play video game etc.…all with a bigger screen. It will use flash memory storage with built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth and contains an accelerometer and a proximity sensor. It weighs about half a pound, which is equal to one big document. The battery can last for 10 hours and on a standby mode the battery can lasts for month before charging is needed, that’s a big plus. The 16 GB iPad will sell for US$499, the 32 GB for $599 and the 64 GB for $699. The plan will include 250 megabytes per month for US$14.99, and an unlimited plan will be US$29.99, both with AT&T. I don’t like to buy that with a plan but I may not have a choice. I rather buy an unlocked one. Read my last July post (5 months old) on the future of Apple's tablet strategy.
Jobs declared in the event that “Apple is the largest mobile-device company in the world,” and announced that more than three billion applications, or “apps,” have been downloaded from its online store. The bigger question is what consumer behavior will emerge with this large screen iPhone on the publishing industry? Will Apple be giving the print media industry currently in the intensive care unit a big boost and a chance to recover? Is this device the lifeline for media companies to charge for content? Can this device open up a whole new way of mobile behavior?
Back to the idea of the tablet, I’ve seen so many tablets design and almost all of them are the poor cousins of the laptop PC and trying top hard to do what a PC does. The pen is a bad idea and most of us don’t use it, the keyboard has long replaced that, unless you’re an artist or does technical drawings as part of your job. So even an updated and redesigned Newton is not a good idea. Apple is smart and understand the need to create a new device category around personal media; guarantee great compatibility and connectivity; and get consumers to rethink the meaning of the word "device."
Apple is smart not to play in the netbook space. Simply because netbooks cannibalize notebooks. But Apple would love to sell another new device into homes. The iPad doesn't replace anything Apple currently sells. You do work with your Macbook Pro at your desk or at home. You surf with your iPhone while on the go. You carry an iPod to listen to music whenyou exercise, But you'd relax with an iPad on the couch, by the beach, or in an airplane. That's all stuff you do with existing devices anyway, but an iPad can provide a far better experience. Smart move.
So for me, I currently carry a MacBook Air in my briefcase, I also have an iTouch, a Blackberry Bold, a Prada LGtugh screen phone and a Lumix camera. So in a few months, I will be adding an iPad. iPad is not to replace any of those stuff. And there are some cool accessories too, a charging dock you can use to display the iPad in portrait and a keyboard dock, so you don't have to use a virtual keyboard all the time. I hate virtual keyboard and so this is perfect for me. I don't know why they didn't include the camera.
Publishes such as HarperCollins is working with Apple to make electronic books available for the iPad. HarperCollins is expected to set the prices of the e-books and Apple would take a percentage of sales. Now Kindle has serious competition, I think Google will be joining this game soon. It gets more interesting when the three most innovative companies in the world are competing with each other and Amazon becomes the defender. And Next Issue Media, the new magazine consortium of Hearst, Meredith, Time Inc., News Corp and Conde Nast, is another serious player to join this game. They may end up partnering with a hardware company. Nokia? LG or Samsung? This is an exciting space to watch. Another great b-school case study material.
