Since the NYTimes.com has this: The Blogosphere Reacts to the Apple iPad, I thought: hey, I am part of the blogosphere, so I should react too! 🙂
- The response in this article is different than what I have been seeing. One difference: in the article, people have access to the iPad. Perhaps this will make people more enthusiastic once they get it.
- Overall, it doesn’t have the same Wow factor for me that other apple technology had. I remember the first iMac, iPod and others and thinking how special they were. This doesn’t seem that way. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it can’t help.
- In some ways, I am seeing people argue for it the same way I see people argue for Google Wave. If you have to argue that strongly in favour of something, that is a bad sign. It should be obvious to people why they want it. I don’t see that for the iPad.
- It does remind me of a big iPhone / iTouch. That’s not too surprising: that is a classic design. But I would have been more impressed if they had done something more innovative in the overall physical form. Many times that alone gave other i devices their wow factor. Nothing about the iPad’s overall physical design excites me. It reminds me more of a new machine.
- The iPad could go the way of the Air computer. A colleague of mine said this and I think there is a possibility this is true. There could be a minority of people who get it, but the vast majority may stick with other devices.
- The size is relevant. I find I fuss alot with my Touch when I surf the web. With the iPad, there will be less of that.
- I think it will hurt the Kindle, but how much remains to be seen. I think the iPhone is superior to most Blackberries as devices, but what makes the Blackberry powerful is the deep integration with backend systems. The Kindle’s deep connection to Amazon could help it achieve the same thing.
- I know lots of people are joking about the name, but I think it is a good name. It is very close to iPod, and it is related to IBM’s ThinkPad.
- People are complaining about its lack of features, for good reason, but I think the big thing that is going to happen is the unleashing of application developers on that platform. For that’s what the iPad is: a newer/better platform for developers. I expect the apps alone will eventually drive people to get one. People won’t get one to replace their other devices. They will get it because it has apps that you can’t get anywhere else.
- iPad apps could allow Apple devices to get into businesses where they could never get in before. They could start appearing everywhere instead of a sheet of paper. There are already tons of big screen TVs everywhere in businesses now. I could see the same thing with iPads.
- iPads are going to change the nature of mobile devices. Whoever makes the technology for Apple will eventually make it for HTC and others.
- iPads could be the end of cellphones, even smart phones. If I have a bluetooth headset and a 3G iPad, the reason to have a phone diminishes greatly.
- If I were a print publisher, I would be excited and nervous. Excited because I believe Apple will give them a lifeline, a rope, so to speak. And nervous because that rope might be used to tie them to Apple, just like the music industry is. It was interesting to see the emphasis of print media at the Apple demo. That will be the direction for 2010, but I think the apps will take over and take it in unexpected directions.
- I like the lack of a keyboard. Honestly, keyboards and mice are very limited ways to interact with computers. Jobs recognized that with the first iPod and he has been pushing that as he goes forward. But I also think we need richer ways to interact with the computer. The iPad may give that to us.
- I think the iPad will evolve to become a much more impressive platform. This is just the beginning.
Smart People I Know 
Good insights! Some things stuck out to me especially:
“iPads could be the end of cellphones, even smart phones. If I have a bluetooth headset and a 3G iPad, the reason to have a phone diminishes greatly.”
This was the first thing I thought of this afternoon. I use the phone part of my iphone maybe 2 times a day but I use the maps and email function constantly all day and night. I could easily see myself getting something like an ipad when my contract is up and ditching the extra $50 dollars I spend for a voice plan I never use.
“I like the lack of a keyboard. Honestly, keyboards and mice are very limited ways to interact with computers. Jobs recognized that with the first iPod and he has been pushing that as he goes forward. But I also think we need richer ways to interact with the computer. The iPad may give that to us.”
I agree, I’ve always enjoyed experiencing the web on the iphone i just wished that it had a bigger screen and was faster, problem now solved. Overall I think some of the complaints are justified and I think some of the complaints over what it lacks is technology that is on it’s way out anyways, (flash, hopefully).
Thanks, Tim!
Your comments are good refinements/additions on mine. I can definitely see the shift coming with the iPhone and making the decisions like the one you describe. Jobs is famous for killing off lines even when they appear to be doing well if it hampers his bigger strategy. I also think part of the strategy is to escape from AT&T and the iPad can help with that.
When I think of your digital magazine over at Letter to Jane, I could see how great it would go with the iPad. The iPad will allow me to interact with magazines like yours in ways that are similar to but potentially superior to paper magazines. And we won’t see keyboards or mice to do that.
It’s exciting.
Conversely, I don’t like the fact that it has no keyboard. I type at 140wpm and whenever I use a device that has no keyboard and need to type something, I feel hideously constrained. I loved my iPhone when I had it, but spent every other minute of using it cleaning the damn screen. Yes, I’m somewhat ‘OCD’ when it comes to my screens and monitors – my PC monitor is still gleaming at a few months’ old while my boyfriends’ monitor, sitting next to mine and of the same age and model, is stinky as all hell. It bugs me! So I think having to rely primarily on the screen as a means of inputting data on a device that isn’t as passive as the iPhone would annoy me.
So, can it do anything my netbook can’t – and if so, is that something really useful or is it just frippery?
I find it peculiar that I was terribly excited to get an iPhone and had to get my hands on one as quickly as possible – but I’m not even remotely enthused by the iPad. I’m young and geeky and normally love drooling over the latest shiny hardware with all the fancy features, but iPad’s just not doing it for me. Maybe I got cynical when I turned 29 ;p
29 is a perfect age to be cynical: once you get older, cynicism is bad for the skin…makes you look puckered and old. 🙂
Seriously, those are all valid complaints. I do think though, that we will have many many digital devices in our lives, just like we have many appliances. I have a microwave, toaster oven and a convection oven in my small kitchen. Technically I only need one, but I use all three in different ways. I have many different knives, too, even though I could use less. What Apple does really well, and few have commented on this, is to make the device JUST cheap enough that people don’t make an either/or call. Apple will play around with offering user different platforms over time, but they are trying to push people towards touch and away from the indirect devices (keyboard / mouse).
You know it really took me a while to decide whether or not I should make the mag into an iphone app, and I was waiting for them to announce what they planned to with the ipad. I will probably try to move my content onto that system because I think the potential is tremendous for print to move in that direction. While making my zine I found hundreds of others that make really cool personal zines as well that are online. If Apple does things right I see no reason why all these small publishers can’t find a home on this device as indie developers have found a home on the iphone/touch.
I never thought of that, but that’s brilliant. Instead of independent apps and musicians, Apple could also foster independent zine developers! What a great idea! Small publishers like yourself would be able to take great advantage of that, if Apple can manage it well. Let’s see! That would be great!
“I think it will hurt the Kindle, but how much remains to be seen. I think the iPhone is superior to most Blackberries as devices, but what makes the Blackberry powerful is the deep integration with backend systems. The Kindle’s deep connection to Amazon could help it achieve the same thing. ”
Perhaps, but the big selling feature of the kindle is e-ink technology (higher contrast and not backlit which is much easier on your eyes when viewing for long periods), something the iPad does not have.
“The size is relevant. I find I fuss alot with my Touch when I surf the web. With the iPad, there will be less of that.”
I agree but I think this is a bad thing for the iPad. Laptops are powerful enough to do everything on and have physical keyboards which are necessary for doing any sort of serious work. iPhones are small enough to fit in your pocket and have the capability to surf the web in a pinch. I think the iPad falls in the category of devices that has historical failed: between a pocket-size device and a full-sized laptop. People do not want to carry a third device. Either I want something small enough to fit in my pocket or I need something powerful enough to do everything on. iPad will not kill phones for this reason. Is everyone going to start carrying around something this big all the time? out to dinner? no way, and most people want to be connected all the time.
Good point. I think the e-ink is great technology, but many times great technology loses out to overwhelming technology. I think this is going to be one of those times. (Don’t argue with me here, or I will launch into old war stories about how Windows 3.1 beat out OS/2! :))
As for size, that is also a good point. My only counter, albeit weak, is that it will not be an either-or. I think people will have many digital devices, and use them accordingly (says the guy with two shuffles, a nano, a touch, a netbook, a laptop, not to mention all the other iPhones and shuffles and even an ipod mini in the house!)