Yesterday, Apple unveiled it’s newest product, the iPad. It will come in 3 sizes: mini, maxi, and super. Ok, that was a bad joke.
Last night I watched the product video (i.e. advertisement) on Apple’s website and most of Steve Job’s presentation. Initially, I wasn’t very impressed with the idea of a tablet computer. After all, it’s pretty well established that there isn’t a market for tablet PCs. They don’t do anything well. However, the more I watched the video and the more I thought about it, the more I realized why people will buy this thing…and probably why I’ll be getting one come March.
Skeptics will initially say that it’s a just a big iPhone without the phone or a computer that you can’t do much with. This is true if your perspective is based on what we currently use and know. This is why Apple is Apple. They have created something that satisfies a need we didn’t know we had. I think the problem is some people don’t realize that this isn’t really going to be a mobile device (although it could be) or a computer. If you try and lump it in one of these two categories you’ll be disappointed.
What this most closely resembles is a netbook with an iPhone interface and OS in my opinion. Although you could sign up for an unlimited data plan, no one’s really going to carry this thing around town…so don’t bother with the extra product and monthly service cost. If you’re the type that always needs internet no matter where you go a mobile handheld device is what you should use. If you’re a traveling businessman or always on the go, chances are you’ll need to bring your laptop (i.e a fully functioning computer) with you on the road…one that has a hard drive, USB ports, a full keyboard, word and spreadsheet software, etc.
So, what this tells me is that is product will primarily be used at home or maybe a brief trip to the coffee shop. At this point you’re probably thinking I’ve just told you why people won’t buy this thing. Here’s its niche: personal home use. I have an iPhone (for another two days) and a MacBook Pro. Do I want to surf the web or check email or listen to music or watch movies on my iPhone at home? The answer to that is no. The screen is way too small and the device is limited. Do I want to disconnect my laptop and all the cables from it’s docking station, crawl under the desk to unplug everything, reverse thread the power cord, and carry it to another location in the house (every day, only to have to reserve that process to put it away)? Or, unplug the laptop and run on battery power that lasts about 2 hours? No.
Let’s face it…most people own laptops now. Either they keep them at their desk rendering them essentially a portable desktop computer or they keep their laptop and accessories (like bulky cords and fan cooler base thingies) strewn all over the living room or bedroom. The solution is the iPad. People could easily have a laptop at home and 1 or 2 of these gadgets in the nightstand drawer or on the coffee table. What if you have a family of four, consisting of two teenagers, and one of them is always on the laptop in the office and/or the other is always on the internet? The solution isn’t to buy 1-2 more laptops at $1,000-$2,000 each. The solution is to have a device like this laying around the house. Because the iPad is so small and so cheap, yet large enough to play games, watch videos, and surf the internet, people will be able to expand the number of devices in their own homes for the things they mainly use it for at home (as I said, reading, surfing, emailing, playing) at a fraction of the cost, a fraction of the size (the iPad is only 0.5 inches thick), a fraction of the clutter, and a fraction of the management (they would all sync with your base/master unit - the laptop). Wow, that was a run-on sentence.
When I drop $500 for an iPad in March, I’ll still keep and use my laptop computer. But I guarantee I’ll use the iPad at home more. If I want to surf the web or check email while watching TV (or even watch something online for that matter), I’ll pull the 1.5 pound iPad out of the drawer instead of using my laptop. After all, the battery life is 10 hours (constant use) and over a month on standby. Or, I might end up reading an e-book on the iPad in bed and then stash it in my nightstand for a couple of days until the next time I want to use it. Sure, you might think it’s overkill and are willing to drag your laptop all over the house. Fine. What about when it comes time to replace your old laptop? Since I paid $2,000 for my laptop, and it’s coming up on 4 years old, I could buy another one at that price or buy 2 iPads for half the cost. With the exception of a few minor things that I have to do a laptop (which coincidently, doesn't require much processing capability and therefore my old laptop can still be used), an iPad does everything else.
If I think of this product in this fashion, I can see its utility/purpose. I’ll make a prediction that, in the future, everyone will have these types of devices instead of laptops. Once they figure out an easy way for the masses to do the things you currently have to do on a laptop, either via online hosting or a plug and play unit that allows you to do run any software (like personal finance software, word processing, spreadsheets, picture editing, etc), I think we’ll see those bulky laptops fade into oblivion…and of course, replaced by cheap mobile units like the iPad.