Who is the iPad aimed at?

[Tom]

The Guardian has a useful list of what is not included: http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/blog/2010/jan/28/apple-tablet-computer and the Telegraph says it's great for gaming http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/apple/7090946/Is-gaming-the-Apple-iPads-killer-app.html. The Apple Core rep did not show the BBC it being used for typing http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8484823.stm. Since it is a tablet, not using ePaper, it can have a working colour screen for eReading. But it does not have the battery life or connections to the book trade of an eReader. So my guess is that the great British broadsheets are right: Steve is interested in selling games and doing deals with magazine and news publishers. Deals are one of the many things he is brilliant at.
So how does this affect the web publisher? Well, one could think about doing a 'blog' with premium content AND/OR advertising which could go out as an iPad-ready magazine. So content should perhaps flow from a general purpose CMS to a blog CMS - so that it could also flow into other formats.

[TMORSHED]

I saw it yesterday when they launched it, For me this is the most underwhelming Apple release so far. It is that middle ground between iphone and laptop, it's all just a bit...pointless. And the features that are missing I imagine will mean that a large percentage of tech-heads will be put off, especially considering the price. My initial feelings is that it is going to be a big apple disaster, it looks ugly, too big for a phone and too small for a laptop.

Don't get me wrong, I have an iphone 3gs and a macbook pro ( which i 've recently purchased) and both have changed the way I think about what a desktop/phone can do. I just don't see the point of a tablet, does anyone really need one?

There should be multitasking

And me thinks the third generation will get usb and SD slot http://www.avforums.com/forums/images/smilies/rolleyes.gif. It's in the hands of the developers and what use they can make of this machine.
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[Tom]

Apple are far too canny not to have noticed that tablet computers have failed. So the iPad is an entertainment device with some useful computer-like functionality (inc Skype). Its meant to create a new category, not to be a phone or a computer. iSlate would have been a nicer name and iScreen would be more accurate.

[Henry]

I'm very happy with the iPad. What a useless load of rubbish! iPictureFrame. Boo Apple. You can only use it with one hand because the other is clasping the thing. Its going to be really tiring, normal computers and laptops allow you to rest your hands on things. It has no usable file system? Its all that app rubbish. I can't wait till it flops!!

[David]

...and here starts the backlash. There's no doubt that Apple are riding high with the iPhone and the whole apps thing but what I've noticed recently is that whereas in the past, Apple were considered to produce niche products for aesthetes, now that EVERYONE has an iPhone and an iPod, they are beginning to look COMMON.

My gut reaction to the iPhone ubiquity is that "I don't want one" because I prefer to be different. In the past, Apple product users were the different ones - not any longer.

The iPad seems misconceived and I guess that's what happens when you become very successful - the point is that they can afford to fail. I don't think the iPad is a gimmick, I think it's a gamble.

[Tom]

One can't criticize a horse for not being a camel.

[francis]

I'm really not interested in owning an iPad in its current incarnation - it really needs speccing up so it's not just a large iPod touch.

Suw Charman-Anderson has an interesting article (http://charman-anderson.com/2010/01/28/the-ipad-as-a-content-strategy/) on how she sees Apple's strategy for the iPad.

Don't know if you've seen this Downfall parody (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQnT0zp8Ya4), but it's one of the better ones out there.

Here's part of an email to me from one of my brothers, who is more than a little annoyed by the weak offering that is the iPad:


I think what's underneath everyone's anger is the feeling (or knowledge) that Apple have crippled this specifically so they can save basic features for iPad 2 in 2011 and iPad 3 in 2012. They've done the minimum they can gate away with without looking completey shit (they might actually have gone beneath that and ballsed up a bit) just so they can have their highly lucrative annual refresh rate. There is NO REASON AT ALL why they can't have more memory than 64gbs. My tiny netbook has 250! The newest model of my netbook has 750! It costs A$700 (£300). There's no reason at all why they can't have proper GPS and a webcam. Apple are being cynical and greedy and idiots like Gruber and Steven Fry get all sucked in and give them a free pass.

That's why I think most people are annoyed - not because they think it's inherently a bad idea, not because they think it's not going to sell millions. All the Grubers are saying "you're wrong, it will sell millions" but most people aren't disputing that. What people are frustrated about is the feeling that they're being scammed. This device has been artificially crippled so that Apple has plenty of refresh room. Same as with the iPhone - no reason at all why the first version couldn't have had a 5mp camera.
I won't be getting an iPad for several years until it's actually worth the money.

[Tom]

The video had my tears splashing on my desk, thank you.
But that man lost the war and Steve will win it. Just think, Dell spend $7m/year on Tweeting and get about 10 tweets/min. Steve spends a few minutes on stage and gets the maximum possible 7000/tweets/minute and front page coverage on most of the world's newspapers. The iPad could be an empty box and he could sell it.
PS Have you seen Chaplin as the Great Dictator - its not as good as this video.
PPS my grandad used to tell a story about a man who bought a cheap 'hearing aid'. When he found it was only a painted matchbox with a string and a cork he complained. The salesman said 'Just put the it in yer ear and when people see it they will speak twice as loud'. Maybe Steve's grandad was the salesman.

[Kris M]

Hey guys, I've just caught up with this thread. When it launched I read this from a technology guru in the US (of course, he's a bit biased btw), 'The ipad will do for reading what the ipod did for music [revolutionise it]'. While I don't like the ipad and struggle with its positioning... I actually saw someone using an e-reader half the ipad's size the other day... I reckon Apple will eventually put enough marketing spend behind this to change consumer behaviour... AND make a stack of profit in the process. Damn them!

Kris

[Tom]

Think of it as a Swiss Army knife - with a games facility as the cutting edge. A great many people buy them and keep them but they are of little real use.

[Tom]

Well, the above comments were made at launch time. Now "It seems that the entire computing industry is gunning for the iPad (http://www.everythingusb.com/creative-ziio-tablet-20561.html)and "IPad killers" are coming out of the veritable woodwork to try and overcome the king." Web designers and developers have to take account of this. It is not the next big thing; it is the big thing now. Here is an early review of what people are using the iPad for (http://www.businessinsider.com/ipad-creative-2010-10). And "Guardian editor-in-chief Alan Rusbridger told Reuters (http://www.editorsweblog.org/multimedia/2010/02/guardians_rusbridger_ipad_could_produce.php)that "if we get the right functionality and design," the iPad could "produce interesting, significant revenue streams". My guess is that easy development platforms for apps will come onstream (like Dreamweaver for HTML and WP as a CMS) and that content creators will soon be looking to 'Apps on the iPad' as revenue streams. Or, better, 'Apps on Android'. You can write them in Ruby on Rails.