Launching with full access to all of the apps already developed for the iPhone, the iPad exists as an extension and furthering of the path laid down by the iPhone, giving them a great head start with both users and against competitors.
It's going to be exciting to see what's going to come out of this. Is this destined to exist as a niche product? Replacing the laptop for the couch web-surfer, or might it come to be something more?
As a piece of hardware it offers potential, and moves past some of the physical constraints presented by both traditional hardware such as laptops and the technology and interaction offered by mobile phones such as the iPhone.
As an object that avoids direct competition with other established tools such as phones or computers, we're seeing the potential for plenty of new behaviors and uses that as of yet have not been explored. How might something like this change the way we take in media? Both in terms of interacting with the device and in the way in which that media becomes part of our lives?
I can't really put much forward except questions. It's a new thing.
It fits in a new place in our lives, I'm excited.
The people that are going to purchase the iPad (aside from fanboys and early adopters) are going to be the middle aged people that want a hybrid of an iPod Touch and a Mac, that they can surf and do email on. The issue is that when these people reach a plateau with what they can do on this device (and there are limitations, trust me.. I work for Apple.) Then they have another throwaway electronic that will collect dust.
ReplyDelete