The iPad was recently announced and it has gotten a lot of people talking. A lot of people looking back at the old Mac Tablet rumor sites and wishing it was what is isn’t an interactive Tablet Computer. However ever since I can remember no matter what the Apple product was as soon as it was announced people immediately became vocal about what they felt was missing from their new device.
Comments like, the Apple TV should have included a Tuner and a DVR, or the Apple Hi-Fi should have been made as a more portable unit with more functionality. I guess no matter what the product is there are two truths, it’s not meant to be a perfect product for everyone simply the masses and with every product no matter how intuitive or ingenious there is always room for improvement.
The good thing about the iPad is that Apple has figured out another way to sell great content. The iPod brought us the iTunes music store. The Apple TV brought us movies that we could rent. The iPhone brought us the App Store. Now the iPad brings yet another venue the iBook Store. Trying hard to compete with devices like the Kindle, Apple has staked claim on yet another content niche.
Soon enough there will be keynote presentations where Apple will claim that they are the largest Music, Video and Book content provider in the world and at that time the iPad will be more of a modern institution rather than a foreign entity.
The bad thing about the iPad is that it is not what everyone really wanted when they were first thinking about what this product would eventually be. Who knows, maybe there is a tablet computer rolling around in Job’s head. But for those of us, myself included who were hoping for a computer, a graphics tablet, a stylus interface, and a breakthrough in how we look at performing our day to day tasks, well we will have to keep dreaming, and hoping for the future. For some of us with the cash, we can live the dream now by getting the ModBook by Axiotron. This device is what many Mac fans were expecting.
From the perspective of a systems administrator, this could be a technical and logistical nightmare when you consider people doing work on these on secured networks where encryption is important. From a hardware perspective if you ever had to perform your own battery replacement or even from the philosophical angle, is this a computer, or is it just a cool content viewer. If it is the later, then will or should IT Departments support such a device.
The Ugly thing that I believe is more of a philosophical debate is the slow agonizing death of the printed word in its truest format. While we all know Print Media is dying and we have known that for a long time, many will argue that bookstores and books are not going anywhere while that may be true I lived in a state recently and witnessed the death of its last newspaper.
Thats right, in the state of Maine every newspaper has gone out of business. I am not saying that the iPad is or will kill off traditional media or that it has but its just one device closer to its extinction. Perhaps I am just nostalgic for the days when I used to like to read the comics as a kid, getting them out of the middle of the sunday paper, was and always will be a special memory for me.
No matter what, side of the fence you land on, Apple has made a smart move by entering into this market. Apple is a company and I am sure they have a plan for everything that they do. They have methodically created each new device over the past 4 years and released each one with a new content store. Perhaps Apple is planning a takeover of all digital content, and its syndication rights. Only one man knows and it certainly is not me. For now I will just sit back and watch my Apple stock soar, thanks Steve.
I like your take on this, I like the iPad, great concept and fun. Print media is here to stay don’t worry about that.
I do not think a true Tablet Mac would be very popular. It would be too much to handle. I think the iPad is a good balance between form and function. The best way to stop print media from dying is to keep buying the paper by the way.
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