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The iPad is what the public wants. Not what the techies thinks the public wants.
The iPad is what the public wants. Not what the techies thinks the public wants.
I bet it isn't. It'll be a niche product. Just like the iPhone (c.2.6% of total mobile phone sales in 2009)
Those Chitika Labs numbers are total nonsense.
I'd love for tablets to take off. My business would benefit enormously, but I don't think they will. They just have too many physical limitations for the average punter.
Many of the new features found in iPhones and iPads had to be added in order to make up for their physical limitations. Stuff like touchscreens, internal gyros, a simplified OS make up for the limitations of the form factor.
I suspect the spread of the tablet will be stymied by the appearance of devices that will have all of these goodies included within a package that doesn't have the physical limitations of a tablet.
Something with the dimensions/weight of an iPad, but with a keyboard/screen protector attached that swivels to allow the device to be used in tablet or 'laptop' mode. The guts will be below the keyboard putting the weight at the bottom so the machine will sit up. The screen will be backed with carbon to create a stiff yet wafer-thin unit. It'll have 10+ hours battery life and enough processing power to allow you to choose between running a mobile phone type OS or a full desktop OS.
The next MacBook Air (hopefully)
When I was at The Wall Street Journal's All Things Digital conference a few years back, someone asked Bill Gates what he most admired about Steve Jobs. Gates answered that he wished he had Jobs's sense of design and style. Jobs is one of the few people in our industry who understands style and design as well as technology.
There are four key reasons why Jobs considers the iPad his most important achievement. The first has to do with making the computer experience transparent to the user. When I use the iPad, I don't feel like I'm using a computer. I have been working with mainframes, mini-computers, and PCs for more than 30 years. The iPad is a very different computing experience. I recently showed an iPad to a senior citizen who couldn't understand that the device is actually a computer. She kept looking for a keyboard. When she used the tablet, she instinctively touched the screen to get an item she wanted to read. In fact, once she figured out the basics of its touch navigation, it was hard to get the device back from her.
The second reason that Jobs is so jazzed about the iPad is that he believes the device will usher in the era of touch computing. When Apple unveiled the Mac and introduced us all to the mouse, it was pointed out that the device is not a natural way to navigate computer data. In fact, someone I know said that using a mouse is like using a potato to move data and images around a computer screen. But however unnatural the mouse might be, we soon learned to use it to navigate through graphical user interfaces. Computer scientists have known for decades that touch is a far more natural way to interact with computers.
What Jobs seems to understand about consumers is the fact that most of the time we're on our computers, we're consuming information, not creating it. The third reason Jobs considers the iPad so important is the fact that the device is optimized for consumption, accommodating 70 percent of what we actually do on computers. The tablet form factor makes it much easier to consume data in all manner of positions. The same can't be said for laptops and desktops. You can use the iPad on the couch, lounging by the pool, or even lying in bed.
The fourth reason Jobs is so convinced of the iPad's importance is the fact that the device is a chameleon. In most cases, it's a bad idea to design a device that attempts to be all things for all people. But the iPad truly excels at four or five things, including Web browsing, picture display, movie watching, playing games, and running apps. The device is easily customizable to meet the needs of individuals and vertical market. In the two weeks it has been out, its diversity has become apparent.
The iPad may well be utilized by the medical, police, education, military, and publishing fields. It could conceivably fit into the background of all types of vertical applications and industry specific computing needs. (A side prediction: the iPad and its ilk could become major computers for troops in the field. With its 3G, GPS, mapping and data communications, and a light weight, if they could be ruggedized, the tablets could have quite in impact in military field operations in the fut ure.)
Actually the Chitka Labs numbers aren't total nonsense. Remember when they announced OS 4.0? The numbers on that website said just over 600,000. What did Jobs say in the intro? Yup, 600,000 units sold.