Seth Lilly

iPad: Initial Observations

I’ve gathered my thoughts on today’s iPad release and subsequent fallout/celebration into one post for your reading convenience.

To those who are saying “big deal” in regards to the iPad release, I would ask you to step back and take a look at the big picture. What’s really occurring here is a shift to a new type of device. Yes, it’s different. Yes, it will take some getting used to. What it’s beginning, I think, is a revolution in the way we interact with content in our home and in our office. Apple announced this week that they are now a $50B+ company. I think it’s safe to say they’ve given this some thought and that the public hasn’t yet been shown the entire picture.

Apple dubbed their new tablet product iPad, doubtless because of its resemblance to a notepad, and because this naming convention is in line with iPod and iPhone. If you’re complaining because it sounds like a feminine hygiene product, then you just need to grow up. Seriously. I don’t want to hear the “Don’t they have women in Marketing?” argument or the “iTampon” joke again. It’s pointless, and while you’re making juvenile jokes, you could instead be striving to expand your understanding of this class of media device and how the upcoming generation will use it as a primary point of connectivity. Is the iPad that device? Maybe not. But it’s certainly a good start. If Apple has proven one thing, it’s that they know how to start a revolution. (iPod? iMac? Bueller?)

Not powerful enough? Not a real computer, you say? It was never intended to be a replacement for a computer. That’s where tablets have gotten it wrong. They’re trying to be laptops without keyboards, and it’s not working. Stop whining about how your [brand name here] tablets have been so awesome (obviously they haven’t, since the consumer tablet market remains largely untapped) and consider for a moment that there might be a better solution. Apple has displayed the innovation to try something different instead of the status quo, so I say wait it out and see. I might be wrong, but I really think this is the beginning of a new class of devices.

I’m excited for this device to hit the market. Yes, I’m a developer, and yes, I downloaded the iPhone 3.2 SDK today like thousands of other developers. Is it a replacement for the iPhone or iPod touch? No way. Those devices and their successors will play a huge role in tech and society for some time to come. This is a new class of device, with new rules and fresh ways of looking at stale solutions. Give it time. Remember, the iPod didn’t catch on at first. Now it’s engrained in pop culture and is practically a household term synonymous with MP3 players.

Flashback: MP3?!? Music files on a computer instead of these high-tech compact discs? That’ll NEVER catch on!

Five years from now, people will be using “pads” to perform a variety of tasks, no doubt replacing conventional methods. This is the nature of technological progress. It’s happened before; it will undoubtedly happen again. The sooner we embrace it, the sooner we can begin to ready ourselves for the next wave of change.