The iPad, why do I care?

Apple finally let us see what their rumored tablet was all about, and now we know it’s named the ‘iPad’. Those of us who were caught up in the rumor mill can finally stop speculating and instead start hoping we can get our hands on one when the first batch hits the stores. (Fact: You can’t pre-order an iPad yet, because Apple is waiting for FCC product approval, and therefore pre-ordering is technically illegal).

Apple’s marketing spin is that the iPad brings the world a new category of mobile computing device. It’s not a laptop, it’s not a handheld and it’s not a netbook, it’s all those things, sort of. Many of my friends and colleagues have already asked me to explain why a person would be interested in owning an iPad. Typically the conversation starts with the questions “Isn’t it just a big iPhone?” and “Can I use it for doing work?”

I tell them I don’t have all the answers, but I can say a few things right off even without having had the chance for hands on experience. Firstly, I don’t think of the iPad as a big iPhone, I think of the iPhone as a little iPad. I’ve read through the technical specifications, I’ve viewed the demo videos and I’ve seen the list of the types of applications that can run on it, which by the way includes not just the 140,000+ iTune App Store applications, but also several key Apple productivity applications that have been “optimized” for use on the iPad. The conclusion here is that for the average user you can do just about anything you’re currently doing now on your laptops and desktops. You can surf the web, you can read, create, and edit documents, spreadsheets and presentations. You can organize and view your photos, music and video, and of course download and watch movies. They have a version of Apple’s iWork that runs on it, Pages, Calendar and apparently pretty much anything you’ll need if you’re an average user. Plus don’t forget, you’ll have access to many of the cloud computing services available on the web today that many of you use via your browser. Google’s web-based applications are the prime example. Will this device be able to suffice for graphic designers and engineers, and other users who require applications that are highly resource intensive? Well, no. And why would you want to do that on a 10 inch screen? Let’s not forget, we want the battery to last as long as possible, and there are always tradeoffs to be made.

Once all the talented application developers out there start to pump out new and innovative uses of the advanced touch screen capabilities, it’s going to be a lot of fun to see how this device fits into our lives. And of course each year we can expect a new version that is faster and more functional than the previous year’s model.

And now onto the next question, which is a bit more relevant to Sullivan Street Press. Is the iPad an e-reader? Sure, absolutely, but it’s much more than that. Will you be throwing out your Kindle, Nook, Sony e-readers? That’s up to you, and I suspect over time people will have both types of devices. I believe over time you’ll see the price of e-reader specific devices, such as the Kindle, reduced significantly in price, perhaps even below $50. The e-reader is going to become as commonplace in our homes as remote controls. And as the iPad and its 140,000+ applications continue to evolve, you’ll probably find yourself with both devices.

The iPad, and devices like it will continue to evolve, and represent the cutting edge in mobile computing, and so you can expect the price to remain in its current price category of $500-$1000, and that makes sense to me because it does so much more than a simple e-reader. With respect to e-readers like the Kindle, one primary difference is the use of e-ink technology for the display screen. For those of you who own the Kindle or any of the other e-ink based e-readers, you’ll notice that the screen mimics ink on paper, and you might find that more pleasing for long term reading, or you might change your mind once you’ve had the full-color multimedia experience of e-book reading on an iPad type device.

Apple recognized that e-reading isn’t only about mimicking the experience of reading a book, but that e-books and e-publishing are evolving into multimedia, multi-application experiences. Ok, that’s enough drooling for the time being. I realize I should probably get my hands on an iPad and do some testing before espousing its merits any more than I have already.

Now to be clear, I’ve been writing here about devices and their utility, and haven’t touched upon the repercussions on the publishing industry Apple’s iBookstore will have on the evolving e-publishing business models. The fact is that it’s already having an effect. If you had a chance to read the news this past weekend, you would have read how Amazon did a flip-flop on their entire business model regarding e-book pricing simply due to the just announced Apple iBookstore business model.

More importantly to Sullivan Street Press is the impact on authors and readers, and that remains to be seen. It’s not all good and hopefully it’s not all bad, but I can promise you that Sullivan Street Press is here to do our best to report on these issues and protect authors and readers alike.

Please be sure to read all our Sullivan Street Press blogs for our insights on how all these rapid changes will affect the new publishing paradigm. And if you haven’t had a chance yet, please become a fan of our Sullivan Street Press fan page on Facebook. You can also subscribe to our RSS feed at www.sullivanstreetpress.com/rss.