On comments about the iPad

[chipotle]

What was the famous Slashdot quote about the first iPod? “No wireless. Less space than a Nomad. Lame.”

While I’m not going to predict the iPad will match the success of the previous iP* product lines, there’s a definite party line among the geek crowd that only fashion-conscious fanboys would ever actually buy Apple products and that whenever they introduce a new gadget it’s the Stupidest Thing Ever. If the majority of commenters on Slashdot and TechCrunch did not piss all over a new Apple product, that’s the product I’d expect was in trouble. Given how much pissing is going on around such sites over the iPad, I'm betting the thing is going to sell like crack-infused hotcakes.

Never make the mistake of assuming either of the following:

1. That you really know what a product you've only seen demo videos of is going to be good at. Some things look much better in demos than they really are, and some things have to actually be used to be properly evaluated.
2. That because ultimately a product is not good for you means that it's not good for anyone else. You are not necessarily in the median of the product's target market segment.

(N.B.: I'm not sure I'm in the iPad's target market segment. It's not designed to be a laptop replacement and I'm not sure I need another gadget about. I might rather have it than a dedicated e-book reader, all the arguments for the superiority of e-ink not withstanding, but I haven't been sold on e-book readers yet, either. So.)

Comments

[krinndnz.livejournal.com]

I think that the iPad would be spectacular for reading RPG books on!



More seriously, I'm pretty much on board with your analysis. I'm surprised that more people haven't noticed that (a) "unfamiliar" and "bad" are different and (b) Apple is very good at landing on the right side of that distinction.

[dollraves.livejournal.com]

I have to say, this is what I do like about Apple the last few years: the first iteration of the product is NOT targeted to hardcore geeks. Let's face it, the market is made up of a lot more people than hardcore geeks. Apple creates a high-quality basic product that will appeal to the masses, bringing the geekfactor of the average the consumer up with them.

Am I the target market? I might just be. I surf the web and play Farmville from bed every night, and frankly, the laptop is a pain in the ass for that, but I do it anyway. Personally, I'm going to wait to see how HP's Android slate stacks up when it comes out. I would recommend the iPad in a heartbeat for my parents or very low-tech friends, though.

Will the iPad or HP Slate replace my laptop? Yes. I purchased the laptop instead of an iMac because I value portability over performance. Sometimes, though, I *need* that little bit more performance, and for what I paid for my Macbook Pro, though, i could get a slate AND an iMac... I am much more likely to go that route next time around.

[pathia.livejournal.com]

I think they're killing themselves on the pricing of this thing. I don't know if anyone except bleeding edgers would pay that much for the niche this thing may or may not carve out.

[kellyasmith.livejournal.com]

I do like the Apple products, however. The iPad would not be useful enough for me. I did get an iTouch for Christmas and brought it back because it was not useful enough for me. I ended up with a Dell Axim X50v instead. It had was capable of running Word, Excel, and Power Point (as needed for school) I also purchased the IR keyboard. This allows me to write my papers at work instead of using my laptop (since the laptop is now my only computer). I also hated doing everything thru iTunes.

I was disappointed also because are no SD slots or CF slots to put anything on the device.

If I am wrong, and their are ways around this please let me know. I would like to one day be a Mac owner again and have everything in my world compatible.

[tugrik.livejournal.com]

You know why I want it? Not for all the things that the keynote says it can do, or the things the nay-sayers scream it can't do.

I want it because, like with many new tech products Apple has put out, I can't wait to try out what it might do in the future.

*makes grabby-hands at the Apple store*

And when you're only half-way up, you're neither up nor down

[toob.livejournal.com]

Despite my Luddite rantings, I don't hate or object to this device -- and I can think of a lot of really nifty and cool ways that other people might use it, even if I can't envision myself doing so. I'm never more than a few feet from a computer when at home -- why I would grab the iPad when my laptop is RIGHT THERE or my phone is RIGHT THERE is a bit mystifying.

Yes, there are a lot of nifty things you can do with the touch interface, but it's not enough of a draw for me to want to own the Medium Screen. I think the difference between the tech geek and the tech consumer is another interesting pair of questions:

The tech geek asks, "What CAN I do with this?" and gets excited. There's a lot to be excited about.

But the consumer asks, "What WILL I do with this?" And I'm not sure there's a satisfactory answer for that question for the iPad -- yet. Certainly not one that would encourage people to buy something that requires a subscription plan. You need to be able to show people a way this will fit into their lives.

I think it will be a little harder to convince people this is something they actually WANT than it was with the iPod. The iPod replaced existing products -- transistor radio, walkman, discman, iPod. The iPhone took off because it was a highly visible, easily adoptable improvement on a current technology that was already prevalent and popular.

The iPad? It's trying to generate a new niche. It's trying to convince consumers that they need a third thing between their out and about device and their computers. That's a lot harder. And it's further hampered by not BEING an "out and about" device. Apple's marketing model benefits from people tying themselves to the brand. iPods, iPhones, and MacBooks aren't just devices -- they're fashion accessories. I think that's one huge reason they take off: the hip and trendy love to be seen carrying them or using them. Apple clearly knows this: they take full advantage of it with their "I'm a Mac/I'm a PC" commercials. iPhones and iPods are small, sexy devices for standing up, moving around, going places. The MacBooks let you self-identify as a Pod person when you're seated working in your coffee shop or what have you. The iPad is this weird, half-sitting, half-standing thing. It doesn't have a niche where you can be SEEN with it. You're sure not gonna go carrying that thing around, or you're likely to look like a giant dork -- like I do with my Kindle. :)

[aliasisudonomo.livejournal.com]

I'm definitely not in Apple's target marking; jailbreaking aside their recent stuff has been way too tightly controlled for a tinkerer like myself.

However... Apple has been good about being trailblazers. Smartphones existed, but the iPhone upped the ante and now we have Android phones which might not be *quite* as sharp, but are relatively more open and cheaper.

I'm hoping the iPad will do the same for ebook readers/tablet computers.