JamieG Analysis

I was very excited to see the iPad launch.  Not so much for what it is but for what it represents.  It is overwhelmingly underwhelming.  It was the minimum of what we expected and considering Apples track record, disappointing to most people.

I am simply relieved that the “Amazing new ideas” Steve jobs at Apple was going to bring us in the iPad simply did not materialise.  Now we can get on with the job of recreating the way we consume media.  Sure the iPad will be a sucessful part of it.

The real story here is that Apple, with the iPad hype, has persuaded the Media industry to start embracing these types of new media consumption devices.  Content is king, and even if the iPad is the most elegant of devices for consuming this new form of media, without the content producers behind it..  its worthless.

Talking to my fiends in the Media industry, they note that these large media organisations have all done deals with Apple.  But interestingly enough, the key to these deals is the “Non-exclusivity” aspects of them.  Meaning, if any other [A-Z]Pad devices come out in the near future, those devices will have access to the content just as much as Apple does.

Look at the killer aspect of the “PADS” , we have the immenent demise of news papers and magazines. The “PAD” device will be a must have.  And that’s the deal with the iPad.  It is suppose to be the bridge between the old and the new.

My point here is that the iPad may be the first bridge we build between the old and the new, but it will only be the prototype.  The bridge we get the best bridge makers in the world to build first.  Then we get the companies who make 80% as good for 50% the cost and that goes mass market.

What I am waiting for is the disposiblePAD. $100-$150, does all what iPad does, but a little slower, App store may be not so good.  But really, it supplies the killer aspect of the device.  And it is cheap enough to drop it once a year and not think twice about replacing it.  Apple’s culture simply cannot compete with this type of device.  Apple will be very sucessful just as BMW and Mercades are very sucessful.  However, Apple is not a everybody device.

I think the blogisphere underestimates this issue. Price is everything in that market. Due to the way we will use he PAD, I can see it getting broken and lost very readily.  No one can afford to do this with a $500, cheapest iPad device (And I expect Apple to drop the price much more after the Apple Fan boys have purchased).  I expect a $150 for a nice equivalent, then add subsidized subscriptions to a few content providers, and we are talking equivalent to free device.

I am just happy the Apple hype is over.  There was nothing we didn’t already know.  We can all get on with what we where doing.  Apple hasn’t changed anything.  All they did was confirm what everyone was thinking but had not invested in as yet due to waiting on the Apple magic that did not appear.