or is it?

Bringing us the iPad is one of the greatest moves Apple has made since the iPod, and here’s why…

Think about what the iPod offers us already. Music, movies, TV shows, games. All delivered easily and reliably through iTunes, Apple’s digital delivery store. Sure you can load your own music on it, you can check your email on it, you can surf the web on it. Heck, with the iPhone you can even make phone calls.

Don’t forget about Apple’s core purpose for these devices. Delivering digital content to you via their app store / iTunes. Making money.

Now think about this… Just how profitable do you suppose iTunes / app store is for Apple? Lets not forget that the iPod single handedly resurrected Apple from a really deep hole. Of course it’s profitable. It’s also controlled, scaleable, reliable, and simple for the average Joe. Just what you’d expect from Apple.

Have we forgotten that the core of all these Apple products is paid (and some free) digital delivery via app store and iTunes? Yeah there’s free stuff, it keeps the punters happy, and pulls in the customers.

Lets look at the iPad. It’s much like an iPod Touch, only, larger and more powerful. When it was announced to be running an iPhone-style OS, I immediately wondered why.. but it’s becoming more clear all the time.

I bet Steve is sitting at his desk thinking to himself “If only all our devices ran an iphone-style OS”. Why you ask?

Some reasons:

• Apps for the OS are designed strictly to Apples rules and guidelines. They must be approved before they hit the app store. They even get age classifications. You couldn’t possibly install a “bad app” that might wreak havoc on the device. It pretty much makes the device really use friendly and renders any support arrangement almost useless.

• We’re making tonnes of cash through the app store. Buy our apps, be productive, look here’s some free apps to reel you in. Software piracy will slowly become a thing of the past, especially with the price of app-store delivered apps. Affordable, with support, and updates.
• Hey it does e-mail, web, calendar…. free stuff we throw in to bait you to the product. You can watch Movies and TV shows too! (but you have to buy them from our app store, or go through the tedious task of importing your own content)
• eBooks. This is already changing the publishing industry, and has been for a while. Digital delivery of books, newspapers, magazines. Don’t forget subscriptions, library loans… Fine if you are happy to read off a screen. Is it a gimmick or will this really fly?

The more I think about Apple’s devices with the iPhone OS, the more I wonder…. is it that bad? Is no-multitasking really a problem? Have you seen how fast you can switch apps on an iPad? It might as well be just as fast as multitasking. Only, you aren’t really picking up an app from where you left off are you?

Love it or hate it, this OS is heavily controlled, yet very stable, easy to use, and idiot proof. You won’t be “in the back end, hacking your config files” because you won’t have to. Ever. Oh, and it’s proven. People love it.

What will happen when software companies start to release more powerful apps for the iPad? They’ve been limited in what they can deliver on a small screen (iPod / iPhone), but what about the iPad? We’re going to see some amazing things from some of the big companies (and small). If you thought gaming was good on the iPod/iPhone… wait until you see the new stuff for the iPad, big, crisp, clear…. just don’t drop it from excitement.

Multitouch has single handedly changed the portable device market, period. I don’t care what anyone else says. PDA’s and Tablets of the past have all be crap in comparison to the stuff Apple have delivered us. Mainly (in my opinion) because using a stylus sucks. Touching the device and manipulating the content with your finger tips provides a user experience like no other. Even if the user isn’t being productive, there is a ‘fun’ element in controlling the device.

My thoughts on purchasing an iPad are still mixed. I’ll probably buy one if only to learn, experience and blog about it. Remember when the iPod and iPhone were announced, everyone said they would fail. It’s been a while since Apple released a crap product. The Apple TV is borderline, but only because they haven’t really been focusing on it so much. It’s getting there.

If Apple are smart, which they are, they will continue to pursue the iTunes / app-store model, bringing the public products to enable these services more and more. They want these services in the hands of every person, and fair enough, it’s a gold mine.

Don’t hate the iPad just yet. Try it, buy it, or sit back and watch what happens in the next 12-24 months with it. Apple are going to make you want to buy it. Just look at their video on their official iPad web site: http://www.apple.com/ipad/ Try telling me that you don’t want one after watching that.

It’s still only the beginning

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