The iPad – Will it Change the World?
So I didn’t watch the keynote yet. I’m not really a fanboy. I do love my iPhone like most of you already know but I am not really that excited to get the new iPad.
Don’t get me wrong, I think it’ll change the world just like the iPhone and iPod have.
See, Apple isn’t in the computer business anymore, they are in the search and rescue business. (Stay with me here.)
The music industry was dying. CD sales were in the toilet and MP3 download sites and file sharing programs were killing it. And RIAA are not so different from the rest of us, they fear change. Especially when it comes to changing the way we get paid. Of course they were fighting the file sharing and mp3s. They had no vision. But Apple did. And now who can compete with the iPod? How much money do the record companies make from iTunes sales? I don’t actually know but I am pretty sure it’s a lot.
Cell phones were so stale and stagnate that people stopped remembering what it was like to have a new toy. The iPhone was as big of a shift as moving from pagers to cell phones for most of us in the 90′s. The cell phone market is still trying to catch up. I now work for a company where over 90% of the employees have an iPhone.
Currently the print industry is dying. The Internet is killing it. I know 1 person who has purposely picked up a newspaper in the last year. One.
I have stopped subscribing to magazines. But if I could get those subscriptions on my iPhone, I might subscribe again, but probably not. There’s just not enough real estate to really read them. Enter iPad. Ok, I can actually see my self reading Inc, Car & Driver, Outdoor Photographer, a few others on an iPad. Not to mention all those books that Jonathan reads and takes back before I have a chance to get into chapter 2.
And how cool would that thing be to show off your photography portfolio? Think about it.
Just watch. I predict that in 1 year, there will be 3 or 4 major players trying to compete with the iPad because it has created such a huge market for itself. And the print industry will be saved, just like the music industry was. They may have to adapt a little but they will still be there. People will mock those that so publicly mocked the iPad, just like we mock those that fought the iPod when it was announced. Yeah, remember those guys?
