4 ms·

"to me"

by dusing 15y ago

"to me"

akent 15y ago
I can only give my opinion. Feel free to disagree or add something to the discussion.
- bradleyland 15y ago
  But, you see, it's not an opinion. "Still seems true to me today." Seems true? Is it true, or is it not true? The claims levied in that review are as follows: 1) The iPad is not a transformative device 2) It won't turn all the content industries upside down 3) It won't be your primary computer 4) It's not even a bigger, better iPhone I'm not sure how anyone could claim that the iPad is not a transformative device with a straight face. Name a single tablet I can think of sold even one quarter the number of devices. Plenty of similar devices came before the iPad, but none of them were the iPad, and none of them were accepted by consumers. That's transformative. The upheaval in item 2 was already well under way when the iPad showed up, so I imagine this is somewhat provable. The iPad hasn't turned "all content industries" (a high bar, btw) up-end. However, we're not long in to the race at this point. Plenty of media companies are producing content for the iPad, and Apple is continuing to collect their vig, which many said would not stand the test of time. Item 3 isn't true for the majority, but Apple never intended the iPad to be your primary computer. The graphic they used at the original iPad presentation showed the iPad right between an iPhone and a MacBook; not displacing them. This is like saying, "The Mini Cooper won't haul a palette of sod." Well no kidding? Item 4 is similar nonsense. The iPad isn't a phone. It's not intended to fit in your pocket. It has its own set of applications. It's not a bigger, better iPhone. It was never meant to be.
  - ekianjo 15y ago
    Since when the number of sales has anything to do with being transformative ? The PS2 sold tons of units. It did not transform anything in the video games industry. The Nintendo DS sold tons, too. Where's the transformation? The popularity of a device cannot be a good indication of how disruptive/transformative it really is. To be able to judge that, you need to see trends over a much longer period of time. Let's see if tablets are still around and as popular as they are now in about 10 years. Then we can reflect whether they really achieved a transformation or not. For now the only thing that we know for sure has brought computers to a mass number of people, more than the iPad, is the PC. And you can count it in billions of devices sold over the years, not just a dozen of millions. It was transformative because it enabled a number of people to access internet from home and do a number of stuff for a relatively low price and great compatibility across models. The iPad has no legacy yet. Let's be a little patient before jumping on conclusions on whether it will be important/transformative in computing or not. It might just be a bubble market for all you know.
    - batista 15y ago
      Since when the number of sales has anything to do with being transformative? Since nobody sold even 1/10 that much in that market segment (tablets) before. Also since 1 in N households in the US (where N < 10) now owns one. Also since it become a multi-billion dollar industry, in a couple of years, out of nothing. Also since most major print news/magazine outlets hailed the device as their potential savior, and jumped in offering content for it, with even the big mogul, Murdoch, creating a special publication for it. Also since the educational book marked was just turned upside down, with publishing houses and schools jumping into iBooks distribution. Also since iPad/iPhone pretty much owns mobile web usage in volume, with Android devices a distant second. Also since for many professional industries, an iPad is getting indispensable, with extremely large numbers among doctors, lawyers and financials goes, to low end like warehouses tracking things, POS systems, etc. Actually, "small business iPad use quadrupled to 34% in 2011". Also since the enterprise jumped in and started using iPads and iOS in-house apps. "a survey of 1,200 IT professionals conducted by mobility management solutions vendor BoxTone indicates that iPad adoption is on the rise. Read on to find out why iPad is becoming an enterprise favorite." (and this article is from 2010). Also since "touch" entered the UX/UI vocabulary for good after iOS.
      - ekianjo 15y ago
        Alright, even if everything you said what true, how would you know it's not a market bubble that could be disappearing for good 5-10 years down the road ? My point was that it's too fast to call something like this transformative. That's a difference between fashion and actual change. Fashion fades and disappears while it may seem like the most popular thing ever at one point. A transformation happens when you move from point A to a point B and the market stays at point B for a long time. I agree you can say "transformative" for smartphones, because they did change the market and there is no way it's coming back. As for tablets, the fact that only the iPad is a tablet market (and nothing else in tablet form is successful) tells me we should be careful about calling this a revolution, and wait to see how things will turn in a few years, after the 5th-7th iteration of the same concept.
    - bradleyland 15y ago
- nknight 15y ago
  Allow me to contribute exactly as much to the conversation as you have: The iPad 2 is my aunt's first and only computing device. When you don't say anything, chastising others for not saying anything is pretty hypocritical, don't you think?
lambda 15y ago
Has the iPad really turned many industries upside down? Has it replaced desktops or laptops? Has it become essential for any particular task? It's a device, that is fun, and has its value. It's a successful product, no question about that. I know a few people who have one, though they don't actually see much use. There are a few niches for which it's particularly useful, but they are still niches. Most of the value seems to be novelty value, which will wear off soon enough. I've seen a few people try to use iPads and other tablets as a regular device. I've seen iPads at conferences; they wind up being a lot more of a pain to type on than a laptop. A coworker tried an Asus Transformer for a while instead of a laptop; he wound up giving up and buying a MacBook Air. Most people I know who have iPads wind up leaving them sitting around the living room, and when guests are over, they might pick it up, poke at it for a bit as a novelty, and then forget about it. It reminds me a bit of back when Microsoft was pushing its Windows XP tablet software. They had the convertible laptops with the swivel displays, that you could use a stylus on. I knew a few people who really liked those. There were definitely some uses for them; for instance, when taking notes in class, you could use it to draw diagrams. But they never really caught on; they didn't revolutionize the industry. They wound up being a niche product. Now, almost everyone I know who's into technology has a smartphone. Those really are revolutionary. You have access to the phone network, the internet, GPS, applications, a phone and video camera, media, and so on from wherever you go. The amount that a smartphone allows you to do, that was just science fiction 20 years ago, is staggering. Tablets, on the other hand, are in an awkward space. They are bulky enough that you have to think about carrying them around, just like a laptop. You can't do much in the way of real work on them. They don't have a keyboard, so they're clumsy for text input. They're good for consuming media, with light touch based interaction, and lightweight games, but they're not really all that compelling for video, for music you want a smaller and more portable form factor, and for text ebook readers have a lot of advantages (I certainly see more ebook readers on the train than I do tablets). There are certainly people who get plenty of value out of the iPad. It is a successful product, and has really given life to what seemed before to be a pretty much dead category. But as the grandparent said, it's not a "transformational device."
- highwind81 15y ago
  It's a "transformational device" in the sense that it allows people who didn't need/want to learn how to use a computer to use a computer. I believe iPad didn't turn a computer user into an iPad user but it turned every non-computer person into an computer person. It enabled none-tech oriented people to actually enjoy using a computer. I think this is the true revolution of an iPad.

"to me"

by dusing 15y ago

"to me"

akent 15y ago

I can only give my opinion. Feel free to disagree or add something to the discussion.

bradleyland 15y ago
But, you see, it's not an opinion. "Still seems true to me today." Seems true? Is it true, or is it not true? The claims levied in that review are as follows: 1) The iPad is not a transformative device 2) It won't turn all the content industries upside down 3) It won't be your primary computer 4) It's not even a bigger, better iPhone I'm not sure how anyone could claim that the iPad is not a transformative device with a straight face. Name a single tablet I can think of sold even one quarter the number of devices. Plenty of similar devices came before the iPad, but none of them were the iPad, and none of them were accepted by consumers. That's transformative. The upheaval in item 2 was already well under way when the iPad showed up, so I imagine this is somewhat provable. The iPad hasn't turned "all content industries" (a high bar, btw) up-end. However, we're not long in to the race at this point. Plenty of media companies are producing content for the iPad, and Apple is continuing to collect their vig, which many said would not stand the test of time. Item 3 isn't true for the majority, but Apple never intended the iPad to be your primary computer. The graphic they used at the original iPad presentation showed the iPad right between an iPhone and a MacBook; not displacing them. This is like saying, "The Mini Cooper won't haul a palette of sod." Well no kidding? Item 4 is similar nonsense. The iPad isn't a phone. It's not intended to fit in your pocket. It has its own set of applications. It's not a bigger, better iPhone. It was never meant to be.
- ekianjo 15y ago
  Since when the number of sales has anything to do with being transformative ? The PS2 sold tons of units. It did not transform anything in the video games industry. The Nintendo DS sold tons, too. Where's the transformation? The popularity of a device cannot be a good indication of how disruptive/transformative it really is. To be able to judge that, you need to see trends over a much longer period of time. Let's see if tablets are still around and as popular as they are now in about 10 years. Then we can reflect whether they really achieved a transformation or not. For now the only thing that we know for sure has brought computers to a mass number of people, more than the iPad, is the PC. And you can count it in billions of devices sold over the years, not just a dozen of millions. It was transformative because it enabled a number of people to access internet from home and do a number of stuff for a relatively low price and great compatibility across models. The iPad has no legacy yet. Let's be a little patient before jumping on conclusions on whether it will be important/transformative in computing or not. It might just be a bubble market for all you know.
  - batista 15y ago
    Since when the number of sales has anything to do with being transformative? Since nobody sold even 1/10 that much in that market segment (tablets) before. Also since 1 in N households in the US (where N < 10) now owns one. Also since it become a multi-billion dollar industry, in a couple of years, out of nothing. Also since most major print news/magazine outlets hailed the device as their potential savior, and jumped in offering content for it, with even the big mogul, Murdoch, creating a special publication for it. Also since the educational book marked was just turned upside down, with publishing houses and schools jumping into iBooks distribution. Also since iPad/iPhone pretty much owns mobile web usage in volume, with Android devices a distant second. Also since for many professional industries, an iPad is getting indispensable, with extremely large numbers among doctors, lawyers and financials goes, to low end like warehouses tracking things, POS systems, etc. Actually, "small business iPad use quadrupled to 34% in 2011". Also since the enterprise jumped in and started using iPads and iOS in-house apps. "a survey of 1,200 IT professionals conducted by mobility management solutions vendor BoxTone indicates that iPad adoption is on the rise. Read on to find out why iPad is becoming an enterprise favorite." (and this article is from 2010). Also since "touch" entered the UX/UI vocabulary for good after iOS.
    - ekianjo 15y ago
      Alright, even if everything you said what true, how would you know it's not a market bubble that could be disappearing for good 5-10 years down the road ? My point was that it's too fast to call something like this transformative. That's a difference between fashion and actual change. Fashion fades and disappears while it may seem like the most popular thing ever at one point. A transformation happens when you move from point A to a point B and the market stays at point B for a long time. I agree you can say "transformative" for smartphones, because they did change the market and there is no way it's coming back. As for tablets, the fact that only the iPad is a tablet market (and nothing else in tablet form is successful) tells me we should be careful about calling this a revolution, and wait to see how things will turn in a few years, after the 5th-7th iteration of the same concept.
  - bradleyland 15y ago
nknight 15y ago
Allow me to contribute exactly as much to the conversation as you have: The iPad 2 is my aunt's first and only computing device. When you don't say anything, chastising others for not saying anything is pretty hypocritical, don't you think?

lambda 15y ago

Has the iPad really turned many industries upside down? Has it replaced desktops or laptops? Has it become essential for any particular task? It's a device, that is fun, and has its value. It's a successful product, no question about that. I know a few people who have one, though they don't actually see much use. There are a few niches for which it's particularly useful, but they are still niches. Most of the value seems to be novelty value, which will wear off soon enough. I've seen a few people try to use iPads and other tablets as a regular device. I've seen iPads at conferences; they wind up being a lot more of a pain to type on than a laptop. A coworker tried an Asus Transformer for a while instead of a laptop; he wound up giving up and buying a MacBook Air. Most people I know who have iPads wind up leaving them sitting around the living room, and when guests are over, they might pick it up, poke at it for a bit as a novelty, and then forget about it. It reminds me a bit of back when Microsoft was pushing its Windows XP tablet software. They had the convertible laptops with the swivel displays, that you could use a stylus on. I knew a few people who really liked those. There were definitely some uses for them; for instance, when taking notes in class, you could use it to draw diagrams. But they never really caught on; they didn't revolutionize the industry. They wound up being a niche product. Now, almost everyone I know who's into technology has a smartphone. Those really are revolutionary. You have access to the phone network, the internet, GPS, applications, a phone and video camera, media, and so on from wherever you go. The amount that a smartphone allows you to do, that was just science fiction 20 years ago, is staggering. Tablets, on the other hand, are in an awkward space. They are bulky enough that you have to think about carrying them around, just like a laptop. You can't do much in the way of real work on them. They don't have a keyboard, so they're clumsy for text input. They're good for consuming media, with light touch based interaction, and lightweight games, but they're not really all that compelling for video, for music you want a smaller and more portable form factor, and for text ebook readers have a lot of advantages (I certainly see more ebook readers on the train than I do tablets). There are certainly people who get plenty of value out of the iPad. It is a successful product, and has really given life to what seemed before to be a pretty much dead category. But as the grandparent said, it's not a "transformational device."

highwind81 15y ago
It's a "transformational device" in the sense that it allows people who didn't need/want to learn how to use a computer to use a computer. I believe iPad didn't turn a computer user into an iPad user but it turned every non-computer person into an computer person. It enabled none-tech oriented people to actually enjoy using a computer. I think this is the true revolution of an iPad.