The Digital Analyst

This is a guest post written by Brenton Lyle, Senior Gaming Consultant at Interpret LLC.  To give some context, Brenton gave me permission to publish an email he wrote to my office in response to an article sent to our listserv: Who will buy the iPad? I thought the points he made were strong, well articulated and pretty funny, so it would have been a waste if it just ended up in my Outlook Deleted Items.

I think it’s important to look past the day-one reaction of the tech-savvy internet commenter crowd; they’ve proven historically to be impossible to please without creating a product that’s doomed to failure (I imagine a quad-core, Linux-based, open-source tablet with seventeen USB outs and three HDMIs, all for $32 (or $2000), might have had a chance of avoiding the ire of the self-declared gadget elite).

The iPad may succeed or fail, but I think it’s important to know what it is Apple is actually trying to accomplish (conceptually, that is; shareholder value is the literal goal, of course). Jobs decided that room exists for a gadget with a new set of uses – uses you don’t yet realize that you’ll enjoy. If they’re right, this will go next to “Put Arm & Hammer in your fridge” as another famous example of expanding your market by introducing new consumption habits. Do you browse the internet on your couch, or check your email while eating cereal? You don’t, yet*, but Apple is hoping you’ll enjoy doing it.

Jobs said in his presentation that they’re filling the space between phones and laptops. That is actually a simplification of what they’re attempting (it was too obtuse to describe on stage during the introduction). They’ve identified an entirely new type of web-connected, technology-enabled media consumption, that is neither mobile, nor full laptop computing. The whole thing gets confused, however, when one (correctly) points out that a number of devices are already capable of doing these things. The obvious comparisons that spring most readily to mind are the iPhone and netbooks, but the key to the iPad is the fact that these devices were never intended for this type of “casual computing”, nor are they particularly well suited for it, the same way that your daily-driver car can roam the open plains and explore dirt trails, but isn’t exactly optimized for the task.**

This is illustrated below:

The space between mobile and laptop computing

The famous “Blue Ocean Strategy” article (I believe Kim Mauborgne wrote it) said (paraphrasing) that you’re more likely to succeed if you figure out how to sidestep your competitors, rather than beating them in yesterday’s marketplace. Nintendo demonstrated this so soundly with the Wii—woefully underpowered, laughable graphics, and a wildly unconventional and untested control scheme—that Sony executives still cry themselves to sleep 35% of the time. Apple is attempting the same thing with the iPad: cater to an entirely new type of computer use with a device that isn’t a phone, or a computer, or any combination of the two.

People are getting hung up on the fact that, with regard to technical specifications, it is by definition (and parts vendors) a combination of the two: capacitive touchscreen (mobile), A4 processor (computer), icon-based homescreen UI (mobile), etc. But attacking the iPad because of its specifications is like lambasting the Wii because it lacked the 8-cell processor of the Playstation 3: you’ve missed the point.

* If you said “yes”, you’re likely among the netbook hyper-minority, probably hate the iPad, and have likely already written a few comments online about it. You are not actually the market for this device, and I have it on good authority that Steve Jobs hopes you spill cereal on your netbook.

** If you drive an off-road SUV in Los Angeles, we cannot guarantee that people aren’t laughing at you in the Whole Foods parking lot.

Brenton can be contacted directly at brenton.lyle@interpretllc.com.

Steve Jobs introduces newest member of the iFam

It’s time to welcome a new member to our digital family of gadgets.  Apple’s iPad is like the middle child, stuck between the iPhone and MacBook wondering what it’s place is in this wild and crazy mobile computing world.  The iPad isn’t the first tablet computer, but the hype and momentum behind it make it sound like Steve Jobs sucessfully redesigned the wheel.  While I’ve seen many apple fanboys disappointed that the iPad is essentially a jumbo iPod Touch with 3G, this OS is precisely why I believe it will succeed where so many other tablets have failed in the past and find a place in our lives.

The reason tablets have not succeeded in the past is because they always tried to force a square block into the round hole where their operating system should have been.  One of our biggest problems when venturing into uncharted digital space is that we try to force what’s in front of us into a frame of something familiar to us.  Early tablets tried their best to be an alternative to laptops with an operating system you were already familiar with on the PCs around your home and work, but the interface is so unique on a tablet that they never quite lived up to expectations.

If early tablets tried to force a full-on PC operating system without success, many will argue Apple is committing the same error in forcing their tablet to mimic their other portable devices with an iPhone OS.  My take on this argument is that the OS Apple designed for the iPhone and iPod Touch is actually better suited for a device the size of the iPad, especially when it comes to reading eBooks or other content online.  I’ll be upfront and say that my iPhone is probably the most essential device in my life and I feel lost without it sometimes.  I use it for reading email, news and other blogs, but the limitation of reading on a phone’s smaller screen means I’m constantly zooming in, switching to landscape and squinting to make things out on websites that aren’t optimized for mobile browsing.

One issue two co-workers and I got into a heated debate over yesterday is the role that the iPad will play in our gadget lineup.  They both were disappointed that the device was essentially a blown up iPod Touch and thought that the inability of users to multi-task on the iPad would severely limit its utility and reach in the market.  I think they fell into the trap I described earlier, hoping the iPad would be something it is not – a replacement for the netbook.  As Steve Jobs said in his keynote, “netbooks aren’t better at anything”.  The reason they aren’t better than anything is because they try to be everything to everyone.  They’re the early versions of the tablet PC with a smaller screen and tiny keyboard.  I’ll admit, those two changes make a big difference and I do think there is a place for the netbook as a mobile productivity platform for people who need to take their work with them, but they are not an apples-to-apples comparison because the iPad is not trying to replace the functionality of a laptop.

Apple understand it’s corner of the PC market is precisely that… the personal computer.  They make great computers for you to use at home.  They’re easy to use.  Plain and simple.  They’re also easy on the eyes and carry a level of sophistication missing from most Windows-based PCs.  However, unless you work in film editing or graphic design, Apple’s products are not designed for work-style productivity.  Their version of Microsoft Office, especially PowerPoint, is tough to navigate and I personally find them borderline unusable compared to the Office suite of apps for Windows.  I’d address iWork except that I don’t know anyone who actually uses it.  The iPad is also aware of its role in your personal computing life.  If you need to research online, review spreadsheets and work on a presentation, the iPad is not the device for you.  I would argue the netbook is too small to handle those tasks with any ounce of grace, but if you need to do mobile work, it’s the best solution because laptops are too big and expensive to easily carry around.  Bottom line, the iPad is NOT a netbook and it isn’t trying to be one.

I can’t speak for everyone, but I’ll try to give you a sense of the role I envision for the iPad in my life in order to expound on the features that I think will help it succeed.  First, my current setup at home is that I have an iPhone I carry around everywhere and a PowerBook that sits on my desk or is used in the living room to project movies.  This arrangement has worked for a while, but my laptop is on its last leg, so I’m currently considering the optimal device combination for my life.  After much debate, I believe I’m going to replace my PowerBook with a new iMac in my room.  I almost always leave the PowerBook sitting on my desk, so it’s essentially a desktop anyway at this point.  My iPhone covers almost all of my daily mobile computing needs, so I don’t feel a need to lug around a device that is very expensive to replace in a worst case scenario.  If my iMac sits on my desk and my iPhone goes with me when ever I leave my apartment, then the iPad is my everything in between device.  I’ll primarily use it in my apartment, although I will certainly take it on trips to read books or watch movies.  Like many tech-enthusiasts, I consume an inordinate amount of reading online, but I don’t always like doing it from my computer.  The iPad will untether that consumption, allowing me to read more easily in my living room and bed.  I spend so much time reading in front of a computer, it’s almost weird to think that I can read the same content while sitting in a big comfy chair or couch.  I’ve tried taking my laptop to the living room to read on my couch, but there’s never a good way to sit with it and it overheats my legs too quickly.  While just using the device to read and surf the net doesn’t sound like a lot, it’s probably the primary reason I use my computers at home.  I don’t think the iPad will replace most of my computer usage, but I do think it’ll transform the way I interact with social networks and think about the Internet.

What role, if any, do you see tablet computers playing in your life?  Where do you think a device like the iPad fits into your daily routine?