John Battelle and my many friends who can’t wait to disparage the iPad as “passive,” “old-school” or proprietary need to take deep breath and calm down.
None of them had such harsh criticisms about the Kindle, a far more restrictive and decidedly more passive device. Most of them carry netbooks that are underpowered, cramped little boxes with almost no aesthetic appeal. Why are they so bothered about the fact that the iPad will (reportedly) be a gorgeous canvas on which all kinds of media — yes, including interactive media — can be enjoyed?
Yeah, you won’t use the iPad to create the rich media. So what?
Many of them criticize me every time I mention “consumers.” Yet the fact remains that most people — overwhelmingly so — consume most of their media diet; they are not co-creating much of it at all. The stuff they do create — social media, mainly — will work fine on iPad.
These critics might consider that a third of the country doesn’t have broadband access. They should look at the statistics that show content creation vs consumption is more lopsided than the standard 80/20 rule of thumb.
Until the next-best device comes along, most of us will enjoy having a well-designed, easy to use, highly portable device for reading the new enhanced Penguin books or Condé Nast magazines or whetever other wonderful new media will populate the new ecology.
I have a netbook and think it has a lot of appeal. I don't know why people disparage them so much, I pretty much believe it's because they've never owned one.
ReplyDeleteThe main reason why Ipad will succed, in my opinion is because of its size.
ReplyDeleteHaving screen area many times that of a smart phone or ipod and being much lighter and often smaller than a notebook. And being half the thickness of a netbook. the Ipad is the missing link into the realm of true mobile information consumption, access and interaction.
The only thing holding this device or others like it, back from becoming truely ubiquitous is the cost of Broadband access whilst on the move via the 3g network.
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quote: "Finally, to the question of whether the iPad is a game-changer, consider what Shea Bennett wrote on Twittercism. No matter how great a new computer is, as long as you... See More’re still you, the experience doesn’t change. It’s fun to play with new toys, I do lots of that and it’s important to me. No sarcasm. But reading a book that changes my perspective, or meeting someone who opens a door for me, that really does change the game — much more than using a new device. If you’re looking for game-changers look into yourself, that’s where change comes from."
ReplyDeleteHere is the ungrabled quote that Dan sent in (above):
ReplyDelete"Finally, to the question of whether the iPad is a game-changer, consider what Shea Bennett wrote on Twittercism. No matter how great a new computer is, as long as you're still you, the experience doesn’t change. It’s fun to play with new toys, I do lots of that and it’s important to me. No sarcasm. But reading a book that changes my perspective, or meeting someone who opens a door for me, that really does change the game — much more than using a new device. If you’re looking for game-changers look into yourself, that’s where change comes from."