Thursday, January 28, 2010

iPad



The name is so obvious, I am surprised I and others did not think it up soon enough. There were many other names floating. iTablet, iSlate, iBook. I was kind of thinking the name might be iSlate. But iPod, iPhone, iPad, the name just makes sense. P, P, P.

It is a new category. This is not a netbook. There is the PC - invented by Apple - there is the digital music player and the smartphone - both reinvented by Apple - there is the netbook - ignored by Apple - and now the tablet - reinvented by Apple. Microsoft toyed with the tablet idea a long time, but I guess they are not a hardware company.

Apple today is primarily a mobile company. The PC is more of a backdrop to them. Steve Jobs cracked Graphical Use Interface (GUI) before Bill Gates did. Now it is all about touch. I don't know if touch is the next big thing, but it is definitely a big, important addition to the computing experience ecosystem.
Steve Jobs for Fortune magazineImage by tsevis via Flickr

I keep thinking of the physically challenged. Some of these advances are good for them. But we need to do more. What would be an audio-only computing experience? You consume only audio, and you only give out voice commands. And you don't miss out on any website, not on any of the key applications like email. That would be great not just for the visually impaired, but also for those whole and on the move, like when you are driving. We already got touch for those who can't hear well.

What I have noticed most is the enormous amount of buzz around the official CEO of the Decade. Google is the company of the decade, and Jobs is the CEO of the Decade. There is a lot of sizzle.





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