Rumors of an iTablet/iSlate/iPad from Apple, Inc. have been circulating for a few years now. Therefore, the announcement of the iPad at the end of January felt less shocking – less ‘magical’ – for many than previous releases (I can still hear the gasps as the iPhone came out of Steve’s pocket in 2007). Now that a bit of the dust has settled, MKCREATIVE wanted to offer a roundup of some of the comments on the iPad, and to suggest some points that non-profits and community groups might want to consider about the product and about what it might mean for the near future.
One of the first reactions concerned the, er, awkward name, with folks speculating on copyright challenges and/or confusion with feminine hygene products. Some of the humor is NC-17 – and quite funny – But let’s not let the comedy hide the question of whether this device is one of those ‘game-changers’ that people expect from Apple.
After the name, the most often stated criticism is that the iPad, like the iPhone, lacks Flash support. The lack of Flash certainly limits one’s experiences on the web, though by how much is quite debatable (Most Flash on the net is advertising, and who misses the advertising? But more on this below…) That said, Steve Jobs got some unintended laughs from his (completely sympathetic audience) when he took his iPad to a website with notable chunks of missing Flash content.
What about the iPad’s ability to save the publishing industry? The Apple Keynote at MacWorld included a nice presentation of the upcoming New York Times application – one that expands the features of the application developed for the iPhone. And of course the iPad drew numerous comparisons with the Amazon Kindle and Barnes & Noble’s Nook. This blogger would argue that the look of Apple’s ibooks beats the monochromatic Kindle and Nook, which is not to argue that any of them can yet replace a real book with your tea and comfy chair. Indeed, some have argued that the iPad falls short on any features that can save print.
But whether or not the iPad become the e-book of the 2010s might not be the big story. A lack of Flash support will mean little to most of us, until we come across a site that requires it. Then again, Flash technology might wane notably once the latest round of web standards (HTML 5) are sorted out and released. The big story is access to the cloud of information on the internet and the ever-expanding world of devices meant to transport us there. The iPad might be one of many such devices, but I wouldn’t bet against its success as a market leader, Flash or not.
Positive reviews abound, of course. And we still must consider the possibilities of the iPad going forward. Stay tuned, as we shall look at those issues tomorrow!
