I'm not sure there was any way Apple could have won. Expectations for new Apple product announcements have grown so high in recent years - and expectations for this one reached such absurd heights - that Apple could have announced an iPad twice as good as this one and many people would still have been disappointed.
Still, I can't help but agree with the general consensus: the iPad, as introduced, is underwhelming.
Many, many people have addressed the ways in which the iPad falls short of even the more-reasonable hopes and expectations that awaited it. I don't think I need to rehash them here. The question is: how will these disappointed expectations affect sales of the device?
If the poll running on the site now is any indication, it hurts. At the time of this writing, less than 40% of respondents say they'll buy the iPad - and 23% feel very negatively about it.
But what strikes me about the reaction to the iPad is how similar it feels to the reaction to the original iPhone. That phone was greeted with enumerations of all the things it lacked. A poll run on this site at the time found that nearly 50% of respondents said they wouldn't buy the phone.
And we all know how well the iPhone has succeeded.
But the iPhone only really took off as Apple improved the OS, added features to the hardware, and expanded functionality via the App Store.
I wouldn't be surprised if we see a similar development with the iPad. When iPhone OS 4.0 arrives (this spring?), if it adds features such as multitasking, the iPad will become tremendously more useful.
When the next generation of the iPad arrives - 6-12 months from now, I'd bet - it will likely add features that will greatly expand the functionality of the device.
I wouldn't be surprised if, in a few years, we look back at the success of the iPad and see that it closely tracks the development of the market for the iPhone.
But, I wouldn't be too surprised either if the iPad ends up next to the G4 Cube, 20th Anniversary Mac, or the Pippin on the list of products that Apple couldn't make a success. If that happens, it won't solely be because of the lackluster introduction last week, but not harnessing excitement then will be a key factor.
Comments
Although the iPad is certainly cool, I don’t think it will have large market adoption. I’m a technology developer and have been brainstorming about various applications of this technology.
The touch screen computing has existed for years now, so it’s not new. Have seen wine ordering systems based around this.
The only applications we have been able to think of are mostly in the art, game, and music space — interesting new instruments, controllers, ways to draw and games that take advantage of the screen area — but these areas are too niche.
The price will have to come down abit and although these are cool I don’t think they will have the consumer appear of an iphone