Apps Are iPad's Sustainable Advantage
Until Android or Windows tablets match the range and quality of iPad’s app ecosystem they will continue to be a very small niche. Right now I don’t think this is possible unless Apple stumbles for a year or two.
Why My Next Laptop Might Be An iPad
Apple did something interesting today with the announcement of their new iPad that shows they have no problems cannibalizing their own laptop business. Instead of taking on lower priced tablets, as I speculated last week, Apple ended up making the iPad even more of a productivity device. Outside of a significant increase in screen resolution and optional LTE mobile networking the new iPad is very similar specced to last year’s iPad 2. But that increase in screen resolution gives a much larger canvas for developers to use to make apps to get things done while on the road. Apple’s iLife and iWork apps show the way here but I think there will be a renaissance in iPad productivity apps this year.
My daily driver for the past 4 years has been a 15 inch MacBook Pro. Almost all the time it is connected to a large monitor, keyboard and mouse. I’ve been waiting for a 15 inch MacBook Air to replace it but might just end up buying a Mac mini and the new iPad for less money. On the rare occurrence I need a desktop app while traveling I can always VNC into my office desktop or use something like OnLive. But when I travel 90% of what I do is email and web browsing, tasks that the iPad excels at already. So I’m thinking my 2008 MacBook Pro might be the last laptop I ever buy. And I’m OK with that.
It also doesn’t look like Apple has any plans to take on $200 Android tablets. But they are certainly taking aim at $600 Windows laptops.
How Apple Can Disrupt The Tablet Market
I have long espoused that there is no tablet market, just an iPad market. But with the introduction of the Kindle Fire and to a lesser degree Nook Tablet there is a competitive threat to be dealt with. Both Amazon and Barnes & Noble were smart to not take on Apple straight up as Samsung and others have done, and failed, with Android tablets. No, they developed highly customized user experiences centered around reading and content consumption and carved out a foot hold with price. And like what Android did with smartphones over time, you can extrapolate the same course might be taken in the tablet space with incremental improvements and “good enough” solutions at prices half or less Apple charges for the iPad.
So it will be interesting to see what Apple does next week when they announce the iPad 3. Rumor has it they will keep the iPad 2 on the market as an entry level device and might even field an 8 GB model. That would be most interesting but to fully disrupt the nascent tablet market they would have to hit the $299 price point. Since refurb original iPads sell for that today it would be conceivable that the 8 GB iPad 2 could retail as low as $299. If that’s the case, game over even for the Kindle Fire.
There is also a ridiculous rumor Apple will announce a 7.85 inch iPad before the holiday season at $199 to compete head to head with the Kindle Fire. This is just not how Apple rolls, especially since they are sure to introduce a new resolution for developers to deal with, so I still think it is more likely to see a 4 inch iPod Touch at the end of the year based upon the iPhone 5. This would retail in the $199 price point but would not run iPad apps. I think Apple could command at least $100 over competitors especially if they are delivering a larger and more capable device.
We’ll see what happens next week but this will fully play out over the next 6 months.
Kindle Fire is the tablet for the rest of us
As expected, Amazon announced the Kindle Fire today for $200. While it is no iPad killer, it is a very interesting tablet that will be the hot tech gift this holiday season. And for a lot of us, it will be more than good enough as our tablet of choice.
Amazon’s strategy here is brilliant. Instead of trying to challenge Apple’s iPad at the high-end, they have chosen to take on book rival Barnes & Noble at the low-end. And they have almost completely taken B&N’s Nook Color and latest generation of eInk Nook off the table for a lot of consumers. Quite an accomplishment given how formidable the Nook has been over the past year (disclosure: I own and use a Nook. It’s a great eReader. I will give it to my wife when I get my Kindle Fire.)
Aside from the unique user interface layer, Amazon has brought together an element Apple can’t match; the power of Amazon Web Services. The Amazon Silk web browser will become the standard for mobile browsing should they offer this app outside of the Kindle Fire. I don’t see any reason to believe they won’t have an Android or even iOS version of the browser available soon. It’s a brilliant move to change the game away from hardware innovation that Apple masters to infrastructure innovation Amazon is known for. And by stocking it with Amazon Prime videos they have created a potential annuity stream Apple can only dream of.
So my quest for a tablet is over. I will buy an Amazon Kindle Fire as soon as they will ship it to me. And it’s not that the Kindle Fire is better than the iPad — far from it — but because Amazon has chosen to sell the device as a service and not a piece of hardware.
The Best Android Tablets Are Just eReaders?
Perhaps my enthusiasm was misplaced for the upcoming Amazon tablet? In just a couple days we will know for sure but it looks like the most “successful” Android tablets this holiday season will be color eBook readers that have heavily customized user interfaces nothing like stock Android. And new entrant Amazon Kindle Fire is just a “stopgap” and not the real deal.
So I might just pickup the new Nook Color this year. Or a refurb iPad 2. We’ll see which in November unless Amazon pulls one out of the hat on Wednesday.
At present there is no tablet market. Only an iPad market.
Photo via Wikipedia
Have The Tablet Wars Begun Or Is It Just The End Of The eReader Era?
Well, well, it seems our friends at Amazon are preparing to get into the tablet game after all. MG Siegler over at Techcrunch has seen and played with a prototype and has written up his impressions. What I find most interesting in all of this is the branding and control over the user experience that seems almost Apple-like.
So have the tablet wars begun or are we just watching the end of the dedicated eReader era?
Time will tell but if anyone can break into Apple’s iPad market, it’s Amazon. But they have chosen to not directly compete with the iPad in the initial release but take on eReader rival Barnes & Noble’s Nook Color. Like B&N, they are forking Android and writing a unique user interface on top of the Android kernel (reported to be Eclair but it would not be surprising if it turned out to be Froyo). But unlike Barnes & Noble, Amazon has a lot more content to sell than books and magazines which does not bode well for the second generation Nook Color unless it comes out for less than $200. The 7-inch Amazon Kindle will completely grab the Nook Color customer with the value proposition of books, magazines, movies, TV shows, music, and the web for half the price of an entry level iPad 2. It will be the must-have holiday gift if they get it out in time and have produced enough to meet the strong demand. And many customers will see this as a viable alternative to an iPad unlike every other Android, QNX or WebOS tablet. That’s because Amazon seems to have put together an end-to-end customer experience like Apple pioneered with the iPad 18 months ago.
The branding also seems brilliant here using the well-known Kindle brand. That brand started out meaning eReader hardware but over the past year or so has also included software on the iPhone, iPad, Android, WebOS and other mobile platforms. So now Kindle means content and not just eReader or eBooks to consumers. Placed on a 7-inch tablet along with the Amazon Instant Video and mp3 store, the Kindle brand could become as powerful as the iPad.
But it’s early days and I have yet to see and use this device. I certainly will pick one up when released and post a review here as I think Amazon is onto something really interesting here.
Does iPad Mean Business?
I’ve been a fan of Apple’s iPad from the moment Steve Jobs introduced it last January. The idea of extending the screen size of my iPod Touch made sense to me for reading eBooks and magazines, browsing the web, email triage and playing games. I, like a lot of observers 11 months ago, found the iPad a fantastic content consumption device but were not convinced the iPad could act as a laptop replacement.
And now, nearly a year later, I have yet to purchase an iPad. Unlike millions of other early adopters, I just couldn’t justify the $500+ required for a device that fits somewhere between my smartphone and Macbook Pro. But there are others who are using their iPad’s for business — in some cases as a laptop replacement — which might change my mind.
Twin Cities journalist and blogger Julio Ojeda-Zapata brings the stories of these trailblazers to light in his new book, iPad Means Business. In short, easily digestible chunks the author makes a case for the iPad as more than just a gadget and mostly succeeds. But it’s not without issues as early adopters complain about the shortcomings of the device such as the lack of multi-tasking and printing support. Nearly all of these issues have been satisfied via recent software updates with the only remaining popular feature of an integrated camera likely to be added in the next hardware revision expected sometime early next year.
So can an iPad really replace a laptop for business users?
Like a lot of things these days the answer is complicated. For some users, such as photographer and author Scott Bourne, the iPad plays a new role as a digital photo portfolio giving customers a more visceral experience with his work than something like a digital photo frame. Real estate professionals are also finding new and innovative ways to augment their workflow with the iPad replacing a lot of paper. Stories like these really make a compelling case for the iPad as a business tool.
But instead of concentrating on these compelling stories, the book offers a broad overview of user experiences. And they are not always a success as users try to replace laptops with something that just doesn’t have all of the pieces yet. I think this will change next year as the platform is improved and software developers more fully exploit this new category of device. Applications hinted about in the book will be fully realized and make for some interesting reading if there is a second edition or update. But as it stands, iPad Means Business is required reading for anyone looking to learn more about how to get real work done on an iPad.
My favorite part of the book is near the end when Julio takes two iPad’s on a business trip in place of his Macbook. In detail he tells how well the iPad fared for his tasks but also presents all of the iPad’s shortcomings. Anyone contemplating replacing their laptop with an iPad for travel should read this chapter.
The bottom line for me is that iPad means business for some people but not for everyone. By this time next year, however, I think the iPad might be a vital business tool for most people. For the rest of us, a combination of 11-inch Macbook Air and iPad could just replace that Macbook Pro upgrade.
Buy the book here.
Disclosure: Julio provided a free electronic version of iPad Means Business for review and discussion on tomorrow’s Minnov8 podcast.
Tim Elliott is a marketer, Wordpress developer, blogger and podcaster based in the Twin Cities.
