Lean by Design

Apple and the God of technology marketing himself – Steve Jobs – announced the iPad product today with their usual hoopla.   The rock style event, complete with applause and standing ovations can be seen here.

I am embarrassed to admit that I searched out the announcement on the web and worse still, I don’t get it!  I mean, I like Apple products and all – I prefer their software applications to MicroSoft and have found myself envying those with the latest MacBook pro with its aluminum case and designer appearance.  But, I don’t get this product.

Steve starts off the announcement deriding the Netbook class of computing products, claiming that they just represent a cheap computer and don’t do anything better than a laptop or smart phone.   Well, following his hyperbole filled presentation of the iPad, I was left with a similar feeling about this new product.  It is certainly a slicker offering than existing eReader devices like the Kindle, but is it enough to make me want to carry yet another device around with me especially considering its higher price.   In addition to a smart phone, and Laptop, he is asking me to carry a tablet – I think not!   The product concept, IMHO, represents a suboptimal combination of some superb technologies and capabilities.    Let me summarize what grates on me:

• The form factor is not sufficiently different to justify me carrying another device.  Moreover, it is fairly large, necessitating that I carry it around like a laptop.  It is very thin, but otherwise has similar dimensions to a netbook or small laptop.
• It doesn’t do anything that isn’t possible to accomplish on a laptop today.   It simply provides a touch screen interface and the UI features that accompany that.  This is useful, but why not build that UI into a laptop.  Now that is a device that I would buy
• Fully configured these machines will be significantly cheaper than Apple’s lap tops, but they won’t be cheap by any means, and will be twice what the kindle, or similar device will sell for.
• The device lacks capabilities to make it a laptop replacement, and will make it suboptimal even for some of the limited applications that it can support.   In particular, the lack of integrated keyboard, and mouse/pen; lack of Flash support; lack of multitasking support; Lack of 1080p support and wide screen aspect ratio; and lack of integrated webcam for chat applications, will seriously compromise its usefulness

I just can’t see myself tolerating a third personal computing device, especially given its substantial dimensions, limited capabilities and relatively high price.   I am left feeling frustrated that Steve Jobs and company didn’t create an evolution of the laptop category that, similar to the laptop, would offer a replacement for the previous generation – consider how people replaced desktops with laptops.    This would have been the natural move, but would have cannibalized existing sales with lower or similarly priced devices (not good for Apple).

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A superior product (that I would purchase) would have the following attributes:

1. A traditional tablet form factor (or possibly some innovative variation) Laptop with swivel screen
2. The same great touch screen UI of their iPhone
3. Pen support and handwriting recognition as well as voice recognition software.   This would make for some interesting tablet applications
4. Complete laptop software capabilities including Adobe flash support, true 1080p video, integrated webcam – heck, even netbooks have these
5. Great Apple design aesthetics and usability
6. A 13 inch screen for easy handling and portability  while providing sufficient real-estate for productive work
7. A price point that includes a reasonable premium over existing MacBooks / MacBook Pro

I certainly don’t consider the iPad a productivity tool in any way.   In fact, I believe the addition of yet another device to my portfolio of devices would negatively affect my personal productivity.   I don’t see what “pain” this device is effectively addressing and for that reason I believe the device will fail to deliver the sales that people are expecting, despite the hype and famous Apple marketing machine.