For about a year now have been telling all of my friends in technology that the PC will soon become irrelevant. We will all move to personal devices like a smartphone or tablet. We will all have "thin" devices and all the real application processing will happen in the "cloud" (the fancy new hosting/Internet buzzword). In fact, some would say - that time is now. I am writing this blog from my iPad. The picture above was taken from my iPhone, edited with PhotoShop Express on my iPhone and emailed to my iPad. Taken with a personal device, edited on a personal device and posted from a personal device.
Just look at the Dell laptop in the picture above - it looks so bulky and old. Amazing that this type of device was the cutting edge for portable computers just a few years ago. By comparison, the form factor and speed of the iPad is just incredible. Even compared to my new and very speedy Apple MacBook Pro, the iPad makes for a much better experiance. In fact, we almost never use a laptop. When I need to get on the web, I reach for my iPad 95% of the time. I cannot remember the last time I used a laptop in bed to brows the Internet. I am convinced that 5 years from now tablets will overtake laptops as the preferred device for personal use and business use will not be far behind.
The iPad is really an amazing story. The iPad is a device that Apple made to fill a market that, at the time, did not exist. For years hardware and software makers tried to make different table/touchscreen computers. In fact, I was reminded this week that Microsoft and HP had designed a number of touchscreen computer/devices years ago. The idea of a personal, touchscreen, interactive, lightweight tablet computer has been around for years but no device had any meaure of commercial success. In fact, even when the iPad was released, most reviewer questioned if it would be adopted. Boy has it! It has been a game changer.
This week HP gave credence to this view. Just a few days ago, HP (the world's leading PC maker) said they are considering selling off their PC division because of decreasing profit margins and the "tablet effect." Basically the Apple iPad is disrupting HP's (and all other PC makers') entire business model. Furthermore, HP announced that it was killing off its much hyped TouchPad. This is the tablet device running iOS - the successor to the Palm OS. As you may remember, HP purchased Palm for over $1B several years ago. (You remember Palm - the company the basically invented the PDA with the Palm Pilot.) HP used its hardware expertise and the PDA touchscreen software talents and intellectual property of Palm to create a tablet that could compete with the iPad. The result was the TouchPad. It seems logical that HP and Palm could come up with a tablet that is capable and appealing. For the most part - they did. The TouchPad is a solid, workable first generation device. The kind of device that would have been GREAT before the iPad. The problem is, no one wants to buy a tablet that is not made by Apple. Apple is casting such a dominate shadow over the industry that nothing in the tablet market can compete.
I hope that changes. I hope Google, Microsoft, Samsung, Dell or a combination of those companies can make the next great tablet device. The market needs an iPad competitor. The market needs real competition.
Until that time, I will keep reaching for my iPad.
The iPad is really an amazing story. The iPad is a device that Apple made to fill a market that, at the time, did not exist. For years hardware and software makers tried to make different table/touchscreen computers. In fact, I was reminded this week that Microsoft and HP had designed a number of touchscreen computer/devices years ago. The idea of a personal, touchscreen, interactive, lightweight tablet computer has been around for years but no device had any meaure of commercial success. In fact, even when the iPad was released, most reviewer questioned if it would be adopted. Boy has it! It has been a game changer.
This week HP gave credence to this view. Just a few days ago, HP (the world's leading PC maker) said they are considering selling off their PC division because of decreasing profit margins and the "tablet effect." Basically the Apple iPad is disrupting HP's (and all other PC makers') entire business model. Furthermore, HP announced that it was killing off its much hyped TouchPad. This is the tablet device running iOS - the successor to the Palm OS. As you may remember, HP purchased Palm for over $1B several years ago. (You remember Palm - the company the basically invented the PDA with the Palm Pilot.) HP used its hardware expertise and the PDA touchscreen software talents and intellectual property of Palm to create a tablet that could compete with the iPad. The result was the TouchPad. It seems logical that HP and Palm could come up with a tablet that is capable and appealing. For the most part - they did. The TouchPad is a solid, workable first generation device. The kind of device that would have been GREAT before the iPad. The problem is, no one wants to buy a tablet that is not made by Apple. Apple is casting such a dominate shadow over the industry that nothing in the tablet market can compete.
I hope that changes. I hope Google, Microsoft, Samsung, Dell or a combination of those companies can make the next great tablet device. The market needs an iPad competitor. The market needs real competition.
Until that time, I will keep reaching for my iPad.
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