Wow.

The Apple iPad

The Apple iPad sure has the entire world interested in what it can do.  I’ve had everyone from managers and directors at the office (including the Chief Medical Information Officer at the hospital where I used to work) ask me what it was, if it was for them, and why they should buy one. Those are hard questions to answer, especially if you don’t know what the person’s intended use for the device is. However, I have had a fair number of those same people indicate that they were going to wait until either a MS/Windows or Android tablet was released and they were going to get it.

Really?

Personally, I think this is a horrible idea.  Here’s why…

I had a conversation about this in my neighbor’s back yard yesterday afternoon. The iPad in many ways may be the "magical device" that Steve Jobs is painting it out to be; but there is one (or just a very small handful of) reason(s) why it may have a lock on the tablet market already. The iTunes Eco System

The Apple iTunes Eco System
Let’s take a quick look at what the iPad can do, even over the iPhone and iPod Touch

• Touch typing
• Better screen for eBook and videos (and other multimedia)
• Portability and longevity (its (relatively) light and the battery life is GREAT)

There’s not a lot there, but there doesn’t really have to be. Its larger screen makes the multimedia experience vastly superior to the iPhone or iPod Touch, and a much better eBook reader. The iPhone 3G/S is great, and does very well as a portable gaming platform to boot; but the number one complaint I have heard about it (carrier issues aside) is its size and battery life. The iPad eliminates these issues (but brings about size and portability issues).  It also doesn’t do phone calls…

However, what is the one, single thing that makes the Apple iPod a success?

Simple – The iTunes Eco System.

With iTunes, you manage everything about your digital life IN iTunes.  Your music, movies, TV shows, apps, contacts, calendar, mail, etc. are all purchased and managed through one centralized hub. Everything that you do on the iPod (and therefore, the iPad) is synchronized back to or though iTunes. Its also universally accessible on MacOS and Windows, where most everyone lives and breathes.  Here’s the problem – no other iCompetitor has this type of eco system – at the maturity level of Apple’s iTunes, except maybe for Microsoft. 

But before you start thinking that MS is going to rush in and save the day, I have just two words for you – Tablet PC and Microsoft KIN (ok… that’s really five words).

Microsoft developed the Tablet PC YEARS ago. As I recall there were both convertible AND slate models available. Their Windows Media Player eco system is around, sort of, but is relatively/ competitively immature compared to Apple’s iTunes. You can manage music and video through it, but not pictures, or device applications. It has a store, or interfaces for multiple stores; but again, for music and videos/movies/(TV shows?) only. Their ActiveSync/Windows Mobile Device Center isn’t hooked into Windows Media Player (as well?) as well as iTunes is on the Mac side of the camp. On the Windows side of the camp, iTunes is still a more complete eco system than WMP.

Tablet PC’s are largely a niche market device, though I’ve used one almost every day for about 2 of the last 4 years. They’re great for note taking during meetings. The convertible models did ok in this niche. The slate models didn’t do well at all, but that’s likely due to the PC paradigm that they tried, and failed, to live in. As a full PC, without the keyboard or mouse/track pad, they, and their full desktop OS, were difficult to use.

Microsoft KIN… the only word I have is why?  They’re no KIN of mine.  The introduction of the KIN 1/2 really seems unfocused and disconnected.  Yes, I know this is Project Pink and comes from the MS-Danger acquisition, but with all of the work that MS has done with Windows Mobile over the last TEN YEARS, KIN just seems like a step backwards instead of a product aimed at a different market segment. 

The Zune, while perhaps a bit more mature, still doesn’t have a solid basis for iPhone/iPod competition, even though the Zune Team has a better understanding of how to compete with Apple on this front.  Things are so disjointed between all of these efforts that its very unlikely that Microsoft will bring everything together in such a way that its going to be easy for anyone to pull together anything to make this work.

Lack of Focus and Direction
Google Android… HP/Palm WebOS… NEITHER of these platforms has an established, competitive, HOLISTIC eco system comparable to that of/ that can successfully compete with iTunes.  This is the EXACT reason why NO OTHER digital music player has been able to make a decent dent in iPod/iPhone market.  Apple basically has it locked up. If this weren’t the case, the Zune at least would have made serious progress in this area and would be giving Apple something to SERIOUSLY worry about with the release of the Zune HD. It hasn’t, and from my perspective, given Microsoft’s disjointed and competing strategies in these areas, likely won’t.

What can be done?  I have a GREAT idea…and most of the pieces on Google’s side already exist and/or are easily put together.  I’ll have THAT for everyone later this week or early next, so make sure you come back and check it out!

In the mean time, I’d love to hear what everyone else has to say.  Why don’t you chime in below and let us know what you think.

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