Cost and Redundancy Issues Confront iPad
If the much-promoted iPad is going to be a mainstream consumer hit, Apple is going to have to change the minds of people like Jon Byron. — Mr. Byron, a 54-year-old banker from Connecticut, emerged from the Apple store on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan …
Context & Ripple Effects
Apple enters the iPad launch with early first impressions of the device already framing it as a new category rather than a straightforward replacement for a phone or laptop. Its App Store catalog is live and developer iPad project starts are rising, but early app impressions also characterized the software as expensive.
The mainstream-adoption question is therefore broader than launch interest: Apple must establish a distinct use case that justifies both the device’s price and another screen in households that already own computers. The lack of Flash support also concentrates attention on whether HTML5 video can fill an important part of that role.
First-order effects
- Apple’s immediate task is to convert launch attention into a clear value proposition for buyers such as Jon Byron who see the iPad as redundant with devices they already own.
- iPad developers gain access to a new software storefront, but an expensive early catalog raises the total-cost threshold for consumers evaluating the device.
Second-order effects
- Publishers and video providers face added pressure to support HTML5 if they want their content to work smoothly on the iPad, because Flash is unavailable.
- Apple’s App Store economics make the utility of third-party software central to the iPad’s differentiation, tying consumer uptake more closely to developer pricing and product design.
Third-order effects
- If tablets establish a role between smartphones and PCs, device makers will compete less on adding screens and more on reducing the switching and redundancy costs of adopting another computing platform.
- The iPad is an early test of whether a premium device can serve as a proving ground for a new app category before its purpose is settled for mainstream buyers.
The trend: Tablet computing is testing whether app ecosystems can create a durable consumer role for a device positioned between the phone and the personal computer.