Originally Posted by Jag_Warrior
What I find interesting about the iPad is that people are buying them at a snappy pace... and then trying to figure out what they'll do. It reminds me of the first personal computers: people bought them, looked at them for a few days and then tried to find a use for them.
Considering the size of the tablet market when Apple entered it, 2 million iPads sold in roughly two months is extremely impressive. It's well on pace to exceed the most optimistic analysts' estimates at launch. They should hit 8 million by year end. Anyone who discounts that clearly doesn't understand the basics of business. One can either enter an established market with a "better" product (or a cheaper price)... OR, one can basically create a new market where there was none before. Apple has done a bit of both here, but basically they've carved a new consumer market out of what had been not much more than a playpen for geeks.
Why are people so drawn to the iPad? Various reasons, I'd say. Yeah, some of it is probably the hype and the kewl factor, or the fact that it's made by Apple (having one of the highest rated brands in the world and being known for solid customer service never hurts). And some are probably being bought by people who love to have the newest, latest/greatest gadget on the block. But some are also being bought by people who have an idea of what they want to do with them before they walk into the Apple Store. My doctor has bought two of them (so far). He has plans to integrate them into his medical office and his practice. Will there be an app for that? Well, there are apparently tens of thousands already - hundreds of thousands if you count the iPhone apps that work on the iPad. Apple has a unique approach with the iPad/iPhone category. As consumers demand certain types of apps, developers write those apps. From what I've read, Apple is content to address the consumer market for now. Imagine where this platform will go in years to come if/once they start focusing on the business/corporate side. At one time, the iPhone was a basically a consumer only device. But I just read that 75% of the S&P100 are now placing iPhones in their systems. What once was the domain of the Blackberry, Apple (and the Google Droid) is now encroaching.
It's possibe (and rather easy) to attach a USB device to an iPad using the connector. And while many do, I personally don't really care about Flash - in the next two or three years, I doubt that objection will mean much anyway (as Flash is losing share so fast). I think Jobs should/could have incorporated Flash in these early iPad versions, and then bounced it once HTML 5 caught on more. But, he wanted to throw down the gauntlet, so here we are. With a big enough share, he can help popularize HTML 5... just as he has tablets with the iPad. But still, as yet, I have no great need (or desire) for an iPad. Once they get to the third generation or so, and I can see a clearer need or desire, I probably will get one. I've held off on buying an iPod Touch for years, so I could get one with a camera. By this Christmas, my wish for a camera should be in place and I'll buy one. I'm already thinking of what I want engraved on the back - something in Latin (of course), but I haven't made up my mind yet. To hook me on the iPad, one thing I'd want is easier printing capability (wireless). But for now, I have "grocery getter" Windows based boxes and bricks running my trading and business applications at home, a POS Dell at work, I'll have an iPod Touch to take on the road for fun, and I plan on getting a MacBook Pro next year for a solid, reliable (fun) laptop/road computer. I don't have a smart phone and I don't want a smart phone at this point. I see why some other people have them. But I also see people with smart phones who have them just because they're the thing to have... kinda like the iPad. ;)
But as an AAPL shareholder, I say, don't buy one... BUY TWO iPads! Fantastic job by Apple and Steve Jobs on bringing this device to market... on basically CREATING a market. Amazing! :up: The purpose of a for-profit corporation is to enhance shareholder value. Nothing more, nothing less. Anything else is just a consequence or a secondary concern. In recent years, the management class has forgotten that... some owners let the management class forget that. The plebs have never fully understood it to begin with. But it's just an economic fact. Jobs/Apple gets that. Schmidt/Google gets that. Ballmer/Microsoft, not so much - Gates needs to help Ballmer with that lesson by lighting a fire under him or firing him. I read part of Ballmer's responses to basic questions at a conference a day or so ago. Pitiful. Bill Gates should just go ahead and realize his mistake and bounce Ballmer. That guy was probably born a day late... because he's been nothing BUT a day late and a dollar short since he took over as CEO of MSFT.
