So we have to learn a new, post Steve Jobs, language. No longer are we in the world of the next great thing but rather an incremental iPad. No longer 3rd generation but rather New. To read many of the reviews of the new iPad it would seem that this means that the iPad is a bad product because there was no great ‘…and one final thing…‘ from the late master of presentation.
What have we learnt from the all the guff out there on the internet? Well that few people knew what they were taking about and that Apple could teach spy masters a thing or two about keeping a secret. But mainly the thing we learnt is that the iPad is now a mature product with few great surprises – view the promo video and you see that they spend an awful lot of time talking technical stuff about the new display – and this is not a bad thing. We now have a product that has set the standards and building on these standards for the ‘..post PC..’ world in which the iPad, more than any other machine, has brought into existence. To see how much the world has changed just watch an old episode of Star Trek Voyager, the most advanced of the modern Star Trek franchise. Here we see a time, just 10 years ago, when the production staff having no idea how tablets will work, instead they have different reports on individual tablets. Nowadays, in a Post PC world we know that all of these things, and so much more, can be contained on one tablet and at the moment that is called the iPad.
For me the killer features of the new iPad is the new chip-set. I am sure the display is very nice but I have no problem with the display on the iPad circa 2010 nor 2011. As for the inclusion of 4G mobile telephony I am sure that will be great but as it doesn’t really arrive in the UK until 2013 not really much use – I suspect not that much use in the US either.
This leaves us with a solid product that has been updated like most pieces of technology with the latest bits. It is no longer earth shattering but mature. It will deliver huge profits to Apple and become a little dull, much as Apple will become without the genius of Jobs. Life goes on.
Simon Marchini
Simon's Blog 