iPad Naysayers

I find it interesting the amount of disappointent many people have expressed about the forthcoming iPad digital tablet. The interesting part is the people expressing the disappointment, not the disappointment itself. Let me explain.

There are and always will be technophobes and Luddites who will have nothing good to say about any new technological widget. You know the ones, they tell how much they hate technology because they don't have phones or computers to send you their concern. These aren't the people who surprised me.

I'm talking about the people such as Bill Gates. He should know better. His concern is that the iPad does not have a physical keyboard or stylus input. This is from the guy who helped change computing from an enterprise to a personal activity. Bill, you are dating yourself. You're becoming a modern day Luddite. You and Steve Ballmer--iPod what's it good for; iTunes who is going to buy music at $.99 a song; and iPhone, no keys, no success. You guys just don't get it.

iPad is going to be a success for the simple reason that people don't know what it's good for. It is the rebirth of the hobbiest home computer. People will play with it and start using it for things that were never envisioned. Just look at the App Store. Who envisioned the iPhone as an important geology repository and reference tool? Who envisioned it as a news reporting tool completed with video editing capabilities?

Getting away from Apple for a moment, look at Twitter: Who envisioned it as a political tool for change? Who envisioned it as a live stream news feed?

Take YouTube. Who envisioned it as a stand-alone video entertainment service rather than an amateur video posting service? Who envisioned it as a political messaging tool? Who envisioned it as an important video news source?

Needless to say, the iPad will be hugely successful and it will be successful for reasons other than those Steve Jobs and his imagination shop originally intended. As Om Malik noted, the iPad is a blank slate limited only by our imaginations.

What say you?

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]