The iPad is neither an awkward iPhone nor a general purpose notebook computer. This is an important distinction because there are functions that the iPad will do better than either of those two framing categories. There is overlap between the product classifications but given the special mobility and interactivity of the iPad it will be better suited to uses where the user will be recumbent or seated in a relaxed manner. There really was a good reason for having Steve Jobs sit in an easy chair for a good part of the demo. What do you do when you're in a comfy spot? Read? Play? Watch? Study? Ponder? Create? These are the action verbs that define strategic use of an iPad. The iPad has to functionally perform well in the hands -- it has to feel good. It has to render video well and it needs tools for creativity. The creative tools cannot be "tablet enabled" versions of existing programs, I've already examined why that is a bad idea. Instead, the device needs to combine the comfort of a good book with the interactivity of a digital touch screen. All of that comes together in the iPad's Reader app, a program so thoroughly familiar in feel that it even has page flipping. The iPad will be a killer reading device -- absolutely category stomping. Having tried to jumpstart the electronic reader category with the Kindle, Amazon will adapt their technology as an app for the iPad. Physical Kindles are likely to disappear in a year or two, while Amazon gets down to business competing with Apple on the iPad platform. This is no epic struggle, there's room for at least two bookstores on the iPad. There are certainly more than that available now on the iPhone.
Functionally the iPad is not ideally suited for use while walking around or seated at a desk. Those functional requirements (see: www.bredemeyer.com/pdf_files/functreq.pdf ) are fulfilled in the first case by a device that can be hand-
held (walking around = iPhone) or by a general purpose computer in the latter case (desktop = Macintosh). You can read books on an iPhone but it's only the best device for reading if you are being jostled on a train or you are looking at directions while strolling down a piazza. You can read a book on your laptop but it's not a great form factor for curling up with on a couch and, as a reader, you are disconnected from interacting with the "page" on your screen. Computers, as we know them now, make lousy books but all of that is about to change.
What about audio and visual experiences? Yes, you've got to have audio; through both an internal speaker and headphones. Certainly the video must render well. With both of those functions and a "good enough" processor, the iPad will become an alternative personal platform for gaming and viewing. The iPad will not be an ideal iPod because it is just too big to carry around.
What about creativity? For the knowledge or professional worker, potential productivity gains from developing an iPad workflow may be the biggest piece of candy in the whole candy store. While the iPad will be good at passive activities like reading, viewing and gaming it also comes with a level of interactivity that will appeal to thinkers, provided the apps are well designed. This combination means that the iPad fits and, in fact defines, a new category of digital machine -- let's call it relaxed computing.
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