Welcome to Apple’s world

By Tom Mattey – Graphics Specialist, Echo Research Ltd.

I have had a chance to play with Apple’s new iPad and I can report that it is stunning to look at and works very gracefully. I have to tip my cap to the Apple software engineers; the operating system is a work of digital art.

The iPad has been pitched by the digital world’s new ‘Messiah’, Apple CEO Steve Jobs as ‘filling the gap between the smart phone and the laptop’. As an avid tech user, I am still struggling to tell if this gap actually exists and if it did, why the netbook class of laptops does not fill that same void?

Ignoring attributes such as aesthetics or ‘cool factor’, when compared to a netbook, the netbook equals or beats the iPad hands down in every department except the quality of the screen. The netbook can run most standard Windows software. I can plug a USB pen into it, swap the battery, change the operating system, I have complete control over what I want to install or do on it.

As you can tell, I am still on the fence with the iPad, but not for the reasons you may think, it’s not to do with their price, their limited capabilities, or the hidden, murky world of 3G contracts you must enter to use a 3G model or even a practical standpoint because I have no use for it, (I have constantly been guilty of buying gadgets because they are desirable when in fact I have no practical use for them).

My reasons are very simply to do with freedom.

This is the issue I have with Apple. I like a lot of its products, the iPhone is an exceptional device, but I don’t like the fact that once I’ve bought it, I am also buying into Apple’s world and to leave I must use another device. I don’t like that I can only use an Apple cable and iTunes to copy material onto my phone, I don’t like that I can’t ever use a different OS or app not approved and sanitised by Apple. Apple is also now dictating what the future of the internet will be and hinting at a censorship model for material it deems unsavoury. These are basic freedoms and choices that pioneered the internet and indeed Apple in its early days. For my computer use which occupies a large part of my time at work and at home, I am not prepared to sacrifice these freedoms.

I am however eagerly waiting to see what the launch of the iPad will mean for Apple’s reputation. One of the iPad’s big selling points is its book and newspaper reader ability. Apple is hoping to sell it to the modern western professional to read his or her newspaper on while commuting.

Apple has identified the increasingly talked about demise of the newspaper and is offering these sinking ships a life raft by trying to establish a device capable of delivering digital newspapers to the masses. Some rumours talk about Apple looking to sign exclusive deals with newspapers to deliver via the iPad and now speculation is growing as what Apple’s objective would be if it did this. Does Steve Jobs see himself as the next Rupert Murdoch?

Apple has seduced the mainstream market. The mainstream view of Apple is generally favourable as it has introduced a whole new demographic to the virtual world of the internet with a range of easy to use, stylish gadgets. However there is an undercurrent of increasing alienation and anger from professional digital users who see a company built on a reputation of open source, trust and transparency become corrupted by its recent success and using increasingly unsavoury tactics to its competitors such as Adobe. A lot of people see the perceived motivation of the company swing from open sourced innovation to profit driven greed. For those that saw Apple as a David fighting against the Goliath of Microsoft, it’s sad to see it win the battle only to fall prey to the same trappings as Microsoft did.

In his defence, Steve Jobs does not shy from these allegations; he is very clear about his mission and mandate and is happy to defend it to anyone (link to http://gawker.com/5539717/).

So will the iPad be a success? I suspect it will sell very well at first but quickly fall away or be replaced by Apple’s next offering but I hope the world is not seduced by these shiny toys if it means sacrificing something much more valuable.

The opinions and views expressed in this blog are the personal opinions of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of Echo Research, its staff or any of its affiliates.