There is no question that Apple upset the Apple Cart (pun intended) when they released the iPhone. While Microsoft pretends to insist it's a numbers game, i.e. more units shipped - the reality is they got spanked. It's not just that the iPhone took a huge chunk of market share - it's that the iPhone is without question one of the most useful pieces of personal tech ever invented. My iPhone is my swiss army knife. I use it to check the temperature outside, check the market, find places I'm going to, buy stuff from Amazon, listen to AC/DC's new album (yeah I had to rip it in iTunes), and -oh yeah- call my Mom. It is the best piece of tech I've bought to date. I base that statement mostly on how beaten up the blue plastic case is.
Now rumors are a-flying that Apple is going to get into the netbook market. But are they? They are ordering Netbook parts according to the gadget sites but what if they are NOT going to make a netbook? One of the reported components is a touch screen. What if instead of making a tiny laptop they are going to make an oversized iPhone? Apple is announcing a new iPhone OS on March 17th. What if that OS is also going to run on the new Apple iPad? Now one final speculation, what if they are going to competively price it?
It could be another massive upset to the apple cart. Especially if they make it as sturdy as the iPhone. My mother can barely work her Windows laptop - it's bewildering to her. I know she could work an iPhone even though she's too cheap to buy one. The iPhone applications are straightforward and easy to use. It's an icon/list based environment that is free of the clutter and constant popups covering the stuff you are trying to work on. It's not overly helpful and very simple and intuitive.
A successful iPad would really rock if it supported a bluetooth keyboard (why doesn't the iPhone?). I can easily see lots of people sitting watching TV and using an iPad to check the TV listings, stay on Facebook, catch up on the news, or read an iBook.
If they make it sturdy enough for educational use, it could be disastrous to competitors. The iPhone is feature complete enough to be an lifelong educational tool but it's too small a form factor for that purpose. Data entry is clunky and no copy and paste. Plus no one knows yet with certainty about the health issues related to cell phone signal (or so the phone companies say).
Apple has a chance to do it again. It's a long shot, in all their years they've only had a few milestones - the Mac, the iPod, and the iPhone. They also price their hardware above the rest so if Apple makes a regular form factor Netbook at an $899 price, they'll only sell to their regular die hard customers. The netbook is entrenched at the $375 - $425 price point and that even drops some from time to time. My Acer Aspire One had dropped to $319 at Amazon last time I looked.
An innovative Apple product could dent netbook sales, annhilate the Kindle 2 (which will no doubt run on the iPad), and catch new users at their earliest exposure to tech (kindergarten).
So will they innovate or renovate? We will see.
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