The iPad: “iPod Pro” For Consuming, Not “MacBook Mini” For Creating
After more contemplation over whether to purchase an iPad, I’ve decided it makes a lot more sense when considered within Apple’s entire product line, along with the uses for each device:
- iPod Shuffle, iPod Mini, iPod Touch, iPhone, iPad -> Mac Mini, MacBook, iMac, Mac Book Pro, Mac Pro
… roughly equivalent to:
- Mainstream users -> Professionals
- Less features -> More Features
- No OS or iPhone OS -> OS X
- Content Consumers -> Content Creators
On the left is pure consumption of just music, moving right you add a small screen, then iPhone apps, with increasing functionality, and media consumption expands to include movies, games, websites, and books with the iPad.
Moving further to the right is increasing ability to create content, from crafting simple text documents, to editing images, audio, movies, and programming, rising in task complexity and cost. For all of this you need full OS X.
Most of the digerati geeks with the harshest criticism for the iPad presume that it should be for content creation. Even the lack of a camera falls could be considered part of content creation. But one should ask why an Apple product priced at $499 should do what the cheapest MacBook at around a grand does. If you want to get serious about content creation, get a MacBook or a Mac Mini.
The progression above also explains why I’m not super enthused about the iPad — am on the content creator side and one use for the MacBook is writing blog posts like this. I’m skeptical I’ll be able to type as efficiently using the iPad’s on screen keyboard. But it’s important to see that my skepticism is colored by the use of writing long documents, which is not the primary focus of this device.
The iPad is an ideal platform for consuming media, not creating it. Disappointed content creators shouldn’t look at the iPad as something for them. Rather, they should see it as an amazing device used by their audience to more efficiently consume the content being created.
I may have to get an iPad just to see what websites look like in this different form factor.
The iPad is an iPod Pro, not a MacBook Mini. And it will work very well for many people. There are a heck of a lot more passive consumers than creators out there.
I think it’s a little more complicated than that, though I do agree with you mostly that for now, the iPad leans more towards consumption than creation. But the demo of iWork, I believe, shows that the iPad has the POTENTIAL to be a good content creation platform. We’re just all going to have to rethink our approach to UI a bit.
I think in a year or two, there will be enough serious apps on the iPad to make creation more feasible. And, depending on that spread of new creation-oriented apps, we may see iPads with more creator-friendly features.
Eventually, I can see the touch-screen interface taking over a large part of the computing market, or at least merging into the current mouse and keyboard approach. The lines will blur eventually.
And in the meantime, it’s good for Apple that most users are far more consumption-oriented than creation-oriented.
Yep the iWork aspect has tons of potential, and what with developers getting
on board and a certain “v2” iPad in the future, surely the content creation
side will only get better. Could actually see the whole $499 — $1000 range
being filled with more capable iPads getting closer to MacBooks in
functionality.
But this exercise was actually, helpful in shifting my own expectations
toward getting an iPad. Instead of seeing it as an underpowered MacBook and
feeling disappointed (as I was just the other day), from the viewpoint of
“this is the best iPod ever made, plus with some iWork content creation
abilities,” it suddenly seems like a great device.
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