The iPad – why all the fuss? W


hy has the iPad, a computer weighing 1.5 lb and slightly smaller than an A5 pad of paper been so successful and generated so much


media coverage? The cynical response is that any product from Apple, with a name beginning with ‘i’, is destined to succeed.


Apple sold more iPads, in the three months following its launch, than the worldwide sales of tablet computers, by all vendors, in the last two years. Sales for 2010 are expected to top 10 million. Apple’s brand reputation is a powerful inducement to buy, but not that powerful.


There is nothing you can do on an iPad that cannot be done on a laptop computer. Tasks that involve entering large volumes of information, connecting to other devices and viewing large documents are much easier done using a conventional PC or Mac technology. So why buy something, costing the £400-£600, that appears to do less than a conventional computer?


My computer geek friends think I must be mad. Yet, the more I use the iPad the more convinced I am of its value.


I think the explanation for the product’s success is the brilliant way that Apple has combined three design elements.


Applications are operated by touch. This makes them easier to use and creates a far more satisfying experience, compared with using a keyboard or mouse.


The iPad can go and be used anywhere. I am just as comfortable using the device to read newspapers at the breakfast table, relaxing on a sofa browsing a book, watching a video on a train journey or using the device, alongside my PC, whilst working at my desk. These are all things that can be done using a laptop but the experience is so much more fun and enjoyable using an iPad.


I can personalise the device to my exact requirements by selecting my own combination of apps. An article I wrote in the previous edition of Circus (Appiness for 50+) explained why apps technology improves the experience of using a computer and its special relevance for older people.


The improvement in the user ‘experience’ features in each of these three product benefits. The iPad’s success is not just about ‘what’ it can do but the richness of the ‘experience’ it gives its owner. As people get older they tend to value ‘experiences’ more than possessions. The iPad enables them to have both.


Apple has not disclosed the demographics of iPad users but independent researchers all agree that it has a strong appeal to older people. AARP has repeatedly featured the device in its magazine and it is rumoured that it will soon be launching its own app.


The iPad is likely to be a cutting-edge technology consumer product where the dominant customer group is the parents, not their children. In the iPad, Apple has created a device that does all of the functional things of a PC but adds its most important value by the making it so much fun and so satisfying to use.


PC World promotes the iPad as being a “magical product”. This might be something of an exaggeration - but only just.


To keep up to date with developments about the iPad, apps and Dick Stroud’s take on the older market visit http://www.apps4boomers.com


Dick Stroud: dick@20plus30.com


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