PHD Perspectives: The iPad isn't About Apps: It's About the Future of Media and Content - Drew Breunig - MediaBizBloggers

With the introduction of Apple39s iPad last week a good chunk of the Internet weighed in with opinions verdicts and jokes In doing so they fell into predictable biases which obscured an important takeaway Apple39s iPad will be vastly different from the iPhone in that it will be about media and content not about applications By understanding the media formats the iPad inspires we can better understand the future of content as it might exist across the entire digital spectrum from mobile phones to PCsThe Sigh of the ThoughtLeader quotThe iPad is just a big iPod TouchquotBut let39s back up Last week Apple announced the iPad their take on a tablet computer According to Apple PR the iPad isquotA revolutionary device for browsing the web reading and sending email enjoying photos watching videos listening to music playing games reading ebooks and much morequotWith their announcement Apple ended years of rabid speculation and rumors concerning its fabled tabletBut as the initial rush of the reveal faded technology tastemakers sighed with disappointment quotThe iPad is a big iPhone and that39s itquot wrote one commenter on The Guardian39s tech blog The quotbig iPhoneiPod Touchquot critique was iterated by gadget blogs across the Internet The mood was similarly tepid at a developer meetup in Silicon Valley39s Mountain View Most programmers were disappointed the iPad doesn39t offer them anything new quotThe iPad doesn39t have any new functions that weren39t already on the iPhone It has less features than my current netbook I don39t understand the excitementquot one developer commentedDevelopers Want Function Not Form Content Partners will Drive this DeviceThe critique that the quotiPad is just a big iPhonequot isn39t wrong per se But it39s like saying quota magazine is basically a big business cardquot You39re ignoring the interactions users have with productsUnfortunately this contextdevoid argument is a popular response among the tech elite It tends to arise anytime a company makes a gadget for an audience other than the techobsessed In fact the tech community issued the samequotnothing newquot response when Apple unveiled the iPod in 2001 In a MacRumors forum discussing the thenunveiled iPod one member wrotequotI still can39t believe this All this hype for something so ridiculous Who cares about an MP3 player I want something new I want them to think differently Why oh why would they do this It39s so wrong It39s so stupidquotThe thread is littered with similar repliesThe quotnothing newquot response illustrates the core desire of technologists bleedingedge function To them form is merely window dressing Time and time again products that package existing technology for mainstream audiences are ridiculed for not pushing boundaries Yet time and time again these products succeed because they understand that most people want to simply use technology not bask in its potential3rd party support for the iPad will not come from unenthusiastic developers Rather it will come from content publishers Context experiences from media companies like newspaper and magazine publishers blogs book publishers TV studios and sports leagues will make the iPad valuable Without this outside support the iPad will fester as an expensive way to browse the Web something competitors will quickly match at lower pricepointsThe Universal Format The Future of ContentRight now the iPad is still an early adopter device many people want it but no one needs it However there is no denying that the new form of content born today is a potential solution to many of the problems plaguing media companies Dated companies like Harper Collins Penguin and The New York Times look fighting fit on the iPad Many laughed a few weeks ago at the concept of a New York Times pay wall But on stage last Wednesday The Times showed off an experience worth paying forAnd while I don39t think there39s a current need yet for a device that sits between the mobile phone and the PC I do think that the space between mobile and PC is a proving ground for future content The most valuable result of developing content for the space between mobile and PCs is the creation of a universal format that works across the entire digital device spectrum And there is a strong need for a universal formatAs media professionals we39ve been given a gift Apple has thoroughly explored the future of content and returned with the iPad So rather than spend money on trend reports and futurists we should become familiar with the iPad and the media formats that it inspires Because it doesn39t matter whether or not the iPad is a hit What matters is that newspapers booksellers magazine publishers advertisers and all others media companies have been handed a blueprint for contextualizing and selling their content in a fully digital futureDrew Breunig Senior Account Planner PHD Media an Omnicom Company You can follow Drew httptwittercomdbreunigRead all Drew39s MediaBizBloggers commentaries at PHD 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PHD Perspectives: The iPad isn't About Apps: It's About the Future of Media and Content - Drew Breunig - MediaBizBloggers

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