iPad Lack of Features is the Number One Feature
It has been reported that when Bill Gates first saw it, he remarked "it needs a stylus".
The 10 percent who get Apple realize that the top feature of the iPad is lack of feature bloat. The question at each step of development and design had to be "What more can we leave out?" Apple is beyond caring about price points. They have plenty of money. They need more users. They now reach out to users:
- who fear tech
- who think that tech is mostly a geeky waste of time
- who find that cell phones are all the tech they need, but would like a bigger screen and typing surface
Why Grandma Wants an iPad
Her world has always been touching something tangible to create a visible connection that makes something happen. Pictures of grandkids are not getting developed to paper any more. How to interface her into the digital media option?
Digital picture frames were a big hit a few years ago. The familiarity of the frame was the schtick. Yet getting new pictures into it, getting interactive with it in any way, required reading a manual and learning something new. Grandma didn't do that. It just sat there running with the initial loving preload, on the default timer schedule, until it became embarrassingly outdated or stopped working. Nobody knows for sure.
If pictures of grandkids is all she ever uses an iPad for, that is enough. But likely she will gradually find her way into more offerings from the digital age. Push a big help button in case of emergency. Push a picture of the grandkids faces to summon a video chat session, stuff like that. http://instinctivecode.com/favorites/
No More Time for Geeks
Curmudgeons may remember the promise of the paperless office. Today, it takes a computer, $300 worth of software, ongoing training, and a laser printer to generate the paperwork grandma once typed up by replacing a ribbon once in a while.
Defragmentating while under attack by evil forces, always studying the next greatest solution which is oh so near, that is the 90 percent solution. Keep a paper trail just in case. Not sure anyone understands it, but small wonder nobody has time for grandma any more.
Cell Phone Simple
Cell phone simple is all the tech most need. It is also the hotbed of tech innovation. For simple needs, get a simple phone. Complex needs, more powerful phones. All require streamlined interfaces to work on the tiny screen.
The more is more crowd have choices that offer multitasking, even on a cell phone. Ubergeeks can load the system until it croaks, then hunt solutions to their problems. The iPad will remain a mystery to them.
The iPad retains less-is-more simplicity, while moving the cell phone experience beyond peering into a tiny screen and tapping tiny keys. Simple comes to the big screen. A very satisfied 10 percent "get" that.
Update:
Mike Elgan at Computerworld agrees: http://www.macworld.com/article/147090/2010/03/ipad_paradox.html