With today's announcement and the launch of Apple Tablet, the most admired hi-tech company is in fact redefining the future of printed media consumption. The new device features a 10-inch display, persistent WiFi and 3G connectivity and will be able to run all applications created for iPhone and iPod Touch. This new launch of Apple may seem as nothing special, but the consumer's willingness to spend money on unlimited data plans, their eagerness to be online wherever and whenever, the pervasiveness of 3G networks and consumption of large data volumes guarantees Apple a significant revenue pipeline. This device is removing such obstacles as too little display area with clumsy, even though high-tech touch control. Here you can instantly switch on a decently sized soft keyboard, and device-specific resizing of web applications is no longer an inevitable evil of content producers.
Speaking about content producers, introduction of this device opens whole new area for big media corporations, to publish newspapers and magazines through Apple's unique channel of iTunes. Some such companies already work on their newspaper versions for the tablet - an example can be New York Times Company. Question is whether this will redefine media consumption - what about a well proven "freemium" applied on daily newspaper, a dream of all big media companies since Internet has eaten their stake? Actually, I see a huge opportunity at least for film industry, much larger than current mobile-based movie consumption. And what about Retailers - I wonder when we'll see the first tablet-optimized e-store - Would it be introduced by Apple's rival on e-reader platform, Amazon? But what would turn the consumers away from getting the same content from the internet for free? I'm a bit suspicious there's much more than just a new tablet reader - I think Apple is going to redefine not only media consumption, but also media creation. Let's see if Apple has something really big - we'll know at least later today and be sure I'll post a blog entry about it here.
For now, see the leaked confirmation of Apple's tablet launch:
No comments:
Post a Comment