All The Apple Analysts Are Wrong About The iPad – It Is Revolutionary

I don’t think anyone will argue when I say: The iPhone was revolutionary. In a number of ways. For the first time, a phone maker set the terms of their deal with a carrier. Guess what, they did the same thing with the iPad. My bet, they told AT&T that the deal is off unless they give iPad customers what they want: a fairly priced data plan and no contract. The iPhone’s hardware and graphics were nothing short of industry changing. It’s not really a phone, it’s not a smart phone and it’s not a toy. It’s a very small computer. Capable of doing things that my first computer couldn’t even do. The iPad blows that away. But enough defending Apple, because the reason the iPad is revolutionary isn’t because of them.

At least not directly. The revolution they helped start is really two things: How we interact with computers and machines and how we interact with the physical world. When you go out to dinner, you now check in so your friends know where you are. It’s even a game for some to see who gets the most points. Sharing pictures, movies and audio instantly. You know you don’t look at books the same way. At least I don’t. Every time I reach for a book in the store I check to see how it was rated or can I get it cheaper with my Amazon Prime account? And these are dead simple examples. A local company built an iPhone app called FoodScanner that uses the iPhone to read a barcode and tell you the nutritional value of what your eating. In a decade or two we’ll be able to look at any object and the data about it will be streaming along side, if you want it to. Information, at your fingertips, anytime you want it. Not just information, basically ALL information. After all, everything is on the Internet now. They call this Augmented Reality and it goes well beyond my basic examples. The world will be very interactive in the future.

The second thing, and the more immediate way iPad has made a giant step in our technological evolution is how we interact with computers. Science Fiction has been showing us people using computers by sliding controls, swiping screens and using our hands to manipulate the virtual world. Some of them even got it right, movies like Minority Report. That wasn’t just some idea cooked up, that’s a real UI designed by a real UI designer. And that’s what’s coming because of the iPad. The iPod gave us a taste. Even my mouse uses this technology. Now the iPad is giving us a big space to work with. At almost a 10″ viewing area, all of which is touch sensitive, we can now do more complicated gestures to control our experience with the phone. It just so happens that Apple is the one using the technology the most, but some of the more amazing stuff is yet to come. Some of it will certainly be done by Apple, but other companies are coming. I’ve seen amazing proofs of concept and I’m just so excited about where mobile is headed, and it has nothing to do with tablets, smart phones or netbooks. Were headed for a whole new way of working with our computers.

And it’s going to be beautiful. It will make some of our most tedious, menial tasks on the computer seem like an after thought. How do you throw a pice of paper away in real life? We’ll, that’s how you’ll do it on a computer too. Move your fingers over it, pick it up, and then toss it into the trash bin. Poof. I think this amazing shift in how we do things is going to lead to even greater innovation. It’s coming and it’s coming pretty fast. And we can thank Apple for playing a huge role in that. The iPad is going to be marked in history as one of the devices that changed our lives. Like the first PC that wasn’t the size of a room did. Like the Internet did. Like the Web did. The technology in how we’ll use computers is the next big thing. Working with computers is becoming more natural and less mechanical.

That’s why I’m going to buy an iPad and why I’m excited about it. It’s why I think everyone is missing the big picture. Huge. It’s going to be huge. And it’s happening in my lifetime. I’m grateful that some of my dreams from Science Fiction are coming true and I get to see it. It’s so easy to forget or take for granted how advanced some of this stuff really is. I know I can be very cynical, right up there with the best of them, but oh man, take a moment to marvel at something now and then.