What are most people missing about the iPad - Apple's iTouch OS.

8 Apr 2010

What are most people missing about the iPad - Apple's iTouch OS.

With the inevitable launch of the iPad, Apple has taken a big step in defining and also proving what they think touch computing should be like and how it will evolve over time. There are many haters and many lovers of the newly launched iPad and many have put down their thoughts on what they think the iPad is, will and should be. However, I think everyone is missing a huge detail and I really want to say this.

The iPad is just a first generation of its kind, much like the iPhone. Give it time and this class of computing device will evolve over time with better technology. But wait a minute, you are missing the big picture here - and that is what powers these devices. I'm not talking about the A4.

Read this ==> iPhone OS Apple iTouch OS.

Yes. The iPhone OS. From the iPhone to the iPad, generations of Apple's touch computing devices will be running the Apple iTouch OS. With the reveal of iPhone OS 4.0 in the next few hours, the iPhone OS has came a long way. It is a world-class multi-touch OS with a very usable UI framework. The SDK is superd, I've developed multiple apps with the SDK and the iPhone SDK is one of the best I've work with throughout my professional career as a software engineer.

Apple has always steer clear from the OS business, I mean the business of selling OS's for commodity computing, so why the change? First, I have no doubt that Android is slowly positioning itself to be the "open source" multi-touch computing OS in years to come. In a few years from now, we will see slate devices from all the major PC makers, HP, Dell, etc and MS OS , Android and iTouch OS will definitely be powering these devices. To win the war against Android and MS, I see Apple having to take the path least favorable and that is releasing the iTouch OS and working with device manufacturers. Ultimately, it would be of Apple's interest to bring the Apple appstore to all these devices, why wouldn't they?

about 2 years ago Carter Dotson responded:

Apple does make some great software, but I do think that it serves largely as a compelling reason to get people to buy the hardware. It's been Apple's game largely from the beginning, no? They want to sell you their hardware, and they're going to make sure their software is compelling enough to buy their hardware. It's true with Macs and the features of Mac OS X, and it's a very similar environment with the iPhone OS devices - they just have been more successful because I think they're in a different environment from the computer environment. Mobile devices are all about the hardware, and Apple knows how to make products that capture consumers' attention, and they're at price points that enable people to get in with low overhead.

As I've heard elsewhere, the iPad may be Apple's attempt to reinvent the netbook/laptop market in their own image. It may even be their strategy to reinvent the entire computing market in their own image, from the bottom up. They've used the iPod touch and iPhone to get people prepared for the iPad, and who knows...maybe in a couple years they release a 22 inch iPad (iMac touch, perhaps?) for desktop use to reinvent the desktop touchscreen computing interface, using what they have learned from the iPhone OS to make something people want to use.

Unless/until someone with a radically different idea of the way Apple should do business runs the company, I think they're going to remain a hardware-focused company and I don't expect a Dell iTouch OS any time soon. They're just now getting into industries where having the best hardware actually matters, and if they ever get off of AT&T (I see no reason for AT&T to not spend as much money as they possibly can to keep the iPhone exclusive, it's just THAT huge of a selling point for them...) they could truly take over the mobile industry. They have reshaped it significantly, and the mobile carriers thank them for making data plans something more than a novelty.

As far as the iPad price, apparently they're making these things cheaper than anyone could have expected and making a healthy profit off of them. I think the $499 price point for the entry model was brilliant - it's at that sort of point where people could think "hey, I could justify spending that money on this" and maybe then going up to the more expensive models if they really felt they needed the space.

If Apple DOES ever go into the OS licensing business, it's going to be something like Win Phone 7 where they have major control over the design of the hardware to make sure it meets their specifications. But I still just don't see it, I think Mac goes multiplatform before iPhone OS (both are low likelihoods in my opinion) especially since Apple wouldn't want the App Store (which sells iPhone OS devices like mad) to have major problems with all the various devices, I'd imagine. That they made the iPad a different aspect ratio from other iPhone OS devices is already a bit outside of Apple's 'simplicity' mantra, but they probably figured as well that people would flock to iPad-enabled apps on the device anyway, so the best aspect ratio for the device is the better option over any aspect ratio differences with 3:2 apps.

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What are most people missing about the iPad - Apple's iTouch OS.

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