Eclectic Memes

A comment in Doc Searl’s recent iPad post got me wondering whether the iPad market is really the n00bs, the people who have yet to enter the computer market. All those users who want simplicity. They just want something that provides access to the internet, e-mail, perhaps basic letter writing, their photos and some music, all provided in an attractive easy to use package.

Okay, netbooks fill those criteria, but they are still seem as ‘computers’ by most people and the idea of a ‘computer’ conjures, for many, the impression of complexity. Most netbooks us Windows and for all its efforts to provide simplicity it is still more complex than many people are comfortable with.

The iPad is sufficiently different that people will not see it as a computer; the fear is removed. It removes complexity. No ‘Start’ menu, just point to the thing you want and it starts. Pressing something on the web browser causes the link to be called up. Swipe to scroll or turn pages in an e-book. The keyboard appears when you click in a field that needs input and disappears when it is no longer needed. Resizing images is performed with the intuitive pinch motion.

Oh, and the iPad entry model is cheap compared to the competition.

Yes, I can see that the iPad (even in its current form) has a place with users who want a commodity item that is not a ‘computer’ but provides access to the information age.