The confusion with most people regarding the iPad, is why? It can’t make calls, it doesn’t have a camera, it can’t do multi-tasking...it’s a glorified iPod Touch, but housed in a bigger chassis.
YET...this is where the genius of it all comes in to play. If a device has only 3G-and Wi-Fi connectivity, then its only connection to the outside world must be via the Internet (...yes there is a USB dock connection). If it’s only connection is via the Internet, then how do you access external media...iTunes, of course.
Apple is, subtly, driving the destruction of physical media, and implementation of network-delivered media content. Why buy a movie on DVD if you can just download it and play in on an iPad – or use the Dock Connector port to hook it up to your TV.
This follows the same reasoning why iMacs, still today, don’t have an option to have a Blu-Ray drive. I am sure there is some “technical” reason that makes it very tricky to embed in to the iMac casing – but by not providing this feature, Apple are trying to bypass the step of Blu-Ray and drive everyone straight to digital downloads.
That is all well and good, but today’s public networks are just not yet ready to support such heavy data traffic.
The telco’s and network carriers are stuck in a Catch-22: upgrading their networks requires substantial investment – yet, why invest if there is no real demand for high-speed Internet connections. By pushing out wireless devices, Apple is manipulating consumers to create the demand.
Apple’s motive to drive digital downloads is purely traffic and financially motivated (towards iTunes). For the consumer, it means faster bandwidth, at better prices, with larger/unlimited monthly caps. It is a win-win situation for all.
The above scenario then becomes very important to WebNow’s business offerings.
Current network speeds allow generic web and email hosting, with an increased demand for online video. Double the network bandwidth, double range of online possibilities. The range is really to your imagination:
PCs shrink the size of your fist – with the operating system hosted online by Microsoft or Google, with all of your photos on Flickr, music on iTunes, videos at NetFlix. The concept of mass local storage becomes redundant.
All of the family phones, calendars, GPS locations are tracked by an iPad-like tablet, embedded in the front of the fridge door, so you are able to track each family member’s current and future whereabouts by a mere flick of a finger.
Online gaming will become completely mainstream – swap your Xbox 360 and game DVDs for a merely a small network receiver that plugs in to your ADSL router and your TV, alongside a joystick that connects wirelessly to the receiver. All the graphical processing done on the game servers somewhere on the other side of the world.
All of the above examples will need to be created and hosted in redundant data centres across the globe. ISPs and web hosts will play an important role in delivering services across the physical network that the telcos will (hopefully!) put in front of us!