Does the introduction of the iPad by Apple have any relevance to divShare users specifically, and the cloud computing community as a whole? Yes! And here’s how…
On the content side, they are of course trying to do to ebooks what they did to music with the iPod–namely change the game and change pricing. Jason D O’Grady at ZDNet chatted about this saying:
“In the days following the iPad announcement, print publishers have begun bailing from Amazon in droves.”
http://blogs.zdnet.com/Apple/?p=5962
As content becomes easier to access, cheaper, and the content developers gain more control it will be essential for a system in the cloud to hold all of this for both the business user and the consumer. And shouldn’t it be portable and work across devices??? Obviously, but someone has to create a system that will both enable this and be financially feasible, otherwise walled garden environments will continue.
On the connection speed side, the iPad is more or less an iPhone/iPod 3G as far as we can tell, and that’s great! Built in wifi is necessary, but the ability to add your own SIM card provides flexibility. A new device that makes it easy to use applications, information, and data is a beautiful thing to cloud enthusiasts. And if the iPhone’s impact on the handset industry is any indication, we’ll hopefully see competitors trying to do this one better (fingers crossed)!
And what I love, is that this will open the Internet (and for us both divShare and the cloud) to a whole new set of users: people who hate technology! Take a look at the Tech Crunch article “Why My Mom’s Next Computer Is Going To Be An iPad”:
“The iPad is a computer for people who don’t like computers. People who don’t like the idea of upgrading their 3D drivers, or adjusting their screen resolution, or installing new memory.”
http://www.techcrunch.com/2010/01/31/ipad-moms-next-computer/
While the two big stories about the iPad have been 1) the device could kill the Amazon Kindle, and 2) the device could save the newspaper and magazine industry, the divShare team sees it a bit differently. Another device connected via the internet to multiple sources of content–including the subscribers personal content–is a wonderful thing, while at the same time an added layer of complexity to his or her life.
