I believe the true vision for the iPad really came as a result of the iPhone's success and IOS. It became really obvious that this would be the way to go vs. the pc laptop with a reversed display.
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Steve Jobs Envisioned the iPad in 1983
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Firstly it is not a quote but an hour long audio recording of a presentation at a design conference. It is news for two reasons. The audio recording on Phillips cassette was recently found and digitized, bringing it to the very electronic distribution network the tape recording talks about, for the FIRST TIME.
Secondly it is a point for point prediction of the future as it actually developed in real life. It's effectively a time machine to go back and hear in the words of the person himself the words as told to a room full of people not subject to a NDA of any kind exactly how and when the future would unfold.
Then it happened almost precisely as stated.
That's why. IMHO.
Steve and Woz and their large dedicated crew made the active decision to make the vision true in reality for normal, regular people. They devoted their and their employees time and even their considerable profits to see it happen in reality. The one computer for every school story in the Phillips cassette recording digitized to an MP4 only this year (2012) from the 1983 recording is "revolutionary", in that they deployed 10,000 computers to California schools, to a large degree at their own expense!
The profits followed in bucket loads. Forced early adoption! But the cultural change envisioned was an order of magnitude faster and more impactful than the rosiest prediction. Despite the Scully era.
Rocketman
Source:
https://www.box.com/s/mhub9i610vx9flvr873c
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give me a break, handheld computers were typical scifi long before the 80s
A book thats like a computer? how could he have thought of such a creative idea? Only a true genius could think of something so practical and common sense. This is up there with watches that display numbers, phones without cords, and teleportation.
A book thats like a computer? how could he have thought of such a creative idea? Only a true genius could think of something so practical and common sense. This is up there with watches that display numbers, phones without cords, and teleportation.
Interesting point. It's a fickle market Apple has it's eggs in right now.
And it's not just the youth market. Apple's brand has been one of its greatest assetseven when it was almost bankrupt. Many people of my generationMac users from way backhad a genuine soft spot for the Apple brand. Apple was the small guy, fighting to make computers easier and more fun to usefighting for us it seemed! Contrast that with today, where so many of Apple's decisions are seen to be about locking in the customer, increasing Apple's marketshare and profits, removing competition by force, removing consumer choice.
This seems like shortsighted business strategy. Jesus is quoted as saying, 'For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?' I know I'm taking that quote out of context here, but I see a parallel! What will it profit Apple if it gains the whole world but loses its soul? If, in the process of dominating the market, Apple destroys its own brand, losing the affection many of us once felt for it, what then?
Before 1983...
The original 1966 Star Trek had those electronic clipboards that poor Kirk kept signing:
Of course, people have already mentioned the so-called Newspads in this famous 1968 movie:
Then came one of the first touch tablet concepts, used in the 1973 British Sci-Fi TV show, The Tomorrow People. As someone here cleverly pointed out, it even predicted Jobs' turtleneck:
I shouldn't have forgotten this one: the Hitchhiker's Guide! Described in the radio series as a thin, flexible electronic book that could also be used by field reporters to upload new articles. The 1980s TV show version was more voice controlled.
Not a tablet, but 1982's Tron had that beautiful touch desk:
Sorry, had to throw that one in. Always liked it
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Look, all snark and kidding aside -- Steve's talent wasn't necessarily in conjuring concepts like the quote above, but in executing on those ideas in a visionary manner. When I was 7, I dreamed of carrying around my Commodore 64 in my pocket and accessing information through the radio. That's not an Earth shattering idea. Steve was gifted in dreaming up elegantly accessible and human user experiences in which to embody concepts that were arguably shared among his contemporaries in personal computing.
Exactly...Apple simply figured out that their wonderful "computer that also makes phone calls" was red hot....and golly, let's make it 4x larger and re-brand it.
The iPad is a good product...but in reality it's just a 4x larger iPhone with a few software and hardware differences. I'm sure folks here will chime in about how massively different the iPad and iPhone are.
1) You do realize that they have had many misteps between Steve's return to leadership in 1997, and his passing away last year? I believe you are aware of those mistakes, as you have made it somewhat of a hobby to come onto this site to discuss them with our fellow members
. 2) With regards to the seekingalpha article, doesn't that remind you of articles in 2006 - 2007 regarding the ipod line?
I think we are seeing solid market saturation in Smart phones now, which is also a mature market with nothing truly innovative happening on any of the platforms IMO.
TBH I am not sure how anyone can expect huge leaps in the category for any handheld device at this point. When it comes down to it, people argue about hardware specs, and software features. Same arguments we had regarding our desktop systems on this site, versus PC and Linux alternatives back in the old PowerPC days.Right now we are down to speed bumps, and upgrades that incorporate new technologies as they are adapted to work with our phones.
The true test will be how well Apple can keep customers happy in their ecosystem, and if they can also come up with something truly innovative either within the Mac, or some other new device we may only see while channel surfing past SyFy .
My gamble is that Apple is working on more wearable computing. What exactly will that be, only time can tell
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The original 1966 Star Trek had those electronic clipboards that poor Kirk kept signing:
Of course, people have already mentioned the so-called Newspads in this famous 1968 movie:
Then came one of the first touch tablet concepts, used in the 1973 British Sci-Fi TV show, The Tomorrow People:
Not a tablet, but 1982's Tron had that beautiful touch desk:
Sorry, had to throw that one in. Always liked it
Where can I buy one of those?
Steve Jobs, who in many ways was like a Minister, Preacher or High Priest to many of his followers, does rate the front page of an Apple only forum.
Kind of like TV Evangelists, Steve had a massive number of followers that were very attached to him in ways beyond just the product. Therefore if that's what it takes to keep the flock happy, it's appropriate.
History reveals it's not too much different than the flocks of women that clung to their love of Elvis Presely long after he died.
Nope, based on published documents, they worked on iPad first, then put it aside to work on iPhone. Went back to iPad after they released the phone.
I used to watch that show all the time! I live in the USA and forget what channel it was on...probably PBS.
Don't you think that they have actually been done this path for the past few years? They aren't the little guy. They are Big Brother. They are the bully pushing the little guy around. Their followers have become the clones that they once laughed at.
Exactly...Apple simply figured out that their wonderful "computer that also makes phone calls" was red hot....and golly, let's make it 4x larger and re-brand it.
The iPad is a good product...but in reality it's just a 4x larger iPhone with a few software and hardware differences. I'm sure folks here will chime in about how massively different the iPad and iPhone are.
This is where Apple shines. They are the only one who cared and persisted. They made it into a real product and people bought iPad up.
The other folks are just fakes who jump in for the money or fear. Steve Balmer laughed at iPhone and iPad. He changed. Google also changed from a search guy to a device-also guy, from a Steve Jobs friend into a betrayer. Samsung also changed from an Apple OEM supplier into a copier. They are all in it for the $$$$$$$$ while dressing themselves up as an innovator, or do-no-evil liars.
Yup. The iPad was developed with companies such as "Fingerworks" with a prototype in 2004. As tablets weren't on the radar at that time, mobile phone's intrigued Apple enough to test the waters with the [failed] Motorola ROKR in 2005. The [limited] Motorola hardware suggested to Apple that the smartphone industry could benefit from an iPad type device. Apple slowly released the device cross-platform allowing non-OS X users a taste of Apple, followed by the iOS App Store. Once a strong market was established through the iPhone, iOS and iOS App Store, Apple had enough user base locked in to make the iPad a huge success.
Brilliant marketing strategy; slow and steady.
I agree, but some here believe the analysts who project $1000/share - or even believe that $1K is too low.
</bubble>
Seriously... this is the Nostradamus phenomenon. If a highly visible public figure makes enough random utterances about the future, some of them are bound to come vaguely true. From the perspective of 1983 Steve, "a computer that you could learn to use in 20 minutes" sounds like the original Macintosh, and "a book you could carry around" would be a Powerbook. So basically, in 1983, he was predicting the 1991 Powerbook series.
Not just the analysts. Google, Microsoft, Samsung all saw the money. Apple showed them the future. All the analysts could do is to forecast numbers. Google, Microsoft and Samsung are all trying to sink Apple so that they can get their hands into the cookie jar.
Google has a monopoly in search business. Microsoft has a monopoly in PC OS. Samsung has multiple monopolies back in Korea. These companies are just looking for the money. They will say and do anything to convince potential buyers they are "it".
Look at Samsung's abrasive advertisements, calling attention to itself by abusing their potential customers, labeling them "stupid".
Look at Google/Motorola's fake address trick to frame Apple Maps. Look at Eric Schmitt trying to rub off Psy, which is kinda awkward since he clearly is not that type.
They all just smell fake.
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Can anyone figure out the 2 jokes he says in this talk (he gets a big laugh from the audience on each)
The jokes are at:
49:45 (catholic church joke)
and
51:05 -- some other joke
The jokes are at:
49:45 (catholic church joke)
and
51:05 -- some other joke