Two of the iPad's Creators Share Thoughts on Its Development, Evolution, and More

[MacRumors]

Yesterday marked the tenth anniversary of the iPad, and alongside that milestone, Input has published an interview with Imran Chaudhri and Bethany Bongiorno, two of the key Apple employees behind its development.

The interview is an interesting read, with Chaudhri and Bongiorno sharing a few bits about their histories with Apple and the iPad, thoughts on the team's mindset during development of the iPad, their perspectives on how the iPad evolved to fit how people have used it, and more.

One of the more interesting tidbits relates to cameras, which actually weren't included on the original iPad even though a digital photo frame was intended as one of its primary use cases, driven in large part by Steve Jobs. Only after the iPad launched did Apple discover that people really didn't want to set their iPads up as static photo frames, and then later once the iPad did gain a camera, the team was surprised to see how much people were using it to take photos.

Bongiorno: We talked about the hope that it would be kind of this photo frame, like '"How are they going to get the photos on it?" We actually didn't believe that people would walk around taking pictures with their iPad. It was actually a funny internal conversation when we started seeing people outside taking their iPad with them and taking photos on vacation. I don't think we actually thought people would use it that way -- and they ultimately did. [...]

Chaudhri: But the [iPad] camera is super funny. That's the other thing that we didn't anticipate being so big. But it was a segment of the population at the time that really was using the camera more than anything else. So I remember very clearly at the 2012 Olympics in London, if you looked around the stadium, you saw a lot of people using an iPad as a camera and generally that was people that just needed to have a bigger viewfinder for vision reasons, etc. Then seeing that, we went back in and redesigned the camera experience on the iPad -- recognizing that this is going to be a thing that we just can't get people away from because they want this larger viewfinder.

Another interesting section addresses their regrets related to the iPad, with Bongiorno highlighting how difficult it ended up being to push the iPad forward given the small size of the iPad team and the "gravity of the phone," while Chaudhri similarly cited the strength of the iPhone as well as business decisions that kept the iPad from replacing textbooks in schools as had been originally envisioned.

The full interview is definitely worth a read over at Input, as it touches on a number of other topics such as the Apple Pencil, thoughts on the differences between Android tablets and the iPad, and what the next ten years might bring for the iPad.

Article Link: Two of the iPad's Creators Share Thoughts on Its Development, Evolution, and More

 

[Mdracer]

“A larger viewfinder” ... that blocked everyone else’s view. #selfish

 

[now i see it]

I used to work at a company that developed new products, and during the product development meetings it always amused me when the marketing manager would make these proclamations that "the customer wants this" or "the customer doesn't want that" when he didn't know any more than anyone in the room or anyone walking down the street what the next guy wants.
A lot (I'd guess most) marketing managers are kinda clueless when it comes to looking into the crystal ball trying to guess what other people want ... Just like the rest of us

 

[japanime]

We actually didn't believe that people would walk around taking pictures with their iPad. It was actually a funny internal conversation when we started seeing people outside taking their iPad with them and taking photos on vacation.

Nowadays, we see people taking photos on "phones" that are almost as big as the original iPad. ?

 

[MacInDawg]

I have the right to delete.

 

[oneMadRssn]

I used to work at a company that developed new products, and during the product development meetings it always amused me when the marketing manager would make these proclamations that "the customer wants this" or "the customer doesn't want that" when he didn't know any more than anyone in the room or anyone walking down the street what the next guy wants.
A lot (I'd guess most) marketing managers are kinda clueless when it comes to looking into the crystal ball trying to guess what other people want ... Just like the rest of us

Good marketing isn't guessing/predicting what people want or don't want. Good marketing is educating people about what is available and guiding them to a decision.

 

[Costino1]

Good marketing isn't guessing/predicting what people want or don't want. Good marketing is educating people about what is available and guiding them to a decision.

I somewhat agree with that. Good marketing in my opinion is also about educating consumers on problems they don't even know they have. Or, inventing a problem and also selling them a solution. At least that is what marketing in the USA has been for the past decade or more....

 

[adamjackson]

I owned an iPad 1 and 2 and I bought the 2 at SXSW in Austin. Apple had a pop-up store there which coincided with the release of the 2nd iPad. I went and bought one and took it with me to a party. Keeping in mind the 1st version didn't have a camera, I caught this photo of some friends taking a selfie with the Gen-2 iPad:

..then I started seeing people taking photos with the iPad and it still to this day looks weird:

 

[Bin Cook]

"Business reasons" = Tim continually jacking the price.

There would have been a last gen available for £249 if Steve was still alive and it would have ruled the education sector.

 

[JayBlueBird92]

“A larger viewfinder” ... that blocked everyone else’s view. #selfish

I bet you're the type of selfish ******* that goes to a gig and holds their phone up high obscuring everyone behind you... just to record a video you'll never watch again - especially 'cause the audio is so distorted.

 

[itsmilo]

I don’t think I took a single photo with any of the iPads I ever owned.

 

[PestoBalsamic]

Chaudhri: ...Then seeing that, we went back in and redesigned the camera experience on the ‌iPad‌ — recognizing that this is going to be a thing that we just can't get people away from because they want this larger viewfinder.

Lol. No. That's not why. No one cares about the giant view finder. It's because its the only product they have, and it takes pictures. These people don't have iPhones.

 

[oneMadRssn]

I somewhat agree with that. Good marketing in my opinion is also about educating consumers on problems they don't even know they have. Or, inventing a problem and also selling them a solution. At least that is what marketing in the USA has been for the past decade or more....

I disagree with the bolded part. That isn't good marketing, that's snake-oil salesmanship, and while it works more than I like, I think the plurality of people recognize it for what it is.

 

[barkomatic]

They developed an entire operating system for a device they initially intended to be used as a digital photo frame? That wasn't mentioned at launch. . .

 

[iapplelove]

It’s still my favorite computing device of all time. Especially the 3rd gen

 

[Digital Skunk]

Back when I had to maintain an inventory we used iPad to take photos of the gear and put them into Filemaker Pro. It was far more convenient than using our phones.

But no, I wouldn't normally pull my tablet out (or bring it with me) while on vacation unless it's to organize the photos I've taken with my phone or camera.

The iPad was destined to become a great machine that has yet to find a true competitor. While I love the Surface, and tablets that CAN and DO act as full PCs, I still don't consider them competition to the iPad.

The trimmed down OS, IMHO is one of the benefits because I don't get bogged down with full functionality. Just what I need to do at that time ... simple tasks.

 

[theluggage]

Only after the iPad launched did Apple discover that people really didn't want to set their iPads up as static photo frames,

...what, people didn't want to buy a $500 device and use it as a dedicated photo frame... Who'd have thunk it?

As a device for browsing photos or showing them around in an era when 99% of photos never get printed, however, an iPad was perfect.

and generally that was people that just needed to have a bigger viewfinder for vision reasons, etc

Lol. No. That's not why. No one cares about the giant view finder. It's because its the only product they have, and it takes pictures. These people don't have iPhones.

...or, maybe, they wanted to view/show their photos on the iPad screen and hadn't worked out how to get pictures off their phone and onto their iPad without an intervening Mac and/or an internet connection.

The iPad camera is also useful for quick'n'dirty document capture, when it does help to have that big viewfinder to see what you're doing -I've seen it used for that in education to grab drawings/written work.

Oh, plus, in meetings it is only polite to show the speaker you appreciate them by snapping images of their powerpoint slides.

Remember - the best camera ever is the one that you actually have in your hands when you see a photo op.

 

[toph2toast]

Good marketing isn't guessing/predicting what people want or don't want. Good marketing is educating people about what is available and guiding them to a decision.

I agree with your second point but not your first. A lot of time and research (should) go into making sure the team developing a new product is making something the company can actually sell. If not, it just makes the marketing groups job that much harder, trying to convince people to buy something they don't have a use for. Even on MacRumors there are a bunch of products that people comment on saying "no one needs this" or "that thing is pointless". If the marketing group did its job correctly then that product would have gotten canned before it make it to production.

 

[windowsblowsass]

"Business reasons" = Tim continually jacking the price.

There would have been a last gen available for £249 if Steve was still alive and it would have ruled the education sector.

Curious how much you think iPads cost?
Because the 7th gen is going for $250 on amazon right now.

 

[Freeangel1]

why don't they give it phone capabilities ?
a big iPhone, multimedia hub
use a bluetooth mic/ear piece to talk
then you can mount a iPad or iPad Pro in your car as the ultimate multimedia hub
iPad can even be used as your backup camera device in your car or better yet 360 video viewing in your car
huge audio/video collection can be stored on 1 TB plus of storage
Give it 16GB to 32GB of RAM too

 

[The Phazer]

"Business reasons" = Tim continually jacking the price.

There would have been a last gen available for £249 if Steve was still alive and it would have ruled the education sector.

I wonder if it's more about device and user management. Those tools are flat out bad for schools compared to the competitors, and it's probably that nobody in Apple was willing to spend the money as they didn't see sufficient ROI.

 

[theluggage]

Good marketing isn't guessing/predicting what people want or don't want. Good marketing is educating people about what is available and guiding them to a decision.

Good marketing includes successfully persuading people to buy what you have to sell. If you've just invested millions developing a lemon, you better start hyping up lemonade, at least for the next quarter. If you start educating them they might go and buy a competing product.

Good product design includes guessing/predicting what people want or don't want and being right.

Its easy to forget that last bit when making claims like "Good X is all about simplistic soundbite Y" - a lot of modern management theory seems to be based on enumerating all of the rules but rejecting rule 1 ("Give a stuff about what you are doing") and rule 2 ("Rules are there to make you think before breaking them." ((c) Pratchett)).

 

[Mdracer]

I bet you're the type of selfish ******* that goes to a gig and holds their phone up high obscuring everyone behind you... just to record a video you'll never watch again - especially 'cause the audio is so distorted.

Lol, whats got you so upset?

I prefer to not record live events especially when its already being recorded by a network with much better cameras and professionals that can be relived through a DVR or YouTube.

-live your life, dont record your crap.

 

[windowsblowsass]

why don't they give it phone capabilities ?
a big iPhone, multimedia hub
use a bluetooth mic/ear piece to talk
then you can mount a iPad or iPad Pro in your car as the ultimate multimedia hub
iPad can even be used as your backup camera device in your car or better yet 360 video viewing in your car
huge audio/video collection can be stored on 1 TB plus of storage
Give it 16GB to 32GB of RAM too

so you just want a cellular iPad Pro with more ram?

 

[citysnaps]

Good marketing isn't guessing/predicting what people want or don't want. Good marketing is educating people about what is available and guiding them to a decision.

Amen to that, having been in similar new product situations in the past.