Ever since the iPad has been released, people have been talking about the relationship between all of Apple’s products: the laptop, the iPhone, the iPod touch and now the iPad. Where will the iPad fit in? What most of us didn’t know until yesterday, however, was that Apple’s plans for the order of creating these new markets was actually planned. The iPad was not a take-off of the iPhone – it was actually the initial spark that set the concept rolling.
As Steve Jobs says (see Engadget for transcript):
I had this idea about having a glass display, a multitouch display you could type on. I asked our people about it. And six months later they came back with this amazing display. And I gave it to one of our really brilliant UI guys. He then got inertial scrolling working and some other things, and I thought, ‘my god, we can build a phone with this’ and we put the tablet aside, and we went to work on the phone..
Today I read MobileBeat’s question, “How different would the world be if Apple did the iPad before the iPhone?”, I’ve been thinking about the question ever since. MobileBeat expresses regret that had the tablet revolution started earlier, then the tablet computer would have been in a different place today. From the perspective of tablets, this may be true, but what about phones? Where would they be today, had the iPhone not been released first? And would the concept of the iPad ever taken off had it gone to market first?
I asked Irv Shapiro, CEO and Founder of Ifbyphone, a cloud telephony provider, his opinion on why Apple chose to create these new markets in this specific order. He commented:
By releasing the iPhone first, Apple was able to introduce a new UI on a device with less expectations since their was no true phone interface standard. Then when they released the iPad, users have already grown to love the tough UI. If they would have started with the iPad the lack of a keyboard would have killed it. With a phone a keypad is secondary — with a laptop it is primary. Another good move by Apple.
What fascinates me about Jobs’ statement, and Shapiro’s analysis, is that Apple was actually contemplating two revolutionary ideas at the same time, and deciding which to market first – knowing well that the order would have a great impact on the new market development.
I’m still thinking about the theoretical implications for mobile marketing, advertising, apps, and other iPhone outgrowths had Apple released the iPad first. What do you think?
Related posts:
- How to Advertise on the iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch: Whistle’s iPhone App
- Apple Approves First VoIP App Over 3G: iCall
- Cisco’s Web Conferencing App for iPad
- Is the iPad for Business Execs? 4 Sources to Get You Thinking
- Modern Family’s iPad Product Placement
