Ok, so iPad was launched and as any apple product in the recent years a lot of worldwide attention was put into it, I had the opportunity to watch a streaming video from the launching event, in a sort of way I felt that the crowd behaved somehow like in a concert, by moments the audience was putting a lot of attention just to end up screaming and applauding as if apple was a rock band and Steve Jobs finished playing a master guitar solo, Apple does not have consumers, it has fans.
I am a mac user, and I am very happy with my product, but I am sick of hearing in design conferences praises for the iPod and other apple stuff, I mean, its enough, we have to look beyond and start seeing the real revolution that this might ignite.
On the iPad presentation it was also presented a new Apple software, called iBooks (I think we also have had enough of the i thing, but lets leave that for another
occasion) as we could infer from its name, this software its all about buying, reading, sharing and comment ebooks, much like the iTunes for books, which its not a new thing in the market, but is definitely new in the universe of coolness that Apple has starring in the last years.
So here is the thing that can cause a real revolution, honestly, reading books its not regarded, at least in Mexican youth, as a cool thing to do, reading books is a nerdy thing, as a matter of a fact Mexicans have a real low reading habits with only 2.8 books per year as a publication Letras Libres of 2007 acclaim. So now that reading will be related to the Apple coolness factor, how will this change? And I mean not only in our reading habits but also in our writing willingness and skills.
If iBooks with all the merchandise and values of the Apple brand manage to get reading to be seen as a cool thing, then we will be seeing a real revolution, imagine going to Starbucks, instead of finding your iTunes coupon for a free song, you will be finding an iBooks coupon for a free book, imagine also walking on a public park and see a young girl leaning against a bench with its iPad reading a book, I definitely think that this kind of things will change our reading habits.
We would also have to consider the sharing part of the software, I don really know, but I guess that you will be able to see what books had your friends acquired and comments about them, I also guess that buying will be really easy, just dragging a book with your finger in the screen will be enough for you to start reading, you wont have to go through the traffic find a parking lot for your car, wonder through the bookstore, make a line and buy a book, everything will be much more easier and immediate.
Don’t get me wrong, going in a bookstore it’s a whole experience, we will still have to see how this will be managed in the software, my point is that things will go much more faster.
I now this is not a new thing, but forgive me Amazon, Kindle and Barns & noble, et al, you are not as cool as Apple, hope to see also how will they manage this competition, because its really a good opportunity, if the now how to handle it.
Ok, so I just guess we will have to wait and see how this goes on, personally I will not buy an iPad, and will still go to a bookstore and buy a physical book, I just like how they smell.
