It’s Christmas in March for lots of new iPad owners. My decision not to upgrade from the firstborn iPad is already being tested as friends MMS pictures of their new prized possession.
A year ago, I was pretty giddy about the iPad myself. I had a feeling we were about to see something big, but alas I wasn’t able to come up with a cool term like “post-PC era.”
I knew a shift was happening though:
The era we’re entering now arguably started with the iPod, which ultimately paved the way for the iPhone. As amazing as the iPhone is, it’s really just a mini prototype of the future of computing, a future that most of us will live to see in the not-too-distant future.
[…]
The iPad very likely represents the next step in the convergence of “mobile” with conventional computing. The increase in the size of the device is symbolic of the fact that mobile technology is expanding into a space previously occupied by conventional computers, and I believe it will ultimately expand into spaces we can’t even see right now.
That last part still excites me the most. If you think all the hype is just consumer-driven hysteria over the latest Apple thing, you’re being shortsighted. This is bigger than the iPad, and I think the adjacent possible is about to get really interesting.
Don’t agree? Well, try this perspective on for size: The next time you watch a child use an iPad, think about what your knowledge-based toys looked like when you were their age.
The iPad is their slide rule; their typewriter; their Commodore 64. As great as the iPad is, it’s more mind blowing to imagine what will soon deprecate it.
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Wow.
My father had a pretty slick multisliderule when he was a student at Georgia Tech in the nineteen fifties. Once, I knew how to use it.
I bought an old Radio Shack TRS-80 (if memory serves) and thought it was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen.
I hold the Internet in my hand every day, talking to friends and tracking people who are already reading my blog post from today in Australia tomorrow.
My granddaughter has a stuffed toy with a chip in it that knows her name and asks her to play.
These things give me monster goosebumps. Isn’t it an absolutely fabulous time to be alive?
Greg
I disagree. The iPhone, and everything that came after, is far more important. You can do nearly everything you can on a computer, and a lot you can’t, on something that fits in your pocket. When the ipad can fit in my pocket so easily I forget it’s there, then we’re talking.
On my Commodore 64, if I wanted to write my own programs, I would simply start typing:
10 PRINT “Hello world!”
20 GOTO 10
RUN
How can a modern child try programming on his iPad?
Max, you make a good point. I certainly agree that the iPad isn’t an all-in-one creation tool. Not even close — yet.
But I would respond to your question with another: How could a child create, edit, and produce music and videos on a Commodore 64?
Even what were considered the most sophisticated types of content creation a few years ago are becoming mainstream. Kids may not be able to write code on the iPad, but they will definitely create with it.
Thanks for your comment and making me think.