Wired Magazine, a narrative of digital media expansion, released its iPad app today, fully acknowledging the irony that after preaching all things digital for so long, they are just now making the switch from print in 2010. They, alongside many others, have gotten on board with the tablet trend of digital books, news and magazines, which Apple took by storm with its April launch of the iPad.
The next question in this fast-paced environment is, “are competitors already too late?” Has Apple set an unreachable precedent in the market for tablets? Does this early mover advantage have questionable staying power, or did Apple wait until the market was primed by initial forays into this new medium before jumping in just ahead of the crowd. Dell is right on Apple’s heels with its summer tablet release, showing it thinks the tablet market is still up for grabs.
So, where does this leave Amazon’s Kindle? At one point, they claimed first mover advantage rights. The Kindle showed up as the first of this type of product with a mass appeal, though it lacked the operational system the current products have. In short order, the eReader’s advantage fell to the way side as more aesthetically pleasing and versatile technology took precedence.
To me, this hearkens back to the Newton, a little known first-try by Apple at a handheld PDA in the 1980s. It flopped and then was mostly forgotten in the shadow of the now outdated Palm Pilot. The life cycle of technology is growing ever shorter as newer, faster, sleeker and more connected versions of portable device, whether phones, tablets or otherwise, become available almost before the previous ones have been adopted.
As this competitive landscape saturates and more people convert to pad and tablet computing technologies, marketers will face a new challenge. Of Porter’s 5 forces, competitors will be the largest concern, but not just in the form of powerful companies. The iPad will obviously compete with other tablets, but it is actually smart phones, laptops, and other similar technologies that the iPad has yet to differentiate itself from that will pose the greatest threat. Apple must convince buyers that the iPad truly is a differentiated good, not just an iPod Touch in a different shape. Perhaps iPad convert, Wired Magazine, will have some convincing thoughts in their digital June issue, or maybe the simple existence of the app speaks for itself.
