Who are these people buying iPads?

Most of the people that are buying the iPad will fall into a few distinct camps. The Apple curious, those people who usually buy a new Apple product when it first comes out. A good number of them are buying it because they also need to report on them for the various websites, blogs, podcasts, and whatever.

The Apple fanboys who buy everything Apple comes out with even if they can’t figure out a use for it. Eventually it will end up in the closet along with the Apple iPod HiFi and iPod socks (in every color) that they had to have.

Quite a few of the others may be buying it (whether for themselves or those they love) because they have enjoyed their iPhones and iPod Touches and have come to the realization that something like the iPad is all they really need. Let me explain.

Part of what might make the iPad successful (as well as any other products of this nature in the future like the Joo Joo or an Android, Windows 7 mobile, and possibly Linux-based tablets) is that they are NOT a full fledged OS with all the hassles that entails. I include OS X in that as well as Windows and Linux because while it’s not that big a deal for people like you or me (or many of us that will read this), quite a few people find technology daunting and difficult to deal with. Their Windows machines are too hard to keep up and going to a brand new architecture like OS X will be too expensive. They’re afraid because of all these stories about viruses and malware and people’s personal information being traded like just another commodity. What can they do to still enjoy the new frontier of the internet and keep in touch with all their friends? The iPad may be just what they wanted. Products like this may help to break the back of a long-time problem. Botnets.

We hear about these botnets with millions of computers. How were they created? Because those same millions of computer owners have jumped into computing without fully understanding that in order to remain safe, there are procedures that must be followed to prevent getting snagged. This isn’t a Windows slam in particular because sooner or later the falsehood of the OS X brick wall where you can do whatever you want without fear is going to tumble. It’s really just a matter of time (though not a matter of market-share).

Time and time again these people get snared and almost without fail go looking for The Geek Squad or somesuch to bail them out or thinking that it’s their computer is too slow, just go out and buy another. And the cycle repeats itself because they just don’t understand the technology. It isn’t because they’re stupid, it’s that their field is not computers. They aren’t using Photoshop or Final Cut Pro or really anything that requires a multi-core processor, just an email program, a web browser, and other simple processes that the iPad or whatever can provide.

For them, a closed archetecture is not a boogeyman, but a security blanket where they know that it doesn’t matter what they do online, it’s a safe(r) experience than the one they came from. It’s why the Android and possibly Windows Mobile may evolve into a similar closed type of experience. Lots of applications to do pretty much whatever you want, but secure and checked against possible harm.

Critics have complained about the iPhone/ iPod Touch/ iPad closed nature without realizing that this is exactly the point of a device like this. It’s why the iPhone has done as well as it has. An experience where the software a user will put on it isn’t going to cause the device to fail. Knowing Apple, It may never open up the iPhone OS to outside sources beyond iTunes and the App Store. As far as the other big complaint about single-tasking vs multi-tasking, that may (and should) change as the iPad market expands (assuming it does).

Besides being obvious control freaks, why has Apple gone this route and why (with the iPhone and iPod Touch) has it been so successful? Aren’t open standards and the ability to do what WE want with OUR devices where the market is going? Turns out no it isn’t. Because of the very nature of Man (where bad people want what you have with as little work as possible), this could very well be the future of computing. Look how locked down corporate networks are and how much hand-holding both Apple and Microsoft do to try and keep their customers safe. In open software systems like OS X and Windows (where people can write whatever they want and people can install whatever they want) it’s impossible. The iPhone and soon the iPad is showing that if you really want to be safe, the only way to do it for the masses is to have a closed system.

This is not particulary a future I’m looking forward to even if it’s Apple that benefits.