What does the iPad mean for content delivery?

January 28th, 2010

As I’m sure you already know, yesterday, Apple CEO and nerd king Steve Jobs revealed the iPad. The reviews are mixed, but the thing looks effin’ sweet. If you haven’t seen SI editor Terry McDonnell demo the way his magazine is going to look on the tablet, you need to watch it. Like, now. Go on. Click. I’ll wait here.

But you can find iPad news/specs/whatever all over the internet; my question is, what does it mean for us? For Skadaddle. For content producers everywhere.

Look, the thing is far from perfect. I wish it had a camera. I wish it ran Flash. I wish it wasn’t exclusive to AT&T. But the iPod had its flaws too. So did the iPhone. Neither of those are perfect yet either, but they’re damn near ubiquitous. Obviously, it’s way too early to tell (the iPad comes out in April), but yesterday’s demo shed some light on a few ways the new technology could impact what we do.

Interactivity

The way all of the iPad’s functions interacted with each other in the demo was absolutely awesome. It could open up all kinds of doors, for both entertainment purposes and product placement. What if you were watching an episode of your favorite show that Domino’s is a featured sponsor of, and you could click right in the episode to order a pizza online? Or vote for your Pro Bowl picks right on the screen while watching an NFL game live? Pretty cool, huh? Although why you’d want to order a pizza from Domino’s, I’m not really sure, but I digress.

A New Medium

Let’s face it, while it’s cool that phones play video now, that 4 inch screen isn’t exactly the optimal way to watch your favorite shows. The iPad has the big, easy-to-watch screen of a laptop or portable DVD player, but it runs apps like an iPhone. Soon will be the day that your Skadaddle.tv app automatically downloads all of our new content into your iTunes without you doing a thing, so that it’s good and ready for you to watch on your next flight.

Content…all the time

Being essentially a portable TV, among other things, if the iPad becomes as pervasive as the iPod or iPhone (and it could), it means that people aren’t just going to want good content during the time they’re watching TV or sitting at their computers…they’re going to want it all the frickin’ time. On the treadmill. At the airport. In the backseat of a taxi. We (content producers, all of us) better get crankin’.
So, will the iPad “change the world?” I don’t know. A lot of people seem to think so. A lot of others disagree. Only time will tell. But what’s for certain is that it looks like it will offer some very cool new opportunities for anyone making media or consuming it.