patriciahandschiegel:

“Slate-type devices, like the thank-God-it-was-canned Smart Display and the it-might-be-released-now-but-who-cares JooJoo, have the limitations of keyboard-less design that make long text entry or complex editing impractical. But their screens are too large to comfortably use for frequent touch input. And they’re too big to fit in a pocket.” — from a recent blogger post about Apple’s alleged soon-to-launch tablet PC

It almost seems fitting to be writing about this today. It’s the first day of a new year and also, the start of a new era for the internet platform. The world, and how we communicate and receive information, is going to be a much different place from now on — in ways many can only begin to imagine. When you’re thinking about the new movement regarding internet accessible devices, like tablet PCs, it’s important to see the internet beyond computing and surfing to its greater purpose in our society: To foster communication and information distribution. This means hosting our landline and mobile phones (which will now be one), textual communications (email, IM, social networks, etc.) and enabling us to receive information in multiple forms — print and television, which will now be digital.

In this landscape, not all devices will be created for user computing. I.E., they may be used to watch TV, versus text entry. They may be solely to provide voice communications capabilities, or they may provide many things in one —the ability to watch TV, voice and text communications, receive and read print information, etc. (like iPhone). It will be vast and vary, because virtually anything can be wired to access the internet platform — toys, cars, vending machines, whatever you’d like. Not all of these things will be created with computing in mind. Apple understands this. In fact, it’s very clearly (and wisely) banking its future on it. A tablet is a natural extension of the iPhone experience, and will ready the user base to accept new and other devices, like internet flat panel television sets. If Apple tried to launch an internet TV set now, it’d likely see little success. Users just aren’t able to move like that. However, a middle device (tablet) that feels like a natural extension from what’s already familiar (iPhone) would enable it. People study Apple’s movements so intensely, yet rarely acknowledge what the company is really good at: Migrating users to new ideas and concepts. Apple knows the internet platform is not just a computing platform, a surfing platform, etc. It’s creating the devices to enable this, and most of all, moving everybody there.

Which is why consumer tablet PCs have failed in the past. The pieces weren’t in place to foster real use. Prior to 2005, the internet platform didn’t have the ability to deliver things that made sense to a consumer tablet device (like watching TV), devices weren’t able to deliver internet access well enough, and consumers weren’t there. It’s not possible to feed a baby a steak when its only capable of eating baby food. It’s also not possible to eat a cake that isn’t baked yet. You can’t ride a bicycle without learning how to do it. Learning how to happens a lot faster if someone shows you how to do it. Up until present, that was the internet environment. Apple understands this.

Watch for the tablet to likely be introduced as a viewing/gaming/passive activity device, part of the bigger suite of devices that you — the consumer — can use to tap the new (internet) platform. More importantly, pay close attention to how Apple operates to train and move everyone in that direction to its advantage. This, and a knowledge of what the internet is and can do, is the real secret to the company’s success.

For the record, a very large portion of things the internet promised to but didn’t in the past was because it, the users and/or the devices weren’t ready. Companies not only failed to realize this, but then also failed to understand the need to introduce and train users once the pieces were in place.

Joe says: I don’t totally agree with Patricia, but she makes the point I have been for some time, that there have been qualitative and quantitative changes in the Web from 2006 (She says “prior to 2005”; close enough).

[Photo Credit: Jonathan Zander]

Do you have a device story that you’d like told? Please email Joe Wilcox: oddlytogether at gmail dot com.