If I were Apple
Just an idea that i’ve been kicking around in my head.
The Concept
If I were Apple and I had an tablet I sure wouldn’t market it as a tablet computer. I don’t think that is what is going to really make people want to buy another Apple product. People are already buying computers from apple because what it has done to their computer experience. It’s made it better for most people. The same is true of the music business. Apple made music easy to access and gave people the ability to get take their cd collection with them. Having said both of those things here what I think makes sense for Apple.
The Apple iTablet/iReader/iBook
Welcome to the new Ereader/Portable from Apple. Yes, that’s what they should do if they aren’t planning this already. The print media is dying and nobody thinks that it’s going to get any better. What Apple should do is revolutionize the news business like they did to the dying music business. The music business has been tried over and over to reinvent itself but continues to fail. The bottom line is that today’s consumer wants their stuff digitally. The good news that if done right the print business can get profitable again. (at least that’s what I think but I am not an expert)
The Competition
Amazon has for some time been selling ebooks via the kindle. By many accounts for avid readers the kindle is a success. The thing is that it lacks the WOW factor that Apple brings to the market. The Kindle looks like something that may have fallen off the truck from the Redmond R&D dept. It’s a great first generation stab at ebooks but I can’t see people really loving this device. Let’s face it, it doesn’t have the sex appeal that you need to get the masses to buy these days.
So What should Apple Do?
I think what makes sense to me is for Apple to create a product that targets group of people that want a cool device, that read books, and people that are more than willing to be Apple evangelists. Who are these people? College Students.
If Apple could work with the publishers of educational books so that they could sell books to students then you’ve got something. Students buy their textbooks from Apple instead of their local University Bookstore. Talk about some serious profit! If I were a Bookstore I would be very concerned. Apple would need to make the case that the cost of the device plus all books for a student term in college would be cheaper than buying all of your books from the bookstore. There is a subscription model here to be had the more I think about it.
There are a couple more things that could really provide some value if executed well. I’ll just bullet point them because I don’t have the time to think through the details right now.
- Find a study group by using location based service.
- Take notes in an embedded application that would allow for easy sharing and referencing.
- Audio note taking in class while inputting text on a virtual keyboard.
The Other Market
The other market for this device are the rest of us that read for fun, for work or for whatever other reason. If Apple were to make a device that was able to keep people connected to their device for their news and their periodicals then you have something. The advertising revenues for this device could be fantastic for Apple! The iPhone in my opinion is just a test platform for this kind of play especially if they have location based services on the device.
Wrapping Up
Well I could go on and on with ideas on how to make this work but I won’t. I just wanted to conceptually get these ideas out. There are lots of applications and implications for this device but I will just get these out on the table for now. The one thing that would really sweeten the deal is if Apple and Amazon could come together and partner up on this. With that level of Media Muscle in place then the deal could be amazing. Just an idea that’s been kicking around in my head.
