Apple's 'latest creation' heralds a new age for publishing industry

Whether or not the iPad, Apple's “latest creation” — aimed to combine the features of a laptop, e-reader, smartphone and even a portable games console, will be as successful as the iPhone and the iPod, the device is set to usher in a new age for the publishing industry — especially for the struggling news media.

At Wednesday's presentation at the Yerba Buena Center, the technology giant's CEO showcased the tablet device, which features a 9.7-inch color screen that doubles as a multi-touch input display, wireless connectivity, (WiFi or WiFi plus 3G depending on the models), motion-sensing accelerometer and a battery life of 10 hours (according to Apple's own estimation).

Jobs, who is famed for saving the best for last in his presentations, definitely knew he had a lot of convincing to do as he kicked off Wednesday's event with the key device, and talked about almost nothing else throughout. The market was not impressed by the specifications of the device. Some saw it as nothing more than an oversized iPhone that does not have any dialing capability. Apple's stock price took a dive shortly into Jobs' speech.

However, those focusing on the technical specifications might be missing the point. The secret behind Apple's success is not its ability to combine all the latest technologies in one device, but rather its insight into users' needs and its ability to create a device providing an integrated usage expereince.

When Apple introduced the first iPods with 5 GB hard disks, many scratched their heads over the reason why a musical device needed such a gigantic storage space. At the time when most of the models were equipped with less than one-tenth of the iPod's storage, the idea of manufacturing a device that can store thousands of songs seemed pointless. It would take forever just to locate the right song.

Yet, the company abandoned the traditional button input and introduced the signature scroll wheel mechanism, enabling the user to browse through thousands of songs single-handedly. That changed everything. The freedom of having the users' almost entire music library on-the-go and at their fingertips set iPod apart from most of its competitors. The same happened with the iPhone's touch-screen and motion-sensor, which transform the experience of handling a smartphone.

Now Apple is hoping to do it again by revolutionizing the reading and Internet browsing experience. This time, however, the company is not pinning its hope on the tech spec of the device, but on what it called an “unbelievable feature:” low price. The US$499 price tag for the cheapest model (with 16 GB storage and WiFi connection only) is half the price anticipated by most.

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