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I don’t claim to be an avid Apple fan, although I have owned numerous iPods and currently use an iPhone which I’ve been very impressed by. However, like many people, my curiosity and liking of gadgetry tech drew me towards the events that were to be announced yesterday night by Apple’s CEO, Steve Jobs.

In case you haven’t already heard (most have!), Apple has announced the release of a new product, the iPad. That said, there’s still a lot of people wondering what it does exactly.

What is it?

Apple says…Our most advanced technology in a magical and revolutionary device at an unbelievable price.

On first impressions you could mistake the Apple iPad for an over-sized iPhone.  Apple is aiming to gain market share from the likes of netbooks (those underpowered mini laptops) and Ebook readers already on the market such as Amazon’s Kindle.

What does it do?

The iPad attempts to do everything that your laptop can, while offering almost everything your smartphone can do as well (apart from make calls, I think!). You’ll be able to do your work on it, with the release of an iPad version of iWorks (Apple’s version of MS Office), access iTunes, iPhone apps, play music, upload your photos, watch video, browse the web and access your email.

iBookstore

Possibly one of the biggest uses for the Apple iPad is to be able to read stuff much easier electronically through the iBooks app. Books, newspapers you name it. For the avid reader that doesn’t want to resort to the small screen of their iPhone and wants the convenience of having a range of materials on tap, the iPad seems like a good idea. As you can imagine the crippled print industry has been getting more than excited about this.

The iBook store already has major contracts with some of the large book publishers such as Penguin and Harper Collins. Its software is also using the open source book software, so once you pay for them you can read them on other pieces of hardware (like Amazon’s Kindle) too.

Who will use it?
Anyone, but existing Apple customers will know best. Apple is claiming that millions will already be familiar with the iPad having never previously owned one, through the familiarity they already have with using other Apple products such as the iPhone, iPod Touch and iMac. I for one don’t doubt their claim.

The Techy Bit?

• Screen 9.7 inches
• Memory: 16/32/64 GB
• Multi-touch screen technology
• 1.5 ibs and 0.5 inches thin
• 10 hours battery life
• Wifi
• 3G
• Dock Connector port

There’s a lot of criticism about Apple’s new gadget already. Perhaps what a lot of people forget is that Apple has been a follower into markets many times before. They watch, look at new ways that media can be absorbed, from the innovators and then go ahead and create awesomely user-friendly products that take those markets by storm. Apple is one of the few companies that really get away without following the normal product development rules, the brand, the usability and the tech just work. Examples include: nowhere to the number one music seller (online at least!) with the iPod; and from nowhere to the number one smart phone (iPhone).

Will we see Apple come from nowhere to be the number one book seller? Or will it just be the netbook market that it really impacts? Maybe it’ll just flop altogether!

I, like a lot of people, won’t be investing just yet, but I have no doubt that as it’s refined and the market grows they’ll get to me too!

What’s this all got to do with digital marketing?

We all know that the web has been growing and expanding, impacting industry by industry. Some are yet to be majorly affected, others like retail and travel have been massively impacted. The shift from brands existing in channels to now living in networks has made brands change the way that they market themselves forever. More recently we have seen how the web is going to create the new age for the music industry, with the introduction of iTunes and Spotify. Could it now be the publishers turn? The cause of so much debate recently (Murdoch Vs Google).  Will we see more subscription-based models emerging, finding a middle ground between paid for and free content, kick started by new technologies such as the iPad and the iBookstore as the music industry was by the iPod and iTunes.

Read more about Digital Marketing Expertise from iCrossing.