Once again, it was a delight to watch Steve Jobs today, legs crossed, sitting in a comfortable chair, reading the New York Times on his Apple iPad. “It’s amazing!…”It’s unbelievable..It’s great…better than a laptop…holding the Internet in your hands…an incredible experience…it’s a dream to type on…an awesome way to experience your music…it’s so much more intimate than a smartphone…”
But one thing that must have made Steve Jobs’ eyes dance were the advertising revenues that will flow from recently-acquired Quattro Wireless, one of the largest mobile ad networks in the world. The iPad could re-define an ideal mobile device suited for mobile advertising.
So much for those fantastic Mac laptops and iPhones. Now, there’s a better experience, resting comfortably on your lap. Apple’s marketers might even have called the new device an “iLap” rather than “iPad,” which brings to mind a yellow pad of paper.
Steve Jobs with an Apple iPad
As I wrote about evolving 3G mobile devices, such as Amazon’s Kindle, Sony’s e-Reader and B&N’s Nook, the iPad’s 10 inch real estate offers marketers and advertisers a mobile computer for the majority of consumers who will never buy an iPhone. And, in another MobileBeyond post: “Is the Kindle Your Next Mobile Phone?”
Forget the ignored, tiny type of SMS ads on feature phones and smartphones. Now there’s room for what advertisers and brands truly seek: colorful, attractive, well-designed online ad real estate on a mobile marketing device that rests in your lap.
While the iPad won’t decimate notebook computers or mobile phones, it could put the final nail in the coffin of desktop computers. In the past several years, consumers in developed nations have increasingly migrated to laptops and, of late, netbooks, due to their lower cost, faster processors and connection to the mobile Internet cloud.
As the surge toward mobility continues in developing nations, devices like the iPad could become the mobile device of choice as prices for mobile devices continue dropping.
Until then, I believe Jobs has scored another win–a evolutionary mobile communications device for the masses.
That’s cool…really cool…awesome too.
Steve Jobs, an icon of technology, die October 5, 2011
Apple announced today (8/20/10) that it was closing Quattro Wireless and continuing to build its iAd network. Quattro was known for serving premium publishers and brands. Apple’s strong stance with AT&T in the carrier market was a first. I have no doubt that Steve Jobs and Apple will be equally forceful in the fast-growing mobile ad business.