Yaros on Multimedia

Apple's iPad

As far as I can tell, Apple hasn’t framed the iPad as a product that will replace previous successes….just a new addition to the collection of devices that already boast easy use, instant access and – for those who complained since day 1 about reading and writing on tiny phone screens – versatility in how one interacts with content. Few auto makers can boast that ALL of its models are the top sellers in the industry. Why are so many people so critical of yet another device that will surely satisfy the needs of those who need something bigger than a phone but something smaller (and lighter) than a laptop? I think the predictions, praise and criticism are silly and premature at this point and a waste of time to read.

In the interim, let’s consider the more important issue of society comprehending content on a screen and the older predictions that bookstores will disappear or libraries be abandoned. It was, after all, Bill Gates who - IN 2007 - talked about reading going “completely online.” http://tiny.cc/OWuG9

And as CNN reported, at least one city where bookstores are already a thing of the past. http://tiny.cc/PyRQ3

If Bill’s predictions are accurate and the trend in decreasing bookstores continues, all of the comments, predictions and criticisms at the launch of the iPad are merely personal opinion, forecasts and reactions – especially from a VERY small portion of the population that eats, drinks, sleeps technology. It will be the rapidly growing audience of digital natives that will determine the fate of the iPad and – more importantly – the task of reading info on a screen.

Here’s an “Editor and Publisher” article that supports my cyber psychology research since 2000, which repeatedly confirmed scanning behaviors of users in traditional “pick and choose” web sites. Based on my ongoing research, however, the importance of web “usability” (length of headlines, for example) continues to shift to how content is structured for personalized delivery to users.

My current data suggest this process is becoming crucial as more mobile devices provide web access. The industry continues to lag behind the audiences.

This monumental disaster demonstrates how international communication online and via mobile technologies – utilized by rapidly growing social media audiences of all ages – now play major roles in the: (1) distribution of news about natural disasters in remote areas, (2) search and rescue of an overwhelming number of people, and (3) coordination of international aide to those in need.

One can only imagine how much longer it would have taken to coordinate the swell of global support we now see. It has been fascinating to compare professional and citizen reporting and their integration via cell phones, Twitter feeds, and Skype video. Never before could an international network audience watch a prominent person such as CNN’s Larry King interview an American student via live streaming video from his computer in Haiti as he narrated his iPhone photos of the disaster.