How to compete with iPad →
Matt Gemmell writes an open letter to potential iPad competitors, giving some sound advice:
I’m a little worried about you, though. Your usual tactic is to simply copy the industrial design of the most successful product, reduce the price, then adopt a pump and dump strategy until your next quarterly financials. That’s fine in itself; that’s how business works. I just think you’re misinterpreting both why people are excited about the iPad (even if they don’t realise it), and what exactly you need to copy. I think you might be on a dead-end track without even realising it. […]
Competition is good, but only as long as it’s good competition. A flood of second-rate imitations doesn’t help anyone; not the customer, and not even your bottom line. The better you compete, the more marketshare you’ll have and the more choice the consumer will have. I’m trying to take a long-term view of this burgeoning market, because it’s the responsible thing to do given that I care about empowering people in general, rather than enriching one specific company (whichever company that might be).
When people complain about the iPad is going to dumb down our future generations by inhibiting creativity, they don’t take into consideration that this is an open competitive market, and the best product wins. The iPad may fail and remain a hobby, but if it succeeds in winning hearts over, it actually is a better product.
Recommended reading; and if you happen to know anyone who’s making an iPad competitor, pass it along.
