Posted on February 4th, 2013
0For Immediate Release:
The 21st Century Youth Project is engaging professional computer engineers from top Chicago-based companies
As part of its most recent endeavor (the OpenHack project), 21stCYP is giving successful computer engineers a chance to make an impact while providing young techies with a great mentoring opportunity with the help of Groupon Chicago.
Monday, February 4th 2013:
For many young, aspiring computer gurus, getting a chance to learn directly from experienced computer engineers (who are already major players in the industry) might be considered an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Ambitious middle and high school students in and around the Chicago area are soon going to be able to do just that, courtesy of the “OpenHack” project brought to us courtesy of the 21st CYP (www.21CYP.com), and Groupon Chicago.
Just imagine being able to bring targeted training to the brightest and most enthusiastic students with an interest in computer engineering and web development. In short, this is a great opportunity for the youth, who will undoubtedly gain great advantages through participation. Likewise, this particular project will give computer engineers a forum for expressing their ideas and concepts to an eager audience who will most likely implement them in their future endeavors. In other words, it’s a chance for successful computer wizards to give back, while at the same time being able to foster a community around their awe-inspiring ideas.
The group responsible for creating and initiating this ground-breaking educational program is the 21st Century Youth Project. They have received numerous awards (including the prestigious Edison Award) for their efforts and have led a number of highly successful projects with similar aims. In short, these are very forward-thinking individuals who are taking steps at the ground level to ensure that children falling under somewhat previously underrepresented demographics get an opportunity to empower themselves through advanced education. By partnering with Groupon, and focusing on the youth, they are providing them with an avenue, which they can use to share their gifts with the world and perhaps even become positive role models in their own right.
The 21st Century Youth Project is slated to launch this amazing project on February 16th, 2013. Engineers who are interested in participating on a volunteer level should sign up at http://tinyurl.com/b465we3. Meetings will be held on Saturdays from 1-5pm at Cibola (tech incubator, 1647 South Blue Island Ave.) in the main classroom. The Mayor of Chicago, Rahm Emanuel, recently commended the founders’ of Cibola stating: “The technology sector in Chicago is a growing, crucial area that will have an enormous impact on the City's economy in the future. I am pleased that organizations like Cibola are focused on improving the diversity of the sector and ensuring that as our economy grows it reflects the diversity and vibrancy of the city's people.” Currently, the plan is to have participating engineers talk about their career, ideas, projects, and develop a lesson plan from 1-2pm. Then from 2-5pm, the students would work on the lesson materials in groups. Furthermore, all lessons will be made available publicly through slideshare.net for access by students at a later date. The radio show Practically Speaking will be covering the event. Practically Speaking is a radio program (Vocalo 90.7, Chicago Public Media) that discusses issues that meet at the intersection of race, culture, and class in fresh and meaningful ways.
This is not only a great opportunity for middle school and high school students, it’s a chance for professional computer engineers to enrich their lives and add some very respectable credentials to their résumé’s as well. The OpenHack project is also co-sponsoring “hackathons” with Cibola (which students and volunteers are urged to participate in as well) which will help them to build real-world skills which are highly sought-after by certain professional organizations.
Volunteers sign up at http://bit.ly/12nBA6q
About The 21st Century Youth Project
The 21st Century Youth Project (www.21CYP.com) teaches technology as a path to opportunity. It is a free comprehensive program that prepares middle and high school students for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Math) careers. The program focuses on improving skills today (through immersive teaching and tutoring), tomorrow (through coaching and mentoring), and the future (through internship placement and Alumni Community), with an entrepreneurial focus. Key deliverables for student participants are creation of mobile (Google Android, iPhone, iPad etc.) and web apps for accompanying business plans, accrual of college credits and case studies on their resumes and digital portfolios because of hands-on tangible skills gained through internship placements.
The 21st Century Youth Project is engaging professional computer engineers from top Chicago-based companies
As part of its most recent endeavor (the OpenHack project), 21stCYP is giving successful computer engineers a chance to make an impact while providing young techies with a great mentoring opportunity with the help of Groupon Chicago.
Monday, February 4th 2013:
For many young, aspiring computer gurus, getting a chance to learn directly from experienced computer engineers (who are already major players in the industry) might be considered an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Ambitious middle and high school students in and around the Chicago area are soon going to be able to do just that, courtesy of the “OpenHack” project brought to us courtesy of the 21st CYP (www.21CYP.com), and Groupon Chicago.
Just imagine being able to bring targeted training to the brightest and most enthusiastic students with an interest in computer engineering and web development. In short, this is a great opportunity for the youth, who will undoubtedly gain great advantages through participation. Likewise, this particular project will give computer engineers a forum for expressing their ideas and concepts to an eager audience who will most likely implement them in their future endeavors. In other words, it’s a chance for successful computer wizards to give back, while at the same time being able to foster a community around their awe-inspiring ideas.
The group responsible for creating and initiating this ground-breaking educational program is the 21st Century Youth Project. They have received numerous awards (including the prestigious Edison Award) for their efforts and have led a number of highly successful projects with similar aims. In short, these are very forward-thinking individuals who are taking steps at the ground level to ensure that children falling under somewhat previously underrepresented demographics get an opportunity to empower themselves through advanced education. By partnering with Groupon, and focusing on the youth, they are providing them with an avenue, which they can use to share their gifts with the world and perhaps even become positive role models in their own right.
The 21st Century Youth Project is slated to launch this amazing project on February 16th, 2013. Engineers who are interested in participating on a volunteer level should sign up at http://tinyurl.com/b465we3. Meetings will be held on Saturdays from 1-5pm at Cibola (tech incubator, 1647 South Blue Island Ave.) in the main classroom. The Mayor of Chicago, Rahm Emanuel, recently commended the founders’ of Cibola stating: “The technology sector in Chicago is a growing, crucial area that will have an enormous impact on the City's economy in the future. I am pleased that organizations like Cibola are focused on improving the diversity of the sector and ensuring that as our economy grows it reflects the diversity and vibrancy of the city's people.” Currently, the plan is to have participating engineers talk about their career, ideas, projects, and develop a lesson plan from 1-2pm. Then from 2-5pm, the students would work on the lesson materials in groups. Furthermore, all lessons will be made available publicly through slideshare.net for access by students at a later date. The radio show Practically Speaking will be covering the event. Practically Speaking is a radio program (Vocalo 90.7, Chicago Public Media) that discusses issues that meet at the intersection of race, culture, and class in fresh and meaningful ways.
This is not only a great opportunity for middle school and high school students, it’s a chance for professional computer engineers to enrich their lives and add some very respectable credentials to their résumé’s as well. The OpenHack project is also co-sponsoring “hackathons” with Cibola (which students and volunteers are urged to participate in as well) which will help them to build real-world skills which are highly sought-after by certain professional organizations.
Volunteers sign up at http://bit.ly/12nBA6q
About The 21st Century Youth Project
The 21st Century Youth Project (www.21CYP.com) teaches technology as a path to opportunity. It is a free comprehensive program that prepares middle and high school students for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Math) careers. The program focuses on improving skills today (through immersive teaching and tutoring), tomorrow (through coaching and mentoring), and the future (through internship placement and Alumni Community), with an entrepreneurial focus. Key deliverables for student participants are creation of mobile (Google Android, iPhone, iPad etc.) and web apps for accompanying business plans, accrual of college credits and case studies on their resumes and digital portfolios because of hands-on tangible skills gained through internship placements.
Posted on June 22nd, 2011
Some of our students are competing in the Chicago Ji-VHackathon Event! The Ji-V Hackathon is a one day hackathon and seminar where developers and designers will form teams of 6 people or less and compete in building an application prototype.
Posted on June 22nd, 2011
Amazingly enough, it has been just over a year since my last post. I’ve been busier than ever, but in a much better place. One of the projects that I have been working on has been the 21st Century Youth Project, an innovative after school initiative to do a small part to change education. The idea first came to me when I read Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell. To give a quick synopsis, one of my major takeaways from the book is that to become very successful, it’s a combination of several elements: perfect place, perfect timing, with the proper training. For many, this seems obvious, but for me, I wanted to think about what institutions could be created to capitalize on the next wave of innovation. In Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell highlights the massive forces that combined to produce Bill Gates and Bill Joy. They had access to computers and equipment that enabled them to code far before most of the people their age.
Seeing how education in America is in shambles from many levels, I wanted to do my part to create an institution on the next paradigm in business and technology: mobile applications. I do believe that we’ve just started to scratch the surface of what is possible, and ten years from now, the most amazing innovations will come from those that are currently 8-12 years old. It made me question why this isn’t being taught at the high school level. But it has led to many discoveries in my quest to implement a program. We are doing two separate pilot programs, one with the Naperville School District and the second one with the Crete Monee School District, two completely different demographics and community dynamics.
Many have asked me what does the 21st Century Youth Project entail:
Mobile App Development: We are using the Google Android platform where the students will each create their own unique app. The fun part about this is that they can create apps for their friends, family, schools, places of worship, or for the general community. We want to develop leaders, and I’m excited about the power of a student creating an app for their school, and receive recognition for the contribution in the same way as a school athlete.
SAT Training: We want to develop students for the next level, being college. Enabling them to slowly receive instruction, we hope to improve their scores so they can attend the school of their dreams. I’m particularly excited about the opportunity to give ACT/SAT math training to communities where paying $1,000 for a class isn’t an option. In many ways, your scores on standardized tests are directly linked to income levels and training, and we’re aiming to bridge that gap.
Business Planning: In addition to building an app, we want the students to understand the business implications and executions of their concepts. They will be formed into teams to discuss their business opportunities and create value for their customers.
Mentorship: I’m excited to give back because I was very fortunate to be a byproduct of many free educational programs that exposed me to business. Growing up, I thought I was going to be a doctor, but my mother always enlisted me in several programs to learn. It has led to my intellectual curiosity and more importantly, I realized business was my calling. I had attended the LEAD Program in Business and in many ways, the 21st Century Youth Project is based on their implementation. The students will be taking tours to college campuses, primarily those with strong computer or engineering departments, attending technology events in Chicago, and attend lectures taught by Chicago software developers.
Open-Source Educational Curriculum: We are slowly enabling, on an invite-only basis, an opportunity to create a dynamic curriculum to be used in the classroom. This curriculum can be edited like Wikipedia and by keeping it open and dynamic, we hope to develop the best curriculum that isn’t based on state mandated codes, but instead, on what is best for the children. We will have topics in business, technology, finance, film, music, fashion, etc. We only care about providing instruction that the students respond to and learn the most.
After nine months of meetings, conference calls, presentations, and pitches to parents, students, faculty, and administrators, we are finally launching the 21st Century Youth Project. Our first day was February 12, 2011, one of the most personally and professionally satisfying experiences. My business partner, Antonio Rowry has been instrumental in executing on this vision, and I’m beyond thankful for his contribution. Recently we added Nicole Yeary, who I believe will take this opportunity to the next level. We’re documenting the progress of the pilot in hopes that we can gear up for a highly successful Summer program. I’ll keep you updated on the progress.
-Emile Cambry, Jr.
Seeing how education in America is in shambles from many levels, I wanted to do my part to create an institution on the next paradigm in business and technology: mobile applications. I do believe that we’ve just started to scratch the surface of what is possible, and ten years from now, the most amazing innovations will come from those that are currently 8-12 years old. It made me question why this isn’t being taught at the high school level. But it has led to many discoveries in my quest to implement a program. We are doing two separate pilot programs, one with the Naperville School District and the second one with the Crete Monee School District, two completely different demographics and community dynamics.
Many have asked me what does the 21st Century Youth Project entail:
Mobile App Development: We are using the Google Android platform where the students will each create their own unique app. The fun part about this is that they can create apps for their friends, family, schools, places of worship, or for the general community. We want to develop leaders, and I’m excited about the power of a student creating an app for their school, and receive recognition for the contribution in the same way as a school athlete.
SAT Training: We want to develop students for the next level, being college. Enabling them to slowly receive instruction, we hope to improve their scores so they can attend the school of their dreams. I’m particularly excited about the opportunity to give ACT/SAT math training to communities where paying $1,000 for a class isn’t an option. In many ways, your scores on standardized tests are directly linked to income levels and training, and we’re aiming to bridge that gap.
Business Planning: In addition to building an app, we want the students to understand the business implications and executions of their concepts. They will be formed into teams to discuss their business opportunities and create value for their customers.
Mentorship: I’m excited to give back because I was very fortunate to be a byproduct of many free educational programs that exposed me to business. Growing up, I thought I was going to be a doctor, but my mother always enlisted me in several programs to learn. It has led to my intellectual curiosity and more importantly, I realized business was my calling. I had attended the LEAD Program in Business and in many ways, the 21st Century Youth Project is based on their implementation. The students will be taking tours to college campuses, primarily those with strong computer or engineering departments, attending technology events in Chicago, and attend lectures taught by Chicago software developers.
Open-Source Educational Curriculum: We are slowly enabling, on an invite-only basis, an opportunity to create a dynamic curriculum to be used in the classroom. This curriculum can be edited like Wikipedia and by keeping it open and dynamic, we hope to develop the best curriculum that isn’t based on state mandated codes, but instead, on what is best for the children. We will have topics in business, technology, finance, film, music, fashion, etc. We only care about providing instruction that the students respond to and learn the most.
After nine months of meetings, conference calls, presentations, and pitches to parents, students, faculty, and administrators, we are finally launching the 21st Century Youth Project. Our first day was February 12, 2011, one of the most personally and professionally satisfying experiences. My business partner, Antonio Rowry has been instrumental in executing on this vision, and I’m beyond thankful for his contribution. Recently we added Nicole Yeary, who I believe will take this opportunity to the next level. We’re documenting the progress of the pilot in hopes that we can gear up for a highly successful Summer program. I’ll keep you updated on the progress.
-Emile Cambry, Jr.
by Emile Cambry, Jr. on April 24th, 2010
Steve Jobs is a genius not just for being an innovator, but for the subtle, yet enticing ways his phonemes affect our cognition. Apple has created, transformed, and is responsible for the creative destruction of music, movies, and mobile phones; traditional industries where Apple had minimal experience and these industries are characterized by tremendous competition and razor-thin (and decreasing) margins. Despite this, Apple has revived those industries while increasing market share of its core computing business. Apple is rarely first to market when introducing new products or technology, but is the undisputed champion in intimately understanding the user. They don’t focus on being the first, they focus on being the best. They control the user experience and create a platform for external innovation with iTunes and the App store. Apple’s singular focus of owning the customer experience differentiates Apple from their competitors. This business model was almost their downfall over ten years ago, when conventional wisdom of creating software and hardware was a no-no. Doing both was considered a surefire path to failure because you couldn’t capitalize on the economies of scale and they were almost always premium priced to competitors. Apple excels at creating a superior product and service design built upon user observation, research, and scenario planning. They generate substantial buzz every time Steve Jobs plans to hit the stage, and over time, their products are integrated into the ecology of our daily lives. Apple is more concerned with how the technology and design might be reused in the future, which encourages cross-pollination and a recycling of ideas, talent, and engineering.
Going against the grain and having a home run product in the iPod, has now transformed Apple into a $50 billion company (annualized from their quarterly earnings report). From the most recent quarterly report, they have posted revenue of $16 billion, on $3.5 billion profit, with gross margins up to 40.9% from 37.9% this time a year ago. The company has sold 8.7 million iPhones during the last quarter, a 100% growth over the year-ago quarter. The iPhone has cannibalized the iPod to an extent, with only 21 million iPods sold during the quarter, an 8% decline from the year ago quarter. But, the iTouch has had tremendous growth. During Steve Jobs’ iPad unveiling last week, he revealed Apple had sold 75 million iPhones and iPod touches so far. Apple sold 42.5 million iPhones through the end of 2009, which could have reached around 44 million by the end of January. This intimates iPod touch sales could be up to 31 million by the end of January.
Despite all of the success and the Apple resurgence, Apple deeply understands they do not have the monopoly of good ideas. They enabled third-party developers to create end-use applications for mobile computing and communication devices. What many people (and pundits) forget, Apple was very reluctant to open up to this development platform. They shifted the risk from their development teams, to third-parties who could narrowly focus on industry verticals and the needs of the end consumer. In many ways, they have been criticized for not being overwhelmingly “open” but unless a competitor forces them to alter their stance, there’s no reason to. Why open up to Google Voice when controlling end users’ contacts are extremely valuable?
With the launch of the iPad, a hybrid of an iPhone and a MacBook, the release is less about the hardware, and more about the software. What is key to this is the strengthening of Apple’s software distribution channel, which works on all of their platforms (MacBook, iPhone, and iPad), synchronized, and lightweight enough with an ecosystem of solutions to attack every imaginable industry vertical and use case. All of these apps represent a business risk to once size fits all software providers, which makes the consumer better off in the end, by substantially lowering barriers to entry. Why do I need all of these expensive (and clunky) desktop applications, when I could have all of my data in the cloud? This also puts Apple on a collision course with the Google Operating System (GoogleOS). Hidden in all of the stories/reports of Apple has created a new processor, the A4 (customized ARM A9 processor) which signifies Apple is in control of every aspect of the device, signaling it will be coming soon to the iPhone. This means a faster, more seamless experience, with extended battery life, which will make the software much more effective.
We must remember the iPod launched without a music store and the iPhone was born without the App store. Imagine the power of a product launch with these embedded switching costs, a ready-to-go iPad SDK, and an installed base of customers are familiar with using the iPhone/iTouch. The iPad will be the glue with all of their product lines. It will make it easier for the user to switch between Apple products and will influence how we use them. With cross-synching of applications and software across all Apple product lines, the switching costs are ever increasing with increased usage. The iPad is intended for leisure web browsing, listening to music, watching movies, reading books, creating simple documents on the go, with much more robustness and functionality you can find on your average Netbook. The added component is the ability for developers to create iPad-only applications which could mark the new era in mobile computing. What we may see is the emergence of a hybrid computing device combining the best of graphics and power, while in a compact, yet mobile device. When I first heard the news of a $499 initial price point and a 10-hour battery life, for something this robust, I knew it was a game changer (it was my first tweet about the iPad, minutes after the announcement).
With this launch, the iPad effectively:
* Transitioned a movement from a GUI and QWERTY keyboard (Touch is the new black)
* Increased convergence of Phone, Web, TV, applications, software (not bloated web or desktop apps)
* Enhanced opportunities for traditional publishers to adopt sustainable business models in a digital marketplace
Interestingly enough, Apple has transcended the innovation process from customer insight to Apple telling us how we should operate, again contradicting conventional wisdom. In business school, we are taught to learn from customer insights, focus groups, and trial runs, but the most innovative companies do the exact opposite. Steve Jobs has mentioned several times he doesn’t believe in market research the way we are taught in business school. Nintendo’s senior marketing director once stated (in regards to the Wii) “We don’t use consumer focus groups. We got a lot of feedback from developers in the industry.” Henry Ford once said “If I had given them what they wanted, it would have been a faster horse.” Imagine if Apple had applied conventional customer insight when developing an MP3 player. It may not have been a game changer. Helmut Krone once stated “I always give them what they want, but never what they expect.” What’s missing from this iPad launch, and what I expect to come shortly after the launch, is an innovative business model changing the incentive structure for content creators, content distributors, and consumers to alter their way of doing things. This behavioral change in the value chain is at the core of Apple’s strategy, and could be the underlying story as to whether the iPad is as successful as Apple projects.
Despite my overwhelming support, the iPad launch has been met with many skeptics asking why we need another device, why we need a large iPhone, and where is the innovation. This is very similar to some of the claims were made about the iPod back in 2001.
Here’s some quotes from different, leading pundits:
* “I still can’t believe this! All this hype for something so rediculous!….I want something new! I want them to think differently! Why oh why would they do this?! It’s so wrong! It’s so stupid!”
* “All that hype for an MP3 player? Break-thru digital device? The Reality Distortion Field is starting to warp Steve’s mind if he thinks for one second that this thing is gonna take off.
* “Not revolutionary. Big capacity MP3 players already exist. With Creative Labs’ entrance into the firewire arena, future nomads will have similar specs and better prices”
* “A bad fit. This product is outside Apple’s core competency-computing devices. When many are calling for a pda, they release an MP3 player”
* “Without a future. This Christmas you will see MP3 players be a commodity. The real money is in DRM and distribution. If Apple were smart they would be focusing on high gross revenue from services rather than a playback device.”
(via)
Other critics have slammed the launch because of the lack of additional features and functionality of the device, such as Flash, USB ports, HDMI support, AT&T connectivity, mutlitasking, cameras, touch keyboard, not widescreen (reported 4:3 ratio), and the name of the device. These are necessary features, but the goal for Apple was to target the lowest price point (and battery life). This was immediately reflective in their stock price immediately after Steve Jobs made the announcement. We must remember this first generation is targeted towards the 75 million iPhone/iTouch users who are familiar with the Apple touch interface, and don’t require a learning curve. They are early adopters, more price inelastic, and more than likely, own several other Apple products, so they can serve as evangelists of the opportunity to use multiple Apple devices. This is at the core of what Apple is selling with this opportunity. Expect the next generations to be lower priced (can we say $100 computer?), with many of the features and functionality Apple’s iPad critics want, as long as it doesn’t interfere with Apple’s ability to maximize revenue. Personally, I’ll wait another generation or two and let Apple fix the inevitable bugs, features, content distribution deals, e-ink display option, and price drops. Right now, the concept car looks good.
This is not a Kindle-killer, but will stunt the Kindle’s growth. Kindle does one thing very well, makes it easy to read books. Apple is more focused on the experience. Purists will appreciate the Kindle, but it represents a relative minority compared to Apple’s target market. The Kindle can’t compete with Apple by offering a robust app store, because the Kindle is far too slow at the moment, and foreseeable future. If you ever see a demo of the Kindle, the ease at which you could read magazines and newspapers pales in comparison to the iPad. The iPad will enable more interactivity with content, and will blur the line between what and how we read, see, and interact. In many ways, this could change how kids grow up.
At a price point of $100, can you imagine how many of these touchscreen devices will be in classrooms, homes, family trips, and in all of our businesses?
I can…..
Going against the grain and having a home run product in the iPod, has now transformed Apple into a $50 billion company (annualized from their quarterly earnings report). From the most recent quarterly report, they have posted revenue of $16 billion, on $3.5 billion profit, with gross margins up to 40.9% from 37.9% this time a year ago. The company has sold 8.7 million iPhones during the last quarter, a 100% growth over the year-ago quarter. The iPhone has cannibalized the iPod to an extent, with only 21 million iPods sold during the quarter, an 8% decline from the year ago quarter. But, the iTouch has had tremendous growth. During Steve Jobs’ iPad unveiling last week, he revealed Apple had sold 75 million iPhones and iPod touches so far. Apple sold 42.5 million iPhones through the end of 2009, which could have reached around 44 million by the end of January. This intimates iPod touch sales could be up to 31 million by the end of January.
Despite all of the success and the Apple resurgence, Apple deeply understands they do not have the monopoly of good ideas. They enabled third-party developers to create end-use applications for mobile computing and communication devices. What many people (and pundits) forget, Apple was very reluctant to open up to this development platform. They shifted the risk from their development teams, to third-parties who could narrowly focus on industry verticals and the needs of the end consumer. In many ways, they have been criticized for not being overwhelmingly “open” but unless a competitor forces them to alter their stance, there’s no reason to. Why open up to Google Voice when controlling end users’ contacts are extremely valuable?
With the launch of the iPad, a hybrid of an iPhone and a MacBook, the release is less about the hardware, and more about the software. What is key to this is the strengthening of Apple’s software distribution channel, which works on all of their platforms (MacBook, iPhone, and iPad), synchronized, and lightweight enough with an ecosystem of solutions to attack every imaginable industry vertical and use case. All of these apps represent a business risk to once size fits all software providers, which makes the consumer better off in the end, by substantially lowering barriers to entry. Why do I need all of these expensive (and clunky) desktop applications, when I could have all of my data in the cloud? This also puts Apple on a collision course with the Google Operating System (GoogleOS). Hidden in all of the stories/reports of Apple has created a new processor, the A4 (customized ARM A9 processor) which signifies Apple is in control of every aspect of the device, signaling it will be coming soon to the iPhone. This means a faster, more seamless experience, with extended battery life, which will make the software much more effective.
We must remember the iPod launched without a music store and the iPhone was born without the App store. Imagine the power of a product launch with these embedded switching costs, a ready-to-go iPad SDK, and an installed base of customers are familiar with using the iPhone/iTouch. The iPad will be the glue with all of their product lines. It will make it easier for the user to switch between Apple products and will influence how we use them. With cross-synching of applications and software across all Apple product lines, the switching costs are ever increasing with increased usage. The iPad is intended for leisure web browsing, listening to music, watching movies, reading books, creating simple documents on the go, with much more robustness and functionality you can find on your average Netbook. The added component is the ability for developers to create iPad-only applications which could mark the new era in mobile computing. What we may see is the emergence of a hybrid computing device combining the best of graphics and power, while in a compact, yet mobile device. When I first heard the news of a $499 initial price point and a 10-hour battery life, for something this robust, I knew it was a game changer (it was my first tweet about the iPad, minutes after the announcement).
With this launch, the iPad effectively:
* Transitioned a movement from a GUI and QWERTY keyboard (Touch is the new black)
* Increased convergence of Phone, Web, TV, applications, software (not bloated web or desktop apps)
* Enhanced opportunities for traditional publishers to adopt sustainable business models in a digital marketplace
Interestingly enough, Apple has transcended the innovation process from customer insight to Apple telling us how we should operate, again contradicting conventional wisdom. In business school, we are taught to learn from customer insights, focus groups, and trial runs, but the most innovative companies do the exact opposite. Steve Jobs has mentioned several times he doesn’t believe in market research the way we are taught in business school. Nintendo’s senior marketing director once stated (in regards to the Wii) “We don’t use consumer focus groups. We got a lot of feedback from developers in the industry.” Henry Ford once said “If I had given them what they wanted, it would have been a faster horse.” Imagine if Apple had applied conventional customer insight when developing an MP3 player. It may not have been a game changer. Helmut Krone once stated “I always give them what they want, but never what they expect.” What’s missing from this iPad launch, and what I expect to come shortly after the launch, is an innovative business model changing the incentive structure for content creators, content distributors, and consumers to alter their way of doing things. This behavioral change in the value chain is at the core of Apple’s strategy, and could be the underlying story as to whether the iPad is as successful as Apple projects.
Despite my overwhelming support, the iPad launch has been met with many skeptics asking why we need another device, why we need a large iPhone, and where is the innovation. This is very similar to some of the claims were made about the iPod back in 2001.
Here’s some quotes from different, leading pundits:
* “I still can’t believe this! All this hype for something so rediculous!….I want something new! I want them to think differently! Why oh why would they do this?! It’s so wrong! It’s so stupid!”
* “All that hype for an MP3 player? Break-thru digital device? The Reality Distortion Field is starting to warp Steve’s mind if he thinks for one second that this thing is gonna take off.
* “Not revolutionary. Big capacity MP3 players already exist. With Creative Labs’ entrance into the firewire arena, future nomads will have similar specs and better prices”
* “A bad fit. This product is outside Apple’s core competency-computing devices. When many are calling for a pda, they release an MP3 player”
* “Without a future. This Christmas you will see MP3 players be a commodity. The real money is in DRM and distribution. If Apple were smart they would be focusing on high gross revenue from services rather than a playback device.”
(via)
Other critics have slammed the launch because of the lack of additional features and functionality of the device, such as Flash, USB ports, HDMI support, AT&T connectivity, mutlitasking, cameras, touch keyboard, not widescreen (reported 4:3 ratio), and the name of the device. These are necessary features, but the goal for Apple was to target the lowest price point (and battery life). This was immediately reflective in their stock price immediately after Steve Jobs made the announcement. We must remember this first generation is targeted towards the 75 million iPhone/iTouch users who are familiar with the Apple touch interface, and don’t require a learning curve. They are early adopters, more price inelastic, and more than likely, own several other Apple products, so they can serve as evangelists of the opportunity to use multiple Apple devices. This is at the core of what Apple is selling with this opportunity. Expect the next generations to be lower priced (can we say $100 computer?), with many of the features and functionality Apple’s iPad critics want, as long as it doesn’t interfere with Apple’s ability to maximize revenue. Personally, I’ll wait another generation or two and let Apple fix the inevitable bugs, features, content distribution deals, e-ink display option, and price drops. Right now, the concept car looks good.
This is not a Kindle-killer, but will stunt the Kindle’s growth. Kindle does one thing very well, makes it easy to read books. Apple is more focused on the experience. Purists will appreciate the Kindle, but it represents a relative minority compared to Apple’s target market. The Kindle can’t compete with Apple by offering a robust app store, because the Kindle is far too slow at the moment, and foreseeable future. If you ever see a demo of the Kindle, the ease at which you could read magazines and newspapers pales in comparison to the iPad. The iPad will enable more interactivity with content, and will blur the line between what and how we read, see, and interact. In many ways, this could change how kids grow up.
At a price point of $100, can you imagine how many of these touchscreen devices will be in classrooms, homes, family trips, and in all of our businesses?
I can…..
Search
Subscribe
Categories
no categories
Tags
no tags