What's different about the iPad

Apple has produced long string of successful product lines: desktops, laptops, mp3 players, and now phones. Since several of these launched with unfavorable reviews (the most famous being the iPod review by slashdot), it's become trendy to overlook ominous reviews and take a bullish stance on Apple products. The iPad's launch seems like it's following suit - lots of pundits out there, and lots of folks referencing Apple's strong track record in response.

With the iPad, Apple is attempting something it hasn't done since inception: create a new market. The original Apple computer did not fill an existing need. There was no prior personal computer. Since then, however, Apple has focused on advancing existing products. The best recent examples are mp3 players (iPod) and mobile phones (iPhone).

I'm not so quick to draw parallels to these past successes. All of these products had the luxury of existing demand - people had mp3 players before the iPod, and they had walkmans and CD players before that. Same goes for their desktop, laptop, and mobile phone products.

The Apple of recent times has been building better versions of existing products. Or, more importantly, building better solutions to existing problems. The new challenge is convince us we have a problem that we don't know about. The sales pitch is no longer 'we have a better phone for you'. Apple needs a pitch explaining why we need an iPad.