iPad Excitement Dying Down – It Might Still Succeed Though

When Steve Jobs announced the Apple iPad last month, I could understand (or guess) why it was not immediately available (my guesses: FCC issue(s), component availability, design issue still being worked out). What I couldn’t understand, however, was why it was not available for pre-order the day of the announcement. My rationale for making it available for pre-order goes like this: Take advantage of announcement day excitement to get lots of people to pre-order. Then, those who pre-ordered would help maintain pre-availability excitement by continuing to hype the iPad as a way of dealing with pre-order buyer’s remorse (people would want to maintain that they made a good decision while waiting).

It may be that Apple should have created this pre-availability buzz machine since there tends to be a loss of interest after a product announcement if there is a big delay between announcement and availability (look at the Nokia N97 and Palm Pre as two examples of that effect). Retrevo notes that iPad buzz has been going downward (as expected) in this article…

Apple iPad Hoopla Fails to Convince Buyers

Many people have noted that the iPad is a solution in search of a problem. Many of these same people have also noted that tablet devices have appeared and failed several times over the past decade (including two attempts by Microsoft – Tablet PC & UMPC). I don’t have a crystal ball that can tell me whether the iPad will be another iPhone-like success or a resounding failure like the Apple iPod Hi-Fi (remember that giant stereo speaker with a tiny iPod nano sticking out of its top?). I will, however, note that the original iPod emerged as an expensive MP3 player alternative back when MP3 players were appearing to go nowhere. We all know what happened to the iPod. Could the iPad redefine a market no one cares about right now? I think it might.

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