With the introduction of the iPad, Apple’s status as a cultural icon reached new heights. Based on an unscientific survey of newspapers archived by The Newseum, pictures of or stories about the tablet-style computer appeared on front pages in at least 47 states and the District of Columbia and no fewer than 24 countries on six continents — in places as varied as Bulgaria, Uruguay, Turkey, and Portugal. When is the last time you saw a company command that kind of attention without first filing for bankruptcy, contributing to the collapse of the global financial system, or building a car with a gas pedal that sticks? The media’s crush on Apple is not just alive and well, but it has gone global. In the last decade, Apple has revolutionized the music and wireless industries with its iPod and iPhone, respectively. The recent buzz around Apple reflects high hopes that with the iPad, Apple can similarly transform a third industry: publishing. But based on early reviews, the iPad as introduced may not deliver. Newspapers look to the iPad to reinvigorate their rapidly shrinking industry by spurring demand for whiz-bang downloadable applications that feature content you can’t get on the Web. Book publishers see the iPad as a vehicle to stimulate buying of electronic books and fuel competition that forces e-book leader Amazon to give publishers more leeway on pricing. Software developers who have been successful selling apps on the iPhone hope to cash in even more on new ones that take advantage of the iPad’s larger screen. Challenge of Building a New Market Yet it’s hard to see how the iPad, in the form unveiled last month, will come close to transforming daily life as much as the iPod or iPhone. When the iPod arrived in 2001, consumers were already well-acquainted with personal music players…

Original post:
With No Killer App, Apple’s iPad Is a Hard Sell

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