“If Bob Iger’s appearance at Apple Inc.’s splashy unveiling of the iPad tablet computer two weeks ago didn’t clue you in, on Tuesday he made his affinity for the new device clear,” The Associated Press reports.
“The chief executive of The Walt Disney Co. said Tuesday the iPad was a ‘game changer’ that could transform how media companies deliver content to consumers,” AP reports. “He ad-libbed on several products that Disney would potentially develop for the iPad: a souped-up version of the ESPN ScoreCenter iPhone application, an interactive children’s book format, and applications for watching ABC News and the drama ‘Lost.'”
Eiger said, “‘We find that the iPad has a lot of potential. We think it’s a really compelling device. We think it could be a game changer in terms of enabling us to create essentially new forms of content.'”
Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Readers “Eric24601” and “Brawndo Drinker” for the heads up.]
Damn right its a game changer
really? movie/tv studios couldn’t figure out a way to get digital content to people until the iPad? its the iPad that is a game changer? not hulu, netflix, appleTV?
what am I missing? this iPad doesn’t do ANYTHING that a laptop can already do…….oh…..and it doesn’t run OS X. so its not really a computer.
its a locked down appliance. a step backwards for technology. now I see why movie/tv execs like this thing. its a locked down box.
@ mike g, the iPad is the first computer most people will ever watch TV on.
That’s a game changer.
People used to say things like “imagine watching Friends and being able to click on Rachel’s sweater to buy it from The Gap”. But that was never going to happen on a TV, or on a PC.
That will happen on the iPad.
What they like about it is that since it isn’t a computer, you sneaky folks won’t be running your handbrake-ish evil thief software and stealing their precious content.
You’re missing the point – totally. Step back…LOL dude. Go lug around your laptop for the same functionality. You’ll show those kool-aid drinking morons!
The iPad opens up simple, intutive computing to masses of kids and adults who aren’t as experienced with computers as you or me. I’d reccomend reading the previous MDN article about old and new world computing to get a grasp of the concept.
@mike g
Of course it runs OS X, as does the iPhone and the iPod touch. Apple simply remove those modules that serve no purpose on a handheld device. Try not to look so dumb in future.
=:~)
@mike g
you’re missing the fact that it’s a device that will be convenient to use sitting down on the couch, at the breakfast table, on your night stand. everywhere and anywhere a laptop is cumbersome or not necessary. A beautiful experience requiring no computer skills to navigate. It will be bigger than the Iphone. Give it some thought you’ll get it.
Business rule 1: Make sure you’re biggest shareholder is happy.
Nobody wants to say it, but I will!
The iPad will replace the magazine basket next to the toilet. Okay? I said it. I’ve already patented an iPad charging toilet paper dispenser. So there.
Wake up? Seriously? How hard is it to use a full blown OS X device. Really? My dad has an iMac and my mom a Mac Mini. They’re both in their 60’s and they just get it. Do they really need a device that dumbs it down any further? Where do you store all your pictures? How about your documents? Maybe the world doesn’t want to use iPhoto and iWork. Or maybe my 11 pages of application icons on my phone just make more sense in a folder called APPLICATIONS. I dunno, call me crazy. The iPad looks ridiculous with those iPhone looking icons all over the screen. Why not a stack at the bottom at least?
Come on guys. Do you honestly believe what you’re saying? Now a laptop is too bulky to carry around the house and watch TV on? Wha? At least my laptop can play flash. Sure its a dying codec (maybe) and it plays like crap on the Mac…I’ll give you that….but….a device that locks out competition is NOT a step forward.
Besides, OS X (desktop) is open and allows multitasking. I don’t see it having stability or security issues. Stop believing EVERYTHING Apple tells you.
@ mike g.
The ipad might be limited it what it can do and it, in general, might not be introducing anything we haven’t already seen (thanks to apples iPhone $ iPod) but, if you’ve ever used a multi touch device from apple then you’ll know what the big game changer deal is about.
It’s the immmersion apple creates.
Maybe it doesn’t do everything a laptop does…but there are times you don’t want to lug around your laptop. Say you’re going on vacation; you (or your Significant Other) won’t necessarily want to bring along the laptop with all your work and important stuff on it. You’ll want something that you can check family email, look up info on your destination (places to go, restaurants, etc.), keep tabs on sports scores back home, and maybe read a book or watch a movie en route if you’re not driving ( ever try to handle a laptop in the front seat of a compact car?). The iPad’s going to be perfect for vacationers, especially with more budget hotels offering free WiFi to attract customers.
“The iPad’s going to be perfect for vacationers”
I can leave a paperback on the chaise lounge while I take a dunk in the pool, but I don’t think I dare turn my back on an iPad laying around. They are going to be big on the black market.
More like garbage to me! Nothing revolutionary or game changing about this inferior toy. My tablet PC has been doing these things that this toy can now do for years until this thing showed up.
http://www.bing.com When it comes to decisions that matter, Bing & Decide
@ mike g.
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the iPad is obviously not intended for you but in my extended family
we need a bunch of them not to replace any of our computers but to ad to them. At least 12 in the first order
Speaking of another “game changer”
google today launched buzz.
Check it out on your iPhones people this is gonna be tremendous.
Now while I tend to lean towards mike g’s line of thinking on the iPad I’m still very interested in getting a good hands on with it before I decide on buying one.
@msavwah
google is dead to me. they have shown their true colors. I have removed their search bar from my mac’s and iphone. their software is beta crap even maps are ancient. they are the new msft, half baked software gathering info on everything you do, throwing ads in your face. I hate ads, even MDN’s underlined ads are an annoyance. mikeg’s an idiot don’t waste your time he’ll never get it. Steve Jobs and Apple are the greatest because they are like us, they build products that we would build and see things the way they should be not for monetary needs but to make life better. If your not one of us you are against us, that means you GOOGLE.
Let’s reconvene here in two years. I have a hunch that by then, you’ll finally understand why Apple did what it is doing with this new device.
Please understand, the iPad is not meant to do what your laptop (if you use Windows) or a MacBook is designed to do. Otherwise, Apple would have simply made a netbook. They didn’t. Contrary to what some clueless pundits have said, the iPad is not “just a big iPod touch.” Only once you have used it, and see how others are using it, will that light in your head go on.
If two years aren’t enough for you, wait a few more. Then, tell your kids or grandkids how you used to lug a heavy armload of textbooks and notes to school each day. I think their strange looks in reaction will surprise you. Or go to your doctor’s office. You’ll notice that your physician isn’t carrying a clippad with them any more, and that your prescription is sent automatically to your pharmacy instead of being handed to you. If you are involved in a car accident, and I hope you won’t be, you’ll see your adjuster using an iPad or something similar to do the damage estimate on your car. If you are in court, you’ll see your lawyers using an iPad to look up case law. And that’s just scratching the surface.
I could go on about how your local library will either shrink or disappear, replaced by a library in the Internet cloud. And that newsstand you used to go to? Gone. Along with many newspapers and magazines, at least in their paper form, replaced, along with most printed books, on, you guessed it – your iPad.
Of course, you could wish for things to stay as they are now. You could wish that nothing will ever change. But if your city or state (or country) is like mine, budget cuts are the norm. do you really think governments won’t want to take a cheaper and more convenient route?
Perhaps you have heard some talk about “acid rain,” “global warming,” or “Ph change in the oceans.” Did you know that 2/3 of the carbon released into the atmosphere is caused by the clear cutting of equatorial and evergreen forests? And do you know a big reason for this? Paper. For newspapers. Books. Magazines.
Think about it Mike. You might not be able to imagine a reason why anyone would want an iPad. But I could think of millions of people who will. Many of them don’t even know it yet. But they will. And so will you.
Please don’t worry. There’s no need to be defensive. This is one change you will enjoy.
A lot of these iPad slammers are going to look really foolish, unimaginative and shortsighted in time.
What?!?!? The iPad isn’t really for people who love the innards of OSes and hardware? Say it isn’t so?!?!!
Heck – I’d be buying one if for no other reason than the reader and the iBookstore! I’d much rather be reading the latest Dan Brown novel than installing new printer drivers. Just sayin’.
@ Chas
Don’t bother trying to explain this. You can’t get this concept through to some people.
Mike’s argument is something else:
…”its a locked down appliance. a step backwards for technology.”
So, the point he is trying to make is, he won’t be able to dig through, attach independent hardware and install third-party software if it hasn’t been blessed by holy Apple.
But using a Mac (or a PC) is in the same way step backwards, compared to the early days of computing, where you were able to write your own OS, modify and play with the OS you bought, and still get support for the hardware. You could easily argue, Mac (or windows) was a step back as it locked people into an OS, without the ability to make changes and expect support for the hardware.
Mike, listen. You may not see this, but this is most definitely step into the future, not back. There is no doubt, a Mac Pro is infinitely more powerful computer than a MacBook Pro, yet nobody is arguing that MacBook Pro has no value, since there’s much more powerful machine out there. Just as that MBP will be more powerful than the iPad, you shouldn’t try to use the same argument. MBP is heavier, clunkier, more (unnecessarily) complicated than iPad for the thing for which iPad was designed. If nothing, it takes almost 30 seconds to power up! Not to mention that every single application takes at least several seconds to start up. On iPad, you press button, touch screen, things happen instantaneously. That in itself represents significant value for most people.
@Mike G
Those millions of people you are putting out of a job will not be able to buy a iPad.
I think the MLB.com presentation at the iPad rollout was flawed. It seems nobody here understands what the iPad is (this has been said several times in this talkback and though I’ve gone through twice I’ve not nor have I ever seen this mentioned. If it has, mea culpa).
The iPad is not meant to watch TV, movies or sports on. It is meant to be used with a TV or movie or sports. I’m sitting at this moment watching Lost, typing on my laptop. What if instead I had an iPod with an interactive desktop synched to the episode I was watching. Or, while watching a ball game, my iPad would give me alternate angles, updates, stats and all synched to the game.
Iger is right. This is a game changer. Forget 3-D. This is an interactivity that will change the way we interface not only with computers, but with our televisions.