“Possibly the most rapturous reaction to anything at the unveiling of the iPad 2 was not in response to the significant improvements in the device but to the Smart Cover,” Steven Levy writes for Wired. “This soft, foldable accessory, which fits over the screen of the iPad 2, was even the star of the commercial that Jobs showed at the end of the presentation.”
“Apple’s full-on devotion to something as lowly as a cover is a classic example of how the company concocts advantages in areas that rivals previously hadn’t considered all that important,” Levy writes. “Accessory makers have always been at a disadvantage: Jobs’ notorious veil of secrecy means they often don’t know what the specs for their next product will have to be until Jobs makes the public announcement. But the consequences are really disastrous when they realize that they’ll be competing not only with one another but with Apple itself. Take Zagg, one of the larger manufacturers of protective covers for i-devices. Between the moment Jobs introduced the Smart Cover at the iPad 2 launch and the Nasdaq close a couple of hours later, Zagg’s stock price dropped 22 percent.”
Levy writes, “There is one thing the cover does not do, though—protect the entire iPad. It’s more like a hospital gown, shielding the full-frontal valuables while exposing the rear. That omission allows participants in the billion-dollar industry for i-device accessories to breathe a bit easier. But only a bit.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Apple’s so-called Smart Cover also exposes the same side that covers the screen to the elements when folded back or into a stand, plus it seems made of a material expressly designed to pick up dust, dirt, and oil. When closed, it then smashes all that accumulated crap right onto the iPad screen that it’s supposed to protect. Not so smart. Apple Smart Cover is bad design with magnets. Apple needs to go back the drawing board on this one again.
It’s made of a material thats soft to avoid scratching the screen. Perhaps you should clean up your work area before you prop up your iPad.
I don’t understand why Apple worry about accessories.