What do you think of the iPad?
No other product has even come close to the buzz that iPad generated. We were talking about it amongst friends, family and colleagues; at dinner, home and twitter too.
Yet, many of us are spending our time wondering why anyone on earth will pay for this, while others are scratching their head with its name choice. Still, there are a select few who are very excited about this announcement. These people, who are making millions with the iPhone, told me about some of the apps that they are thinking of developing. I will list 10 of these, which should help get your own creative juices flowing.
1. Board Games
The size of the iPad brings multi-player games to the next level. Can you imagine how much better Monopoly is without needing to pick someone as the banker? No more clean ups too.
And how about using the iPad to display a Texas Holdem table while everyone has their hand shown on their own iPhone?
2. Advertising
This is a bit commercial, but no more HDTVs in the corner of the restaurant that becomes more of a wall art. With the iPad, you can have lots of them, and they can be much more interactive.
3. Digital Menus
Better yet, how about a waiter bringing over a digital menu without a taped over price because they want to make more money? Or, how about a popular menu based on actual data that changes every month, week or even day?
4. Kiosks
Did you know that the kiosks you see everyday costs $20,000 or more and it’s really nothing but a computer hiding under a chunk of metal? How about shrinking the size by ten times and just having an iPad there to do the same thing? Self serving iPad station to buy Starbucks coffee. It could actually speed up service!
5. Smart Home
It would be cool if someone came up with a software that can control the thermostat, or actually, any device in the house. Oh while we are at it, how many adding a baby monitor in there too?
6. Portable Devices
If I were any portable device maker, I’d be scared out of my minds right now. Hand held gaming devices, portable DVD players can all be replaced with one machine with a better and faster processing power.
7. In Car GPS
I still think that the commercialization of GPSs is one of the best advancement of the last decade, but $3,000 is a very steep price to pay for one inside the car. Now, with the iPad, I have a device that will naturally have the most up-to-date maps and routes.
8. Sales Professional
I see too many uses for someone who’s on the road 24/7. It’s light, easy to turn on in a rush and pretty much does most tasks of a laptop. Who can say no to less luggage?
9. Digital Picture Frames
I know what you are thinking. $500 for a picture frame? No, I’m not kidding, because if you think about it, the $50 picture frame is sort of a waste. If you already have the iPad, you can just set it there so it stays with you. Added bonus: No need to teach your parents how to get the pictures onto the memory stick!
10. Stock Trading Geeks
If geeks are labeled by those people who has no life and sits in front of computers all day, then those who are into stocks definitely fit the bill with their multiple screen setup. My friend already said he’s buying an iPad for his wife because she is always trying to carry her laptop everywhere to check stock prices, trends and stay up to date.
This is Interesting and All, But Why Does it Matter?
This site, after all, talks about personal finance. Why does this matter at all you ask? I labeled this post make money, because while we are all complaining about this new device, there are people thinking about capitalizing on this opportunity.
Luck is a huge part of life, but spotting and then acting on it is even more important.
When the iPhone came out, we were talking about its bad reception, the soft ringer, the bulkiness, its weird keyboard and its weight. Yet, two years later, we read headlines of companies who made $25 million last year with a few iPhone apps.
Most people complain and then admire, but you can seize the opportunity instead. The possibilities are limitless. But then again, when everyone is busy making fun of the name, there’s no spare time to think creatively.
Spot, Seize, Do. Train yourself to prosper.
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{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
I haven’t thought of these non standard uses of the ipad. But in reality that s what it is beat suited for. Like the iPhone it is a single use device. You can only do one thing at a time, and no flash support. I really think apple dropped the ball on those two items and it going to cost them. It will be interesting to see what level of success it has.
They did, but then again, if everyone does move to HTML5 instead of adopting flash, Apple’s big bet will pay off and also kill Adobe at the same time.
I only own a laptop and a basic cell phone – nothing fancier than that.
When I heard about this, I was actually intrigued….
My reasons are that it seems to incorporate so many other things under
one little package…. a book reader, so no need to get the kindle, no need
for the iphone, no need for the dvd player, no need for a gps, etc etc etc…
It can hold a bare geneaology program also.
Versatility – and NOT owning any surplus electronics already – those are the only reasons I was intrigued…. but with the cost of it, I’ll wait til the cost comes down. It will go on my “Think about it for a year before buying List”…
When a tech device reaches a frugal, happy without spending, retired grandmother like yourself, you know the marketing campaign was really strong!
I see a lot of value in having one device that does everything instead of 16. Of course, it will all come down to the apps, which I’m hoping many will start developing for.
Regarding the monopoly example, I think that kind of kills the fun… I mean we view monopoly as a family board game played on a Friday night and all this technical stuff just takes away from the original fun of the game in my opinion…But I mean other than that, I think the ipad will be a very useful device but I’ll probably wait until the second generation comes out.
I actually like playing it electronically. I used to play a Chinese video game much like Monopoly (though it’s not the usual square interface) and it was a ton of fun with friends. I can see playing this at coffee shops, at restaurants etc. It will be so cool.
I would argue against the GPS because you can buy a quality one for $400 and just have it sit on your car with the adapter, the same thing the ipad could do. May even be more difficult for the ipad cause of the size.
How about having the ability to download the menu in fast food restaurants ? You can order the food right there and then just upload the data back and you will never really have to be in line!
Some nice ideas! I think we’ll see several apps that interact more with what is happening on the Television, so your iPad becomes almost like an auxillary dashboard giving you extra insight and information. You’d possibly have to strike deals with broadcasters to make that happen though.