Cogfactory

Apple has largely been a consumer-focused company and the B2B channel has always played second (or third) string in terms of market focus. My personal take on the iPad is: so-so for consumers, a pretty effing cool platform for business.

If the iPad is rugged enough, the applications can be nearly endless. A lot of people can see ways of putting the device to work. I’ve personally been looking for a solution very similar to develop applications on for business use. Laptops work, but are not very durable (unless you tack on a couple grand to the price tag). Laptops are also large, clunky, and difficult to work with in the scenario I have in mind. So the iPad would definitely fit the niche I want to work with. Not having touched one, the images I’ve viewed show that might well be near the annoyingly-sized piece of hardware that has trouble fitting in places it needs to go. But that has yet to be seen.

Yet I’m not without my doubts as you can already tell. My concerns are that Apple limits the software to Apple Store purchases – effectively rendering my ability to hack at it useless, the device would be incapable of multitasking – a huge part of what I need such a platform for (although I doubt the veracity of this issue), and the extended service plans are ultimately as much as the device itself.

Let me put it into context: I am looking at developing tools for the trucking industry that fit on a tablet and can manage a wide variety of needs. If any of you out there have laid hands on a Qualcomm box, you know there is always room for improvement in terms of interface design, speed and functionality. Hence, my idea that a tablet with cellular capabilities would fit a niche (with a few exceptions) and meet the needs of most drivers on the road. Most consumer laptops have issues beyond what most consumers are familiar with when put into a semi. You have to deal with increased dirt and grime, an environment that is punishing on anything with moving parts, laptop hinges that last weeks rather than years. Panasonic, Fujitsu and Dell all have ruggedized laptops with price tags that can easily make you faint. So a tablet, with fewer moving parts and no room for grime and dirt, makes for a plausible solution to my hardware problem.

But Apple’s focus on the business market is, well, lackluster – with the exception of the digital arts and production realm. Stray much farther than digital arts and you find a sharply dropping arc of use in terms of general vendors using the platform. Sure, Apple has been making headway in overall market share, but the crux of those gains are largely due to the consumer market.

Then there is the perception problem. Apple’s core marketing focus on consumers can make it difficult to breach the b2b/b2c wall. The iPhone is a consumer device, not a business device. The iMac is something you buy your daughter when she’s going to college, not where you sit down to draft that ungodly Powerpoint presentation you’re going to thrust on unsuspecting subordinates in the morning meeting. (note: the prior sentences are sarcasm in full force) Now, most developers I know love the Mac as their platform du jour. I like it. But getting the solution across the table without the wince from the buyer along with 1000 questions on compatibility, can be a problem.

The third curiosity is the level of control Apple provides developers. For better or worse, Apple appears to be of the opinion: “Here’s our device, here’s what you can do with it, don’t ask for anything else because it won’t happen.” For the device to be utilitarian in purpose, Apple needs to recognize that locking down parts of it is what will hinder its overall adoption for business purposes. For my vision of the software that would go on the device, I need granular control over the underlying system to give administrators the ability to lock certain aspects down, remove options and generally kill some features of the device. Is that nice? No. But that is the reality of the situation for the solution I want to deploy. And in my experience with Apple products, I’m not thinking I’m going to get the level of control I want out of the system.

Please know that my complaints are from a business perspective. I think the iPad will be a moderate consumer success, far above Apple TV but not as popular as the iPhone or iPod. Apple might just revolutionize a part of the PC business that has floundered (tablets). And just maybe fairly sophisticated business solutions will evolve specifically for the device. I hope they prove me wrong.