/Big Question/ Pad science
02/03/2010 | Filed under Discover > Big Question
What effect is the iPad going to have on web design and development?
Activist
Oxblood Ruffin
Hactivismo
Form follows function. Ultimately, design and development will be driven by their ability to monetise the brand application. This notion was introduced by the iPhone, which turned Apple users from producers of content into consumers of content – the brilliance of the platform notwithstanding. The iPad multiplies this notion exponentially. Stated another way, the iPad drives users to Apple’s backend: iTunes, App Store, and now iBooks. It was no mistake that the New York Times was invited to present at the keynote. They will start a subscription version of the Times shortly. Apple has made it easier for consumers to purchase digital content and have 125 million credit card holders on record to prove their point. But what does this mean for Future Publishing? Theoretically, TechRadar could now be offered in two versions. Version one, free for all. Version two, subscription or meter based with value added content and no advertising. I suspect quite a few publishers will be looking at a similar model.
Oxblood Ruffin is the founder of Hacktivismo
Internet playboy
Drew Curtis
Fark
None. It’s been out for a few years already in smaller form. They called it the iTouch.
Drew is the owner of Fark.com
Hosting guru
Dominic Monkhouse
PEER 1
Apple, perhaps more than any other brand, has mastered the art of seducing us by taking us on its product evolution. The journey of the iPod from a big white brick that didn’t work to the defining gadget of the last decade – the iPhone – hooked-in different sectors of the market with every colour, size and function that it developed. Apple’s products are shape shifters.
When the iPad was launched, everyone rushed out to delight in the fact that the name sounded like a feminine hygiene product and to point out what it doesn’t have yet. While this may give those pundits the temporary satisfaction of feeling that they are one step ahead of Apple, I reckon the joke could still be on them. The iPad could yet become part of our every day language as the device transforms into an indispensable tool. As long as Gordon Brown or David Cameron aren’t photographed carrying one around that is…
Dominic Monkhouse is UK MD at PEER 1
Creative expert
Mark Walls
Neoco
OK so it’s what we expected - isn’t it? Apple has delivered the iPad and it’s exactly what we thought it would be - a large iPhone. Maybe all the hype surrounding it meant it was always going to fail in some respects. The tablet concepts that have been floating around the net prior to the launch of the iPad all seem to have a similar solution for the user, which is to have a webesque digital interpretation of a magazine layout. Much like the iPad itself, this is what we would expect. However, we’re going to want much more very quickly. The content and interface should be focused around the device and the user, not existing magazine or website formats. Publishers and designers are going to need to get over this hurdle quickly if they are to help this industry flourish and grow. The opportunities for such an intuitive device are massive, but it does require lateral thinking, better use of content integration and mix, and a client who is willing to lead the market. The device should throw up some really exciting solutions, which I can’t wait to see.
Mark is co-founder and creative director at digital marketing agency Neoco
Solutions guru
James Tomaszewski
Fortune Cookie
Although there’s always a load of hype around Apple releases, you have to think about the possible impact of a 10” screen tablet device today. If it takes off as quickly as the iPhone, we could all be developing touch-screen web applications for the mainstream consumer within 18 months. Exciting stuff. I can’t think of another company who creates such anticipation from consumers for technology.
James is solutions director for Fortune Cookie
Ecommerce expert
Ben Dyer
Actinic
The iPad, and believe me I really struggle to type that ridiculous name, is the single biggest disappointment of the last 12 months. An oversized iPhone that can’t make calls, doesn’t have a web cam and misses out flash support? It reminds me of the mobile used by Dom Joly on Trigger Happy TV. Get real Steve, this thing sucks harder than my new Dyson.
I have a theory. In a parallel universe there was a huge game of poker, Steve Jobs versus Shantanu Narayen (Adobe CEO). In a cagey encounter Shantanu took the lot, the Turtleneck jumper, the undersized 501s and the keys to Steve’s Prius. Steve was mortified. He only had one Turtleneck and that was an original from the 70s. He had to get revenge somehow.
While my poker theory may seem a little far-fetched, it’s the only way I can explain why Apple hate Adobe so much. Firstly there is still no Flash support on the iPhone, despite three years passing and countless Flash mobile developments. Now this, the iPad. Steve’s revenge personified in glass and plastic?
Whatever my reservations I am sure this product will sell by the truck load – the cult of Jobs will dictate that. The only saving grace I can think of will be a faster adoption of HTML5 in the design and development world. Mobile Safari does a pretty good job of supporting it, and with the iPad handicapped in other ways, developers will need it to deliver a comparable experience to a Netbook.
Will it make money? Maybe. Will it destroy Apple’s reputation for sure-footed product releases? I believe so. In time, I think it will join the Newton as an Apple product of utter folly.
Ben Dyer is director of product development at Actinic
Hosting guru
Andrew Saunders
Zen Internet
Not quite a Sinclair C5, but what is the iPad for? I think Apple may have got a bit carried away after the success of the iPhone. The iPad is not quite one thing or the other. It’s too big to be a handheld, not quite a compact notebook and not as good as an eBook reader. All previews suggest it needs a stand and keyboard for any serious use, and no one but Steve Jobs has one! The iPad may prove the statistics that, even for giants like Apple, more new products fail than succeed.
Andrew is head of product management & marketing at Zen Internet
Hosting specialist
Neil Barton
Hostway, UK
The launch of the iPad is a further illustration that the way we consume the web has evolved beyond the desktop PC. Users increasingly want to view the web on the move, and if the iPad is the forerunner for a new generation of larger portable touchscreen devices, then developers will have to focus on improving interaction design.
At first it may be just scaling up current application interfaces, but there is now room for the development of original ways to interact with data on the move. What is clear is that companies are already demanding that their websites support the iPhone, so many will be now be demanding that users get the same, if not superior, web experience on the iPad.
Neil is the director of Hostway UK
Creative guru
Marc Peter
on-IDLE
The iPad is being viewed as another media platform mainly down to the hype of it being an Apple product. Technically creating a website for browsing on the iPad is the same as for standard web browsers. I expect some interface optimisation for eReaders specifically, the iPad included, as you would do for mobile site versions, but less complex as the screen size is much larger. The iPad’s touch screen capabilities do open up opportunities for more interactive browsing and interesting interface design solutions, taking into account that the user will be navigating using their fingers as opposed to a mouse.
The fact that the iPad does not support Flash may indicate the HTML5 is not far off, using a native video player as opposed to the currently dominant Flash players for video. Vimeo and YouTube are now running HTML5 beta tests, with Safari and Chrome already supporting it. This makes the future of online video very exciting. Video on an eReader will enrich content, and thereby the user experience of that content. The primary function of any eReader after all, the iPad included, is to display typically print-based content onscreen.
Marc Peter is the creative director of on-IDLE
Design expert
Leigh Whitney
Design UK
Aside from using mobiles, the introduction of the iPad, coupled with the recent launch of Windows 7, (which also supports new touch screen monitors), is really the first time that touch has entered the mainstream. This will have massive implications, because being able to interact with online content and mass media via touch presents a very different user experience, and as such will dramatically change how we interact with the web.
From a usability point of view, designers and developers will need to be more touch aware and rethink the IA and design implications of using a finger to navigate a site, rather than a mouse. Content-wise the iPad will open up bigger opportunities for us to consume and engage with content in more interactive ways, and sites will have to adapt to accommodate this demand if they want to stay ahead.
If the iPad takes off there’s no doubt that there will be a rapid acceleration in the development of touch-screen compatible applications – for example a virtual high street changing room, where clothes can be tried on by superimposing items onto virtual images of the user. This kind of technology will very quickly have profound implications on the digital landscape. In the not so distant future it’s very likely to become an integral part of our everyday lives.
Leigh Whitney is MD at Design UK
Marketing guru
Benn Achilleas
Neoco
The answer to the question is in two parts – technical and emotional. Technically, the iPad brings absolutely nothing new at all. It will not mean that anything needs to be updated or revised (except perhaps iPhone apps).
Emotionally, the iPad will start content publishers thinking about how joined up their content, and the user experience, can (and should) be. Take a traditional magazine publisher for example. Suddenly they are going to be thinking about how their magazine can be touch-screen page flipped, how articles can be video or even interactive quiz content, and how audio can also be part of the experience. None of this is new, and it could also be achieved on DVD, PDF or a host of other formats - including the current Interweb 2.0.
So the difference is not what the iPad does, but what it can make people do. It can make them think differently, think more joined up – it’s more about the user experience. This can only be a good thing for any web designer or developer to get their teeth stuck into.
Benn is co-founder and director at Neoco
Media & PR expert
Tim Gibbon
Elemental Communications
I’ve heard it called a giant sanitary towel, the new Dom Joly Trigger Happy phone and the most expensive mobile phone hybrid device ever… among many other things. Apple certainly courted enough blogger, media and consumer chatter, but a lot of it isn’t as flattering as I am sure they intended. Could it be that consumer and industry pundits are becoming less excited about Apple’s products and service? Is their golden age slowing down?
I can’t say I was glued to the internet to wait for the announcement, but ironically I was picking up some new MacBook Pros we’ve bought the company. Given that we have a few iPhone 3Gs to accompany them, it’s not like we aren’t locked into the brand for the time being. Therefore, from our point of view the iPad would be a nice thing to have, but not a necessity. The benefits are obvious from business and personal perspectives that may be realised further if I ever got to use one.
I haven’t seen many eReaders in use, only the Kindle on the London tube a few times, and they are eye catching. Amazon’s CEO claims that millions have been sold, and this is also highlighted in an Amazon press release, but I wonder how realistic this figure is, given that many people I have asked have never seen one up close and personal. I find it bizarre that a company of this nature doesn’t know more accurately how many units it has sold. Interesting developments all the same since we first discussed Kindle, funnily enough more or less the same time last year.
With Apple’s intention to create a store and already working with publishers and media owners, the need for developers and web designers to create content for the iPad platforms grows. Although not as great before, even with millions of eReaders in action, perhaps there will be greater emphasis to consider this audience now that it will set so much more interest into play. The Apple site is now updated with the iPad details and a ready-to-order call to action, so it’s the age old line now – only time will tell whether audiences will be excited enough to buy it en masse.
Tim is director of Elemental Communications
Social media and comms expert
Rachel Hawkes
Elemental Communications
Magnificent. Super. Amazing. Beautiful. Beautiful. Beautiful. Exciting. Gorgeous. Nice. Great. Awesome. Remarkable. Phenomenal. Simple. Magical.
All credit to Neil Curtis for summarising the iPad keynote so well. Not sure what else there is to say really. Just like many of us, I was waiting for the official announcement and soaking up any iPad news, rumours and gossip as and when I could. I was super excited watching highlights from the keynote, and now that the dust has settled I’m left feeling a bit underwhelmed. Was the excitement really real, or was that some of Apple’s magnificent, amazing, awesome subliminal messaging?
There’s no doubt that the iPad will be popular when it reaches market. I certainly want one, but I don’t need one. Between my MacBook Pro and my iPhone, I don’t see a real gap that the iPad can fill for me. However, the shift from Windows to Mac really changed my perception of content and how it can be consumed, interacted with and shared. So it’s easy to see the iPad offering exciting possibilities for web, mobile, and broadcast owners. Having said that, I can imagine that it would be greatly useful to take along to meetings and whip through a presentation, or notes, or campaign demonstrations and the like. But at this stage it’s still just a nice to have and not a necessity.
About 14 months ago, my colleague and I were weighing the pros and cons of getting an iPhone versus getting a smartphone of the Windows variety. About 13 months ago, we began pining for the iPhone (I’m pleased to say at the time of writing that my sparkling new iPhone has just arrived and is being introduced to 24 hours of charging).
We went with the Windows mobiles after believing the promise of apps to come… they didn’t, and it looks unlikely they ever will.
Rachel is account director at Elemental Communications
Software specialist
Siim Vips
Modera
The effect on web design and development will be extremely positive, because at Modera we have always steered our clients away from full Flash sites wherever possible.
The shift into mobile and eReader browsing will be faster than expected, as yet another device and platform becomes more widely used. This will mean that more agencies, content owners, designers and service providers now have to start following best practices more intensively than before, and providing alternative versions without Flash support of their sites. In a sense, Modera’s strategy has proven right, in that our systems support this approach fully and are future-proofed to move with exciting new products and software like the Apple iPad.
Apple’s Steve Jobs has been quoted on Flash and alluded to the importance of HTML5; so it’s more than likely that Apple’s direction will steer down this path and the reliance upon Flash is once again debated. Designers and web developers will have to be directly tuned into the needs of the clients and in particularly audiences to produce content that is exciting compelling and fully embraces the culture of eReaders as the interest in this device may reach fever pitch in the coming months.
Siim Vips is founder and CEO of Modera
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Comments
Batfan / 02/03/2010 / 16:43
I'm with Drew on this one.
The iPad will have NO effect on the web design/development industry. I don't really understand the notion that it would.
The ability to browse the web with a touch screen has been around for years.
"Big Question" ? or "Waste of an Article" ?
Zofryer / 02/03/2010 / 23:29
There’s a famous quote from a personal hero of mine named Robert Evans when talking about movies made in the late 60’s:
“In the same year alone, Paramount released Medium Cool. A film catering to the so-called youth market. And Paint Your Wagon, a film that catered to……….. no one.”
That’s what the iPad is. It’s like a tribute to Paint Your Wagon.
Adam Web Design / 03/03/2010 / 10:54 / http://www.webdesign-gm.co.uk
I can't see the ipad taking off, certainly not in comparison to the iphone. The iphone was so successful because it transformed a phone into a mobile device that does just about anything you could want from it. So for me the ipad needs to take portable computers to the next level and it just doesn't!
They're not integrating flash so already 50% of sites won't view correctly and you can only have one application open at a time, so there's 2 reasons of the top of my head why the ipad is a step backwards from your typical notebook. If they want the ipad to be a success they have a lot to review before they become market leaders.
Morgan Jones / 03/03/2010 / 11:22
An interesting argument against focusing too heavily on developing websites for mobile Safari (and presumably one that can be extended to the iPad) can be found here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/blog/2010/feb/08/mobile-web-broswer-criticism
As an aside, I don't know about anybody else but I cringed every time Steve Jobs demonstrated a website on the iPad which had Flash on it. Telling us it is the web in our hands when the are vast swathes of empty space apparent for all (not) to see was a big mistake. Why didn't he choose websites that didn't utilise Flash? Now admittedly a lot of Flash is used to deliver annoying banner ads but primarily I look at Flash as a means to entertain and encourage a richer level of interactivity and websites like thefwa.com won't be able to show off the creative talent that is undoubtedly out there.
The iPad is either Apple's white elephant or a case of the Emperor's new clothes and only the consumer will decide which it will be. For me, as an Apple fan for a good couple of decades, I reckon it is a case of the latter. Apple will shift them by the bucket load initially but once the appeal of owning one has worn off (2 weeks) people will miss their desktops/laptops and return in their droves with their iPads relegated to the drawer as they fail to deliver the web as we have come to expect it.
Taylor Satula / 08/03/2010 / 00:35 / http://www.threepixeldrift.com/
The ipad is the saddest product Apple has released for a long time. I just hope that it will be like the Macbook Air which sucked when it came out, they learned from their failure and fixed it.
I am scared because apple seems to be doing this often these days.
