CHAPTER 1: Welcome to the Paradigm Shift
2
small form factor. Running Microsoft Windows or a Linux-based operating system,
netbooks don’t make computing any easier than laptops. Their only advantage is that
they’re more affordable.
A thin tablet device is much more intimate than a laptop or netbook, and it can be easily
held from almost any angle—on a couch or in bed, for example. And I’m willing to bet
that some of you even take your iPad into the bathroom for a little quality time, surfing
the Web and reading e-books.
The iPad is certainly not the first computer tablet to hit the market, and it won’t be the
last. Since the early 1990s, countless companies have attempted to lure consumers with
feature-packed tablet models, but none of them were ever successful. Why? Because
the software was either limited in functionality or too difficult to use.
In 1993, Apple launched the Newton MessagePad, its first stab at a tablet. With its
monochrome screen and limited selection of software, it was largely perceived as a big
PDA, rather than a true mobile computer. Since the product never seemed to grow
beyond a small, yet loyal, cult following, Apple discontinued Newton development in 1998.
Most of the other hardware companies that followed with their own tablets tried a different
approach. Running on various flavors of Windows or Linux, those tablets were powerful
computers, but were ultimately not the right mobile solution for most consumers. Like
Apple’s Newton, many of them required the use of a stylus pen in order to accurately tap
the tiny on-screen buttons and menu options. The underlying problem was that those
desktop operating systems were never designed for a finger-driven touchscreen. From a
usability standpoint, a cursor-based desktop operating system is a very cumbersome
interface for a mobile tablet device that’s typically operated with one hand.
It’s All About the Software
When rumors first started circulating back in 2009 about the development of a
mysterious Apple tablet, the big question was which operating system it would run. With
a larger screen, it could certainly handle Mac OS X, and I must admit, a small part of me
had secretly hoped that Apple would announce a Mac-based tablet, so that I could run
my favorite Mac apps on it. But as a developer, I’m not the average consumer. If Apple
had released the iPad as a Mac OS X-powered device, it would surely have met the
same lukewarm reception as the countless tablets that came before it.
But Apple is smarter than that. To succeed, Apple knew this new class of mobile device
had to be easier to use than a laptop, yet more powerful than a smartphone. To achieve
this, the tablet needed an operating system that was engineered from the ground up for
multitouch finger gestures and efficient touchscreen navigation. One of Apple’s greatest
strengths as a technology company is that it controls the design of both the hardware
and the software, always striving for a seamless marriage between the two. The iPad is
a perfect example of that ideology.
Powered by a tablet-enhanced version of iOS, the iPad avoids the usual trappings of
adapting mouse-driven desktop software to a touchscreen environment. With millions of
iPhone and iPod touch users already familiar with the iOS interface, there’s an
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