Watching the annual event that is the Apple launch party Wednesday, I could not help to reminisce about the company’s launch events of the past—specifically one of its products: the iPad.
It was 2010, but it seems decades ago, really. Oh, those were the days.
The iPad had just been launched. It was magical. Everyone wanted an iPad, as made obvious by the 26 million sold by the end of that year.
To some, it was Apple’s answer to publishing solutions. We all would want to read newspapers, magazines and books on this wonderful new toy.
I, too, was convinced about this. So much so, that I began to analyze the iPad, how we read on it, and what the future might hold for the new platform, as sort of in a laboratory setting. I bought my iPad and it became my platform of choice. I studied its every detail. I would stop to see how people were reading news on the iPad at every chance I had, at airports, doctor’s offices, etc.
Of course, I wrote my first digital book, The iPad Design Lab: Storytelling in the Age of the Tablet, which is still available, but slightly outdated.
Like many publishers, editors and designers, I, too, thought that we would be reading the news on tablets. It could do wonders with different ways of telling stories, adding videos and sound. I urged designers of tablet editions to make sure they designed for more than the eye and the brain—to keep the finger happy. This line always made the people in attendance at my conferences laugh loudly. IT still does, since we mention the same for that smaller screen which is the smartphone.
When did the dream go away?
…or did it? And, are we dreaming of reading stories on the iPad again?
For the record: I evolved from the small iPad to the iPad Pro. Do I travel with it? No. Do I keep it charging under my pillow at home? Yes, because that way it is there for me to use it as I read newspapers on line before I doze off, which is usually about ten minutes into my use of the tablet. Do my grandchildren love to play games on the iPad Pro? Yes, indeed, another reason I keep it hiding under my pillow.
Today, despite the worldwide tablet market declining in shipments for 14 consecutive quarters, the iPad is seeing growth, and regaining market share over its competitors, according to research firm Strategy Analytics.
Apple reported that it sold 11.55 million iPads in the second quarter of 2018, spanning April 1 through June 30.
Recently I read a Financial Times story that reminds us that perhaps we gave up on the iPad and its potential too quickly. Wednesday, at its iPhone launch event, Apple reportedly was to announce that it would try to revive the iPad “offering a radical redesign that will remove the device’s home button and add facial recognition technology similar to that of the iPhone X. ” This did not actually happened, but several sources I have spoken to believe that it will.
Bigger iPhone screens
Yet, and this is extremely important to editors everywhere, the major announcement Wednesday was the introduction of another round of iPhones that are bigger, faster and more expensive–the model with a 6.5-inch screen, the iPhone XS Max, is Apple’s biggest iPhone ever and will start at $1,100..
Larger screens means that our readers will be spending more time reading stories on their iPhones. All the characteristics of the larger iPad screen are slowly translating to the iPhones.
Apple Watch is redesigned for the first time since 2015.
Apple introduced a new version of its watch that it’s calling the Apple Watch Series 4.It is thinner than the previous version and the big news is that this new Apple Watch promotes better health by having motion sensors that detect when the wearer has fallen down, for example, alerting emergency services.
Editors should take note that the new version has removed the black frame around the screen, to create a larger display area. Those push notifications will probably read better now.
Apple seems to be banking on the fact that small screens and wearables is where the action is. This I am in total agreement with, thus the reason that all my workshops for newsroom transformation now mandate that all story planning be done thinking of the smallest screen first.
By that I mean the smartphone, of course, but perhaps we will be thinking of the Apple Watch as well.
If, as we know, push notifications and promotions of stories are becoming more important now, then the Apple Watch is an ideal container for such items. An improved and enhanced version of the Apple Watch will make editors and designers take a second look for the use of that platform as essential for promoting stories.
The experts quoted in the FT piece agree that small is preferred:
It is becoming increasingly clear that the next era of personal technology will be dominated by much smaller screens, worn on the wrist — or even the head.
My take
I am delighted to hear about the Apple news, the larger iPhones and the Apple Watch. I agree that we may do more in terms of potential for promoting stories with the Apple Watch, but the iPad and the larger screen iPhones are going to provide great opportunities for those “lean back” moments when we sink our teeth into investigative reports, how to stories, or, as in this recent New York Times story, graphic explanations of events.
There is no question in my mind: the iPhone will continue to be the platform of choice for our audience, and for those in the newsroom who wish to do digital storytelling that belongs in that platform. But we will have to review our processes to accommodate better opportunities via the Apple Watch and the newly improved iPad.
Time for me to start revising the The iPad Design Lab: Storytelling in the Age of the Tablet? Perhaps, but, in any case, it would be a textbook about the three platforms and the music they could make together in a well integrated, digital newsroom.
Get ready to tackle the new trio for the future of digital storytelling!
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