opinion There has been a lot of comments on Delimiter’s recent article, Five Reasons the iPad will fail in Australia. This is a good discussion, however, let’s take a different tack, five reasons we NEED the iPad to succeed!

(and a warning what Apple dominance may bring as well. Oh come on! Do you expect me to be all Apple fanboi-ish?)

1. eBooks: As I have written recently, the Aussie ebook market is shambolic. Apple with its clear vision on how to do things will be an enema to the industry. The changes to the ePub standard alone will be a blessing.

Gotcha #1: More than likely, Apple will add Fairplay digital rights management to iBookstore, although the iBook app will support DRM-free books as well.

2. Streaming video: Apart from Aunty ABC’s iView player, there is a noticeable lacking in streaming TV and movies in this nation. The iPad could be the platform that gets streaming apps like Hulu or a Netflix streaming clone to enter the market.

Gotcha #2: Apple already has a fatwa on Flash video, so either HTML5 or an app using MPEG4 h.264 codec will have to be standard. This prevents other devices from using these services unless they support HTML5 and h.264.

3. Bandwidth: A device like an iPad, with its strong focus on media consumption, will hopefully increase bandwidth caps in the 3G mobile space. 5GB is one iTunes movie and not much more.

Gotcha #3: Aussie telcos make the US telco industry look like angels (I AM looking at you, Telstra!). We may be looking at 5GB plans for $40 if we are lucky, and there is no way we will get unlimited plans like those to be offered by AT&T, based on previous behavour. And don’t even think of tethering your iPhone to the iPad.

4. Local development: We have already seen a lot of iPhone apps tailored to Australia (For example news apps, Yellow Pages, timetables yada yada). Having a platform that allows quick and easy development will allow a lot of Australia-centric software to develop on a well-defined platform, and provide a revenue stream for them.

Gotcha #4: Apple’s capricious approval process and restrictive development policy (using Objective C only) may alienate developers when we need them to develop apps.

5. More Wi-Fi: Compared to US, Wi-Fi penetration is a mess. More demand from users of Wi-Fi devices will finally allow ubiquitous wifi penetrtation to all major and minor cities and most major rural centres.

Gotcha #5: Umm, nope. Got nothing. Nope, this is all good!

So, let the flame war begin!

Darryl Adams is a government worker and internet tragic. A former IT worker, he still pines for the days of IBM keyboards that go CRUNCH and the glow of green screens. He can be found on on Twitter or on Facebook. The views expressed here do not reflect the views of his employer, the ATO.

Image credit: Richard-G, Creative Commons

Related posts:

1. 10 reasons the iPad will be a huge success in Australia
2. Five reasons the iPad will fail in Australia
3. Five reasons Australians should buy an iPad 2
4. Five reasons Australians shouldn’t buy an iPad 2
5. iPad to hit Australia before April?

1. Brendan
   Posted 28/04/2010 at 3:56 pm | Permalink | Reply

   I’m sorry but I don’t understand how the proliferation of a DRM-encumbered device with a company that flip-flops on what they deem morally objectionable on any given day can be a good thing. If the iPad had the ability to install 3rd-party applications with a simple warning “This is not supported by Apple, use at your own risk”, then this wouldn’t be such a big problem.

   The other issue is the lock-in culture surrounded iPad and iPhone development. Most applications available for phones nowadays are made exclusively for the iPhone. There is little competition, and Objective C is horrible to look at.

   While all of your points are valid, you could substitute iPad for any viral multimedia device. It’s a shame Android hasn’t picked up pace as fast as the Apple equivalents, as it’s a hell of a lot more open.

   And please don’t misuse fatwa… it’s an Islamic judgment, not necessarily a death request.

   • Renai LeMay
     Posted 28/04/2010 at 4:56 pm | Permalink | Reply

     “I’m sorry but I don’t understand how the proliferation of a DRM-encumbered device with a company that flip-flops on what they deem morally objectionable on any given day can be a good thing.”

     +1 BILLION to this.

     I rest my case. DRM = #fail. We need open platforms, people. Not ones where Apple can decide on any given day that a certain app doesn’t get through its censors because it has titties. This is Sparta.

     • Darryl Adams
       Posted 28/04/2010 at 5:27 pm | Permalink | Reply

       Dont get me wrong, DRM is evil and wrong and smells of poopoo.

       However, as we saw in music, Publishers will not sign on without it. Apple DRM sucks less than others historically (Like Sony Rootkit DRM). My publishing heroes at Baen.com are totally right on the issue, and do make a stand against DRM, but they are one small voice in the wild where Rupert Murdoch controls much of the noise.

       • Brendan
         Posted 28/04/2010 at 5:53 pm | Permalink | Reply

         If we give the publishers no decision but to deal with a world without DRM then they wont keep pushing for it. The issue is the industry keeps pushing for more and more rights that they don’t require or deserve, and now they’re trying to make the governments internationally bend over to support their dying distribution models with ACTA.

         It’s not that hard to not purchase DRM’d stuff, because if we don’t start saying no, we’re going to get more of it, not less, and it will get more restrictive.

       • Renai LeMay
         Posted 28/04/2010 at 6:24 pm | Permalink | Reply

         I think you could be right in that if you give the publishers a safe and easy way into digital publishing with DRM, then eventually (as happened with Apple and music — MP3s), you can find a way to remove the DRM.

2. Darryl Adams
   Posted 28/04/2010 at 4:03 pm | Permalink | Reply

   Quote: While all of your points are valid, you could substitute iPad for any viral multimedia device. It’s a shame Android hasn’t picked up pace as fast as the Apple equivalents, as it’s a hell of a lot more open.

   Totally agreed. If a big company comes in with a cheap open platform it would be great. However, punters have previously pefered 1 simple product from Apple compared to better but more complex products from other companies.

   And I used the fatwa intentionally, to show that it is a ruling against a product. I could have used excomunicated or some other christian term, but fatwa covered it the best.

   • Renai LeMay
     Posted 28/04/2010 at 4:57 pm | Permalink | Reply

     “punters have previously pefered 1 simple product from Apple compared to better but more complex products from other companies.”

     Until someone comes along with a more open platform with similar technology (can you say ‘Android’)?

     • Darryl Adams
       Posted 28/04/2010 at 5:23 pm | Permalink | Reply

       That is my hope. My dream.

       The way Apple acts now is almost “Ein Apple, Ein Appstore, Ein Jobs!”. Yes, I envoked Hitler. I lose. Drink.

     • Phil Edwards
       Posted 29/04/2010 at 10:12 am | Permalink | Reply

       “Until someone comes along with a more open platform with similar technology (can you say ‘Android’)?”

       If Android is so good…. where are all those android devices??? Android is a more open platform but it is subject to more flaws than the iphone OS.

       Until Google forces handset manufacturers to build more consistently standard handsets, it will never be the success the iphone is.

       Microsoft has finally realised this with Windows Mobile and their fortunes should improve in the future…. (but not by much).

       • Renai LeMay
         Posted 29/04/2010 at 2:49 pm | Permalink | Reply

         Actually the Australian market is about to be flooded with Android devices from every major manufacturer … HTC, Sony Ericsson, Motorola etc. The recent Mobile World Congress event in Barcelona was flooded with Android gear and I expect it to eventually be bigger than the iPhone.