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Is the pad a disruptive technology? The purpose of this report – “Is the pad a disruptive technology? ” – is to research and study about the technological developments in Information Systems, such as, the pad and if it’s a disrupting technology that changes the world or not. Apple introduced the pad in 2010, selling 300,000 on the first day of release and approximately 3 million in 80 days. Given that the features of the pad were similar to the phone’s, Apple envisioned for this device to be used in a diversity of areas to offer an all-in-one package for computing, connectivity, gaming and any other task consumers might think of.
The pad was promoted as a communications device for music, telecommunications, Web and computing, another advancement in information systems. (Kessler, T. 2010) This report will cover the positives and negatives of the pad along with the technological advancements in the Information Systems. The report will create an insight of the effects pads and similar technologies have on the business models of Apple, content creators (such as app developers) and distributors.
It will also cover the basics, comparisons, features and specifications on each information system and if it’s a disruptive or a collaborative technology. For the pad, the main traditional competitors are brands such as Google, Amazon, Samsung, Microsoft, and Sony along with many more. Some products that are competitive against the pad are the Kindle, Samsung Galaxy tablets, Google Nexus and Microsoft tablets. The tablet market has recently increased as new versions of the pad have been released. Smaller models have become increasingly popular in the competitive market.
Google is Apple’s strongest competitor who recently released new market entrants such as the Nexus; along with Amazon introducing seven new Kindles. All prices are at least $100 cheaper than the pad mini and $200 less than he original sized pad. With these two companies combined, they have sold approximately 1 5 million smaller, cheaper tablets according to specific research. (Chin, B. 2012) All these new market entrants introduced new features in aim to enhance and increase their place in the tablet market.
Although there is the competition which some may be cheaper, Apple is still the dominant of the tablet market having sold 100 million pads to date. Below is a current usage chart between the time periods of January 2013 – March 2013. (Usage Share Change- Top 3 Tablets – January 2013 through March 2013. 2013) This chart shows the comparisons between the pad and its competitors and the usage percentages. This is current supporting data of how pads compare to its traditional competitors. As mention brittle bettor, price is a key element in customer decisions to purchase a product.
If the price is too high then customers might substitute products. These products are similar and have most or some functionality available as the pad has. As there are many alternatives to the pad including the other tablets mentioned before, Laptop/PC and the Amazon Kindle, the threat of substitute products and services is high. Google’s recently released 7-inch Nexus 7 is valued for $200. Amazon’s seven newly released Kindles price range $160 – $300 and the Samsung Tablet products start at $100 and increase. (Chin, B. 012) Looking at these prices the Apple pads start at $499 and reach to prices such as $929, which some customers may prefer to substitute the pad for something of a cheaper range. Many consumers choose to go with the Apple pads due to the brand and features that it offers and for Apples pad; customers have high power in the Competitive Forces Model as they have many choices from whom to buy which is very important. Apple is opting to attract more consumers by focusing on content. Corporate consumers deem the pad useful for corporate purposes with the ability to have APS for documents and also other business functions.
The suppliers also come into the equation as the more different suppliers a firm has, the greater control it can exercise over suppliers in terms of price, quality and delivery schedules. Apple has a strong base of suppliers and currently has over 200 supplying companies who provide raw materials and components or perform final assembly for Apple. Some companies include Delta Electronics Inc. , Hanson Metal Factory. Ltd. , Intel Corporation, Quanta Computer Inc. Along with many more. (Supplier List 2013. 2013) Apple has a current uploaded document on their website which contains a list of suppliers.
This list is of their top 200 suppliers which includes component providers and others representing in at least 97 percent of procurement expenditures for materials, manufacturing, and assembly of their products worldwide in 2012. Looking at all five of Porter’s Competitive Forces model you can evaluate how much impact Apple pads have had on the tablet market competitors, products and services, customers and suppliers. The definition of a disruptive technology is new technologies that come along and change the world in a way.
The pad is a platform at which it has the capabilities of a laptop of tablet PC but put in an ostentatious functionality that makes itself unique with the ability to deliver video, music, text, social networking applications and video games. With all these features, pad fits into the description of a disruptive technology with its unique capabilities that have change many ways consumers do things. It is in the publishing and media industries where the pads disruptive impact ill be first felt. News and magazines have both positive and negative impacts with the pad.
The pad could assist with struggling newspaper and magazine printing sectors by providing a format that will pay online for. Newspapers were enthusiastic about the pad as it represents a way for them to continue charging for all of the content that they have been required to make available online. As with book publishers, if Apple dominates e portable reader sector, magazine and newspaper publishers will become reliant on them for their continuing success that is a weak position for them in long run. The pad and similar devices (including the Kindle) will force many existing media businesses to change their business models significantly.
When it comes to E-books, the pad could be a device that makes eBooks go mainstream. Publishers profit in the arrangement that Apple has provided them with the pad which is announcing their intention to offer a tiered pricing system, giving publishers the opportunity to participate more actively in the pricing of their books compared to Amazon, the technology platform provider and largest distributor of books in the world. The active however is the pad makes existing readers including the Kindle, Sony tablet and Samsung Galaxy look very ordinary and obsolete.
A final example of the pad being a disruptive technology is with the music industry. A positive for Apple is that they will be able to maintain their premium pricing. Apple can continue to control the music distribution business and the industry would have to accept what they say and do. Music labels used to make more money selling multiple songs on an album than they did selling popular singles. Now consumers purchasing albums has radically decreased as preference is downloading one song at a time. Apple had already reformed some of its business model by freely acting as an agent selling books rather than Just a book distributor.
In the past Apple believed content was less important than the popularity of its devices but soon realized that was unsustainable. If there is no content, people will not purchase the product. The company is now prepared to make agreements with each media industry to distribute many diverse types of content at a price approved upon by the content and platform owners. The pad is another one of Apple’s successful products and has a major effect on the business models of Apple, content creators and distributors.
For the content based business models, the Apple pad has affected eBooks, news, magazines etc. It has created portability for the consumers and everything is to go and a bigger segment. As for the content creators, Apple has high-quality application, personalization; specific customers needs and wants for the product, high competition and more niche contents. Lastly, Apple distributors act as an agent rather than Just a distributor (with a 30% fee on all eBook sales), have more freedom to publishers in relation to eBooks and have agreed with publishers to charge $12- $14 for the eBooks.
This results in cheaper eBooks in the future even though publishers are worried about long-term pricing arrangements and expectations. The pad is a very powerful and useful technology device. Consumers choose this product as it is very useful for reading books, magazines, newspapers, for surfing the web, and for watching videos. The following features are what the pad can give consumers. Pad Reading books, magazines or newspapers: * books. Both a way to read books and a way to buy them, books transforms the simple act of reading into something simply delightful. Customize your view. How you read is up to you. Flick trot page to page, change the text size, select deterrent font, adjust the brightness or choose a white, sepia or nighttime-friendly theme. * Use reading tools. You can highlight or underline text, make notes, look up a word in the dictionary or on the web, or search inside the book. You can even use Viceroy to have pad read to you. Surfing the web: * The web-browsing app Safari allows for speedy Wi-If cellular data connections along with a powerful AX chip that results in web pages loading ultraist. Advanced Wi-If technology and Next-generation cellular connectivity – up to LET. Apple pad can also come with Wi-If + Cellular. So you can download content, stream video, and browse the web at amazing speeds – without a contract or long-term commitment. Watching a Video: * Shoot and Record HAD video in full IPPP using a 5-megalith camera. The ‘Sight camera on pad lets you capture all different occasions. Automatic video stabilization so you have a clear video to playback. Watching videos on the pad is clear and crystal with the feature of Retina display.
Faults: * With every technological device there are always some faults. With the pad, consumers have listed some of the faults they experience. These problems consist of; Frozen screen/Unresponsive to your touch; pad won’t turn on; tunes doesn’t recognize pad; pad won’t charge; pad won’t connect to Wi-If/Wi-If sync not working; Running slow; and, Cellular data connection dropping. There are also technical faults such as no integrated card reader and no USB, missing support for Adobe flash, no HIDE and no wireless synchronization.
Kindle Reader Is the world’s most advanced e-reader with Free 36 – higher resolution, higher contrast touchstones with built-in light and 8-week battery life. Reading books, magazines or newspapers: * The kindle has 62% more pixels for unsurpassed resolution, 25% better contrast or sharp, dark text. While reading, the Kindle delivers clear text and images with no glare even in bright sunlight. Adjustable fonts and text size for all consumers needs and holds up to 1,100 books in the library device. Surfing the web: * 36 wireless. Wireless works globally where you can download books anytime, anywhere.
Built in Wi-If lets you download books in under 60 seconds Watching Video: * Does not have this feature. Faults: * Amazon talked about three problems consumers are complaining about with the Kindle: the lack of audio, the smaller storage and the lighting problems. It does not eve audio or Text-to-speech . Under certain lighting conditions, the backcloth at the bottom of the screen is not perfectly even. Finally the Kindle has 2 KGB of storage, which some previous models had BIB. This amount of storage holds up to 1,100 books locally on the device. Chain, C. 2012) After researching the capabilities of each device above, I personally believe the pad is a better device for reading books. Along with the many useful features, the pad provides many benefits to reading books using the I KS app to buy, save and store eBooks, newspapers and magazines in the book library. It Retina display allows nonusers to be able to read text clearly both as an eBook or online reading news articles. For an example of pad’s capabilities there’s the feature where you can read articles without distractions.
Just tap the Reader icon and clutter instantly disappears. All you will see is the article itself. If consumers do not finish reading the article they have an option to add the article’s link to your Reading List and finish it later. Even without internet connection, Safari saves web pages – not Just links – in your Reading List, so consumers can read even when offline. So for books I use at university courses I would definitely choose the pad. However, when it comes to reading traditional print publications I sometimes prefer to read printed versions of articles or novels.
For university, I would use the pad to read eBooks as keeping a variety of books in the books library application is much easier than to carry the multiple books around, which is much heavier than Just taking one technological device. However if I am reading for pleasure in my own time, I prefer to read from printed texts as the feel of the traditional printed versions are sometimes better to read, especially if your reading for a long amount of time. In conclusion to he report the pad is definitely considered a disruptive technology.