Ipad__a_New_Generation’S_Must-Have

Believe me or not, as long as I hear a word about I-products, it will be too hard for me to stop imagining the new features, new eye-catching design, and new user-friendly applications of these incredible revolutionary products. It is not uncommon to hear people talking about their amazing applications being installed in their iPhones, iPads, or iPods. So far, I have purchased all the I-products. Among them, to be honest, iPad is my favorite. According to an article in “Channer Insider” published in May of 2010, Apple, Inc. claimed that it had sold 2 million iPads only in the United States after launching the touch-screen tablet in April 2010. Don’t you think that this number is so shocking that it clearly illustrates the power of I-products in the 21st century' Yes. The answer is definitely, yes. No one can deny this fact anymore. We are obsessed with I-products. Our life is firmly attached to them. They are the leader. They are the dominator. A question has arisen here: How did this epidemic get started' What makes iPad so astonishingly outstanding even when compared to so many other electronics such as Kindle and laptops' Answers to these questions can be found in Malcolm Gladwell’s “The Tipping Point: Hush Puppies, Crime, Yawning, and Other Contagions,” for he presented many convincing real life examples to show us how a trend becomes a trend. As stated by Gladwell, there are three indisputable principles: the first one, contagiousness; the second, little things can have big effects; and the third, change happens dramatically not gradually (631). Let’s look into this theory first, and then analyze how it is applied to iPad’s success. To begin with, the first thing that he mentioned in his book is “Contagiousness,” which indicates that a key to making something new become a trend, a very famous trend is, most of the time, a contagious behavior of a few people. Their role in starting an epidemic is critical. Take an example from an excerpt from his book. Hush Puppies, a famous brand in the shoe industry, got its foothold thanks to some well-known designers, such as John Bartlett and Anna Sui, who began featuring it in their collection after seeing and hearing that these shoes became in vogue in clubs and bars of downtown Manhattan. These two designers and those fashionable young people saved this world-known brand from being phased out in 1995 by selling a total of 430,000 pairs (628-629). Second rule of the beginning of an epidemic is “Little Changes Can Somehow Have Big Effects.” I was particularly fascinated by the puzzle he gave: fold a big piece of paper 50 times, and tell him what would be the length. As a matter of fact, it is far more than I thought, as many of us do. The length would approximately be as far as the distance to the sun. Wow! That’s unbelievable. But it is the truth. We can never underestimate the power of something that seems nothing but simple. He gave us another illustration about how fast various viruses spread among people in a short period of time as well (632-633). Finally, most importantly, is “The Sudden Change.” This indicates that a successful extension of any trend is often based on a rapid or abrupt change. He gave us an example about the trend in technology. Sharp, a legendary name in electronics, introduced the first low-priced fax machine in 1984 and sold about 80,000 in the United States in that first year. For the next three years, to their delight, people began to rely so much on fax machines that in 1987, enough people had faxes that it became a must-have for everyone to get a fax machine. In the case of iPad, we can clearly see how these principles perfectly worked together to make this unbelievable must-have entertainment and office tool become so popular. According to an article written by Linzmayer, Apple was established on April 1, 1976, by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniac, and Ronald Wayne. At that time, however, it took them a long time to introduce and explain their innovative minds about the future computer world. It was such a failure that Wozniac decided to sell his share in the company to Jobs for $800. Jobs didn’t give up, and finally, on August 5, 1998, with the power of teamwork and perseverance, Apple, Inc. released the first all-in-one computer iMac, which was the first big victory for them. Thanks to modern technology and unique attention-grabbing unique design, 800,000 units were sold in the first five months (Apple.com). This trend came to its boiling point, in other words, tipping point so abruptly. Later on, in July 2008, Apple started to launch iPhone, iPod Touch respectively. After three months, it was announced by Steve Jobs that Apple had become the third-largest mobile handset supplier in the world due to the popularity of the iPhone. From then on, people with I-products in hand became the topic of any conversation. Having I-products has become a symbol of power, status, fashion, intelligence, etc. Everyone insanely chased after I-products and used the outstanding features like video chatting, online surfing, taking high quality pictures and playing games in their daily life. All these innovations changed people’s tedious, routine lives into colorful, technology-everywhere ones. Most of the people had become accustomed to this way of living. However, humans are never satisfied. We began to imagine how wonderful it would be to have something that would be a combination of iPhone and iTouch. Because iPhone and iTouch are almost both perfect, yet, the only thing that is not that enjoyable is the 3.5 inch screen display. It is so small that once we have been playing games or surfing online for more than thirty minutes, our eyes feel extremely tired. A successful businessman always has the ability to analyze what is and will be in demand. As a result, a new generation of tablet computer iPad was released in April, 2010. This is a complete combined version of iPhone and iPod with a pleasant 9.7 inch display screen. This device was initially popular with 300,000 items being sold on the first day of availability, according to the article in Yottos News. By May 3, 2010, Apple had sold a million iPads, which was the half of the time it took Apple to sell the same amount of iPhones. In total, Apple sold more than 15 million first generation of iPad. What is the reason is so popular' Perhaps, other than the other features, the unforgettable and up-to-date appearance has made it extraordinary. The iPad's touchscreen display is a 1024 × 768 pixel, 19.7×14.8 cm liquid crystal display, which is just the right size for a tablet according to Steve Jobs. It meets all the demands that 21st century generation needs, including ebooks, periodicals, movies, music, games, and web content. What’s more, it has a portable size, so we can take it wherever we go. In conclusion, as we can clearly observe, the reason iPad can gain such a victory in electronic world is mostly because it follows the idea of Gladwell. To make it clear: first, iPad is started by the contagious behavior of only a few fashionable, far-sighted young people; secondly, it has been periodically updated to fix its undiscoverable bugs and imperfect features, which usually keeps us safe and have big effects; lastly, it spreads so abruptly like a virus that everyone just insanely goes after it. What’s more, it also has a stylish design as well as it could “hear” what a person is thinking just like many other I-products. Though we have lost a great man, Steve Jobs, who has changed this world tremendously, his name will be remembered, and his elite group and innovative ideas will definitely be with us forever to make our planet a better place.