My first iPad impression was surprise that Apple had allowed a keyboard. That makes the iPad a potential alternative to the $1500 Macbook Air. Then I saw it as a high-end netbook competitor.
My second impression was that the iPad is the beginning of the end of OS X. Sounds extreme, but, separately, Mac mega-pundit John Gruber said the same thing.
That's impressive enough, but one thing has nagged at me. How could the inclusion of a $7 3G chip boost the cost of the iPad by $130? Yeah, I know Apple likes fat margins, but that's extreme even by their standards. It's not like it's subtle, and it's not like the AT&T wireless service is free. It's still $30/month, same as for the iPhone. [See Update, below]
There's one explanation that makes sense. The money is going to AT&T -- in addition to the $30 a month for data services.
How could AT&T possibly extract that much money? What hold could they have over Apple?
Well, one might imagine various contractual obligations, but Apple's lawyers are famously vicious. Apple is getting something for this money. Possibly, a lot.
What if Apple is giving AT&T the lion's share of that $130, but in return AT&T has agreed that Apple can provide SMS, VOIP and iChat (optional webcam attachment) services over the iPad's 3G connection?
In other words, iVOIP.
Take that Google Voice.
Might explain why Apple was willing to go to war over Google Voice on the iPhone.
This is going to be an interesting year in tech.
PS. Oh, yeah. And balanced DRM for eBooks is going to turn publishing upside down too.
PS. Oh, yeah. And balanced DRM for eBooks is going to turn publishing upside down too.
Update 1/31/2010: See Andrew W's comment. Basically, I'm wrong about the $130 going to AT&T, it's probably going to Apple and it reflects development costs for the 3G integration. To quote Andrew:
... I don't think AT&T is getting a taste of the $629. I've never heard of that happening before, and Apple has way too much leverage against AT&T. I suspect the iPad price plans were part of some larger negotiation. (e.g., I wouldn't be surprised to start hearing rumors that AT&T's exclusive contract is extended.)
Also, don't forget that Apple gets a cut of your monthly iPhone bill. Apple/AT&T negotiations probably focused on that more than anything. My guess is that Apple reduced their cut in order to get a monthly price that they thought consumers would tolerate for a new and unproven device/market...
