Apparently, I’m catching wind of this new Apple “Tablet” rumor a bit late. Supposedly, this new, flat touch-screen computer will be connected to the internet at all times and will have video, music and phone capabilities—and basically everything else the iPhone currently has. Aside from the fact that this thing sounds pretty awesome, it could likely be a real game changer for how we think about media.
This Newsweek article, which first turned me on to the “Tablet”, discusses the notion. Just as new forms of social media have transformed the way we communicate with audiences, disseminate information and strategize for our clients, new technologies are expanding our means of communication and requiring us to consider “media” in an entirely different light. It’s no longer so cut-and-dry as the glory days of print newspapers and the 5 o’clock evening news.
Look at how people have turned their creativity loose on the iPhone. In just 16 months, thousands of developers have created 85,000 applications for that device. The same will happen with tablets. These powerful devices with constant Internet access will enable us (and force us) to rethink media. What is a newspaper? What is a book? What is a movie? What is entertainment?
October 28, 2009 at 1:32 am
As someone who has just gone paperless and is writing this via speech recognition software, I agree that we are just scratching the surface of our stragegies to utilize this new media and how we communicate, work, and socialize.