【英语科技】iPad引领内容消费革命

The January launch of Apple's iPad has been the most talked about consumer technology event of the year. Much of the discussion has revolved around just how innovative the iPad really is. It does not look that different from other manufacturers' devices, which are essentially laptops that use a touch-screen rather than a keyboard for input.

The origins of this type of tablet computer design go back decades. An electronic clipboard with a touch-screen featured in the original 1966 Star Trek science fiction television series. The first commercially available tablet computer, the GRiDPad, was released in 1989. Since then the basic concept has altered little although there have been huge improvements in the underlying technologies such as touch-screens, batteries, processors, connectivity and software.

Although sales of tablet computers have never been enormous, they have been used in a number of important, mainly industrial, niches in areas where a keyboard is either impractical or unnecessary. Until the iPad came along none of these devices was remotely 'cool'.

Beyond its attractive physical design, where the iPad differs from most existing tablet computers is that it uses a variation on the operating system developed for the iPhone rather than one created for desktop or laptop computers. This difference has led to a number of analysts creating a new category of device called 'media-pads' or 'slates' to describe the Apple product and its competitors.

Although a number of iPad alternatives have been announced, few are actually on sale yet. Really all they have in common is they are larger than smartphones, ranging from the Dell Streak with a five-inch screen, the RIM BlackBerry PlayBook with seven inches and the iPad's 10 inches.

Perhaps Apple's central achievement with the iPad has been to tie it into the same ecosystem it had already developed for its range of iPod personal music players and refined for its iPhone handset. From Apple's own online store it's an easy, intuitive process for users to download music, video and, most famously, small software applications known as 'apps'.

This makes the iPad more of a platform for innovation than an innovation in itself. As with the clam-shell laptop, it's not really possible to change the fundamental design of tablet computers. The greatest innovation on the horizon comes from the development of thinner, lighter, flexible displays most notably from the Taiwan-based Industrial Technology Research Institute, which won the top prize in this year's Wall Street Journal Innovation Awards.

This technology could usher in a range of more portable devices, but it's the way they're likely to be used for the consumption of content that's key. Perhaps the most significant technological development is going on behind the scenes as, for instance, publishers look to find ways to sell and display their content on screens of varying size and quality. An important example is News Corporation's purchase of Skiff, which enables the distribution of digital newspapers and magazines to a multiplicity of devices while retaining the original publications' look and feel.

The other key area for innovation is in the operating system software used to power the new breed of tablet computers. These are in continuing development from Microsoft, Nokia's MeeGo, RIM BlackBerry and HP, which recently acquired the former hand-held computer market leader Palm and its WebOS. Most devices, however, are expected to use variations on Google's Android OS, which closely resembles Apple's iOS in that it has an extensive range of apps and it runs on both smartphones and tablet computers. The difference is any manufacturer can make a device to run on Android whereas iOS will only run on Apple products.

But there has been some suggestion that the choice of operating system is almost immaterial as tablets are designed to be connected wirelessly to the internet almost permanently. The idea is that software, data and services instead of being stored on an individual device, are available on demand in a similar way to electricity from a grid, a process known as 'cloud computing'.

Duncan Stewart, the author of Deloitte's 2010 Tablet Prediction, does not believe this makes the operating system irrelevant, partly because some users will have specialist needs, such as high security, and because it's a more effective way of controlling functions such as built-in cameras. He says: 'Tablet devices will need to be used in an offline fashion, you can't always move everything to the cloud.'

The fact that there is just one design of iPad -- although more are expected -- leaves plenty of room for competitors to produce devices of different sizes, prices and new functions. The current models, for instance, have no camera, no slots for memory cards, no USB sockets and are unable to play Flash, the software used for many games, videos and animations on the internet.

'What will probably happen in tablets is there will be very different price points and market positioning, just like cars,' says Mr. Stewart. 'And those companies that are first to market in new sizes, new feature sets, new price points will end up dominating those portions of the tablet market.'

One key area will be enterprise-level computing as Apple does not have a strong reputation in business applications or integration with corporate IT infrastructure. The BlackBerry PlayBook was announced in September very much as a serious and secure business-oriented device to distinguish it from the more consumer-focused iPad.

Robert Filkins, consultant at telecommunications specialist, Coleago Consulting, says BlackBerry or Microsoft Windows powered devices might have more success. 'Having said that, there is no doubt that corporate IT department geeks love gadgets, and the iPhone and iPad are very attractive gadgets,' he adds. 'So the traditional resistance that Apple has experienced when trying to break into the corporate world may be significantly less when IT staff themselves want to use these products.'

The iPad is already finding favor in some corporate settings, according to Tom Schwenger, global director of sales and marketing for Accenture's Life Sciences practice: 'Within the pharmaceutical industry, we see the iPad as a being an appropriate size for a variety of uses. It's small enough to be used unobtrusively by field reps within a physician's office or hospital setting where laptops may be obtrusive or prohibited. The large screen makes it an ideal platform for showcasing interactive content with physicians.'

It could be that the iPad is most important in terms of innovation in the ways it is used rather than its physical form. Already some magazines have iPad editions to take advantage of its video and interactive functions. None is regarded as entirely successful.

As other devices appear, the challenge will be to make the publications available for sale without making them easy to pirate. At the same time the mass market for tablet computers is so new that nobody really knows which direction it will take or how big it will grow.

苹果公司(Apple)于1月份推出的iPad已成为本年度最受关注的电子消费品。这方面的热议大多是围绕着iPad的创新性，但实际上，iPad的外型与其他厂商生产的平板计算机并没有多大区别。从本质上讲，平板计算机就是一个使用触摸屏而非键盘进行文字录入的笔记本计算机。

Abi Hardwick平板电脑的先驱《星际迷航》平板计算机的设计原型可以追溯到几十年前。1966年，美国科幻电视剧《星际迷航》(Star Trek)首次提出了使用触摸屏的电子写字板的概念。1989年，第一台商业化量产的平板计算机GRiDPad亮相市场。从那时起，平板计算机的基本概念没有多大变化，但在底层技术方面有了巨大的进步，包括触摸屏、电池、处理器、连通性和软件等等。

虽然平板计算机的销量一直不大，但它们已经应用在许多重要的细分领域，主要是在键盘使用不方便或者没必要的工业制造方面。在iPad出现之前，平板计算机与时尚根本沾不上边。

除了吸引眼球的外型之外，iPad与现有大多数平板计算机的区别在于其使用了一个为iPhone开发的操作系统的衍生版本，而不是专门为个人计算机和笔记本计算机开发的操作系统。这种区别导致许多分析师新设了一个电子设备的分类，叫做媒体平板(media-pad)或slate，以描述苹果及其竞争对手推出的此类产品。

Reuters三星公司的Galaxy Tab，希望能够成为iPad的替代品。虽然已有很多公司宣布推出可替代iPad的平板计算机产品，但实际投入销售的还寥寥无几。这些产品的最大共性就是它们都比智能手机的尺寸大，如戴尔公司(Dell)五英寸屏幕的Streak，RIM公司七英寸屏幕的BlackBerry PlayBook，以及十英寸屏幕的iPad等。

苹果在iPad上最聪明的一招也许就是将其纳入同一个为iPod个人音乐播放器开发并在iPhone手机上加以完善的操作系统体系当中。在苹果自己的在线商店中，用户可以直观而轻松地下载音乐、视频以及最广为人知的被称为apps的小型应用程序。

Reuters苹果总裁乔布斯在展示iPad。这使得iPad更多意义上是一个创新的平台，而非创新本身。和翻盖式笔记本计算机难以突破自身形状一样，平板计算机的基本设计几乎也没有改变的可能。该领域最大的创新来自于更轻薄更灵活的显示屏技术，以台湾工业技术研究院(Industrial Technology Research Institute)开发的最为著名，该技术赢得了本年度的《华尔街日报》技术创新奖(Wall Street Journal Innovation Awards)。

这项技术的应用可以生产出一系列更为便携的设备，但消费者如何通过该技术进行内容方面的消费活动才是关键所在。也许，最重大的技术进步正在幕后发生，比如说出版商寻求在各种尺寸和质量的显示屏上展示和销售出版物。其中一个重要事件就是新闻集团(News Corporation)收购电子阅读平台Skiff，从而可以将其数字报纸和杂志能发布到各种阅读设备上去，同时保留原始出版物的外观和阅读感觉。

ReutersResearch in Motion公司CEOMike Lazaridis和他的黑莓PlayBook。创新的另一个核心领域是驱动新一批平板计算机的操作系统软件。微软(Microsoft)、诺基亚(Nokia)MeeGo、RIM黑莓和惠普(HP)都在进行这方面的开发，惠普公司最近收购了曾引领掌上计算机市场的Palm公司及其WebOS操作系统。然而，绝大多数移动设备预计将使用谷歌公司(Google)Android OS的各种衍生版本。该操作系统与苹果公司的iOS操作系统很像，都有大量的应用程序可供使用，都能同时在智能手机和平板计算机上使用。两者的区别在于，任何一个设备制造商都可以开发基于Android操作系统的移动设备，而iOS只能用在苹果公司自己的产品上。

也有人提出建议说，操作系统的选择根本不重要，因为平板计算机本来就设计成能够随时与互联网进行无线连通。他们认为，软件、数据和各类服务用不着储存在移动设备上，而是可以随时从互联网上调用，就像通过电网随时用电一样。这种方式被称为云计算(cloud computing)。

《德勤会计师事务所2010年平板计算机预测》(Deloitte's 2010 Tablet Prediction)的作者斯图亚特(Duncan Stewart)并不认为云计算会使操作系统变得无关紧要，部分原因在于有些用户仍有自己的特定需求，如较高的安全性等，因为这是控制内置摄像头等功能安全性的一种更有效的方式。斯图亚特说，平板计算机也应该能在线下使用，毕竟你不能把什么东西都放到网上去。

虽然预计将有更多型号出现，但iPad目前只有一种型号，这给竞争对手推出不同尺寸、不同价格和不同功能的移动设备留出了充足空间。举例而言，现有的iPad型号没有摄像头，没有记忆卡插槽，没有USB接口，无法播放Flash，而Flash是互联网上许多游戏、视频和动画所采用的格式。

斯图亚特说，平板计算机市场上很可能会出现价格差异很大、市场定位不同的各种设备，就像汽车市场一样。那些以新尺寸、新功能和新价格首先进入市场的企业最终将主导平板计算机的各个细分市场。

其中一个关键领域将是企业应用，因为苹果公司在商业软件方面没有很强的市场声誉，与企业IT基础设施的整合程度也不高。RIM公司于2010年9月宣布推出BlackBerry PlayBook平板计算机，这是一个商用特色明显、安全性能突出的商用移动设备，与更注重个人消费者的iPad形成鲜明区别。

电信咨询公司Coleago Consulting的咨询师菲尔金斯(Robert Filkins)表示，使用黑莓或微软Windows操作系统的移动设备可能有更多的成功机会。菲尔金斯说，不过话说回来，企业IT部门的技术精英喜欢创新的小玩意儿，iPhone和iPad对他们来说很有吸引力。因此，如果IT部门的员工自己也想用苹果的产品，那么苹果公司进入商业领域所遭遇到的阻力可能就会比原先小得多。

埃森哲咨询公司(Accenture)生命科学部门负责销售及市场营销的全球董事施文格(Tom Schwenger)表示，iPad已经在一些商业场合受到青睐。他说，在医药行业，我们看到iPad的尺寸在很多场合使用起来很合适，医药代表去诊所或医院拜访时，笔记本计算机可能引人注目或被禁止使用，而iPad的尺寸就显得比较低调。此外，iPad的大屏幕是销售代表向医生展示产品交互式内容的理想平台。

iPad在创新方面的最大贡献不在于它的外型，而在于它的使用方式。已有一些杂志推出了iPad版本，以充分利用其视频播放和互动功能，但目前还没有出现被视为获得完全成功的例子。

随着其它移动设备的出现，真正的挑战应该是，将新出版物投入销售后保证其不易遭到剽窃。此外，平板计算机的大众消费市场如此年轻，以至于没人真正知道市场的走向，以及未来的市场规模会有多大。