The converging tablet
Tablets are already being built for years and mainly used in business for
purposes where the PDA is too small and the laptop too large. Until now you
wouldn't see much of them in the living room. However, this changed when
Apple came with the iPad and mainly consumers, being already happy with
their iPhone, bought the tablet.
market, the "game changer" again. The iPad is lighter, more attractive and
easier to use than the old tablet pc's. Besides that, Apple already
introduced a "game changing" distribution mechanism with the iPhone, called
the App Store. This results in consumers being enthusiastic about the iPad,
wondering whether an iPad can also provide value in their day to day work. RIM on the other side, has its roots in the enterprise. The BlackBerry
smartphones were and are mainly aimed at fast and secure communication. Also
the new RIM tablet, the BlackBerry PlayBook, is focusing its marketing on
business, by highlighting functionality like security and manageability.
However, the BlackBerry PlayBook also seems to aim at consumers with all the
multimedia functionality. Maybe RIM learned from its success of the
BlackBerry smartphones with young consumers. Mobile devices for the enterprise and for consumers are getting closer to
each other. This could be the result of the New World of Work. Work and
pleasure are getting more harmonious with each other and mobile devices need
to adapt to that.
