In-Class Activity for Ch. 3
Due September 24 2012

1. Evaluate the impact of the iPad using Porter’s competitive forces model.

* Traditional Competitors- Apple’s traditional competitors were companies that sold mp3 players, computers, and phones.

* New Market entrants-Now their competitors have branched out to businesses that make digital book readers, websites that offer books online, textbook companies, and book/magazine/ and newspaper publishers.

* As a substitute product and service- Substitute products and services for Apple would be Kindle, publishers of paperback books, and other e-readers.

* Suppliers- Apple may impose high levels of pressure on businesses to raise their prices, lower the quantity of the product they are making, or push them in to having to reduce the availability of their product because they are no longer making the profits they had before the iPad came on the market.

2. What makes the iPad a disruptive technology? Who are likely to be the winners and losers if the iPad becomes a hit? Why? * The iPad is a disruptive technology because it is more expensive than the products it is replacing. It cost more to buy an iPad per megabyte than it does to by a notebook. * It doesn’t necessarily work as well as the products it is replacing. Trying to type a document on an iPad is difficult, and if you truly want to take notes, you need to buy an apple keyboard, which will run you another $100 or so. * Research shows that consumer didn’t greatly desire a new technology and were satisfied with the products they currently had. * It gives people another reason to separate from reality and other basic human interactions. You can talk to someone via face-time, text someone if you don’t want to see them screen-to-screen, surf the web to do shopping, and allows people to buy things at the click of a button, whether it be clothes, music, books, movies, ect. This is taking jobs away from real people. Why would a company pay a person when they can incur a one-time cost of buying a product?

3. Describe the effects that the iPad is likely to have on the business models of Apple, content creators, and distributors. * The iPad is making everyday tasks, both in the home and at work, easier. When you walk into an Apple store, every employee has an iPad with basic information on it. They can check you in for an appointment, make you an appointment, process your purchase right then and there without having to wait in a long line, and allows them to show the consumer how useful their product truly is. This changed Apple’s business model because it allows them to give their customers a great product, while cutting down on cost they would incur by keeping their employees longer hours to compensate for the longer lines they would have without the iPad. The iPad is pushing content creators to think outside the box, make every product capable of anything while still being user friendly and simple. The iPad’s effects on distributors are, that it is making it extremely easy to buy and sell products on the go with the iPad via Craig’ s List, eBay, or Amazon. More products are being distributed and the distributors can use the iPad in their business to more efficiently process orders, and organize their incoming orders.

4. How powerful is the iPad? How useful is it for reading books, newspapers, or magazines, for surfing the Web, and for watching a video? Can you identify any shortcomings of the device?

* The iPad is pretty powerful. It is capable of doing many things at one time, such as surfing the Web, sending and receiving e-mails, text messaging, face-timing, picture taking, and video making. It can download books, newspapers, and magazines, fairly easily. However, the screen is not made as eye friendly as the Kindle, making the screen of the iPad harder to look at for long periods of time.

5. Compare the capabilities of the Kindle to the iPad. Which is a better device for reading books? Explain your answer.

* The Kindle Fire HD OS runs on an adapted version of Android 4.0: Ice Cream Sandwich. This is bad news since it is not running the latest Android 4.1: Jelly Bean. The iPad 3 uses the iOS 5.1.1 and can be updated to iOS 6 as well. * As far as ram space goes, the Kindle and iPad has pretty much the same amount of space. * The iPad has a bigger screen (9.7 in) than the Kindle, which has only a 8.9 in screen. * Overall, I think the iPad is a better device. It can do everything a Kindle can do, and so much more. The iPad can surf the web, watch videos, store and take photos, has a bigger screen, faster network, and is capable of downloading and reading books just as easily as a Kindle. Most people, whether they have an iPad or Kindle, have an iTuens account, which is the same account you use with your iPad. This would be one less thing the consumer would have to worry about, and it would make the purchasing time a lot faster and simpler.

6. Would you like to use an iPad or Kindle for the books you use in your college courses or read for please instead of the traditional print publications? Why or why not? * I would like to use an iPad for most things and even debating getting one for Christmas. However, I believe that for schoolbooks it is easier to have a physical hard copy in front of me. As far as pleasure reading goes, I don’t do much of it so that wouldn’t be a factor in my decision to purchase one.