iPAD launch woes : UPDATE, includes Hitler’s views

How I would love to be a fly on the wall in Steve Job’s Cupertino office, I am absolutely convinced that the *most* self assured man on the planet will have thrown at least one of his much vaunted iPADs against his crisp white wall.

Just as the device left his hand, his seismic rage may have produced the words “…..youtube video” [in case you haven’t seen it], or “…giz…f&*^ing… modo” [here], “FLASH’ support” or “multitasking” or many many other reasons to be angry.

I think this comment from Segador sums up the product launch best:

“What gets me most about the iPad is how Un-Apple it is. It’s not a shitty product, or bad engineering, but it’s just not good.

You’d expect things like this to get killed in focus group, not touted as "the most important thing" Steve Jobs will ever do.

I’m sad for you, Apple. You lost a good piece of your mystique and grandeur today. You’re now a company that can release bad products, just like everyone else”

Actually, I think Hitler says it best

As I mentioned in my previous post on Apple, the biggest challenge I see with the iPAD is neither the hardware or the speeds and feeds, or even the built in software, it’s the Bill of Materials. Unless this device can hit critical mass, and quickly too, I just don’t see how they can reach the 40% Net Margin required to keep The Street happy, lest this should become another Apple TV!

Of course, the built in store may be the saviour, driving a sufficiently large Average Revenue Per User to support the required margin, and maybe, just maybe, there are enough fanboys out there who are willing to ignore the shortcomings just to have the hardware, or maybe the price is right, and the device is compelling as an media/ereader? Time will tell. Still wish I was there with Steve though!

UPDATE: 29th January @ 11:00am (Sydney time)

Apple’s stock performance should be a good Market indicator for iPAD given the launch was pitched by Apple as being “very significant” for the company. The chart below seems to reflect positive anticipation prior to the launch of iPAD, and outside of a short 2 or 3 hours recovery on the 27th a post launch slide in share price.

I have included comparisons to Google and Microsoft to try and provide a balanced view (MSFT just announced record revenues, the stock price still declined) yet it does look like the Market isn’t all that impressed by iPAD.