The iPad As Disruptor | An Op-Ed

Do you know what a disruptor is?

Well, much like it sounds, a disruptor is something that changes things.  It disrupts the status quo.  You have probably seen or experienced them before actually.  The iPod was a disruptor.  iTunes was also a disruptor.  The automobile was a disruptor.  The Internet was a disruptor.

And the iPad is a disruptor as well.

I am writing this article because of a few iPad “events” that have happened in the past few weeks.  First off, I want to point out that disruptors are not a bad thing.  Taken in context they can actually be one of the best things a company does.  But let’s see if you agree.

About two weeks ago, I received an email from a company letting me know about this really cool service coming out which would turn textbooks into digital form for the iPad.  Ok, I figured that would happen.  But what I didn’t figure on is the way in which the textbooks would be turned from static to dynamic.  Let me set the scene for you.

Picture it.  You are a student just arriving to College and once you get your final course list, you jump on the college website with your iPad, log in, and download your textbooks.  The next day, you decide to take a look at the book for the rather mundane history class you have to take.  But something is different.  There are videos. The content is actually updated continuously, thus it’s relevant.  There are interactive quizzes and best of all there are links to the Internet where appropriate within the content.  But then it comes time to study the chapter.  Well as it turns out, each chapter is not only dynamic, it’s social!  You can communicate with your fellow classmates about what you are reading, share notes, take quizzes together, and interact.  And those videos?  Oh yeah, they are extremely useful by explaining topics in story form.  You are engaged and immersed in an interactive learning experience as opposed to a static learning environment.

Here, the iPad is a disruptor.

Last week, I wanted to see the new Ford Fiesta. Just because I thought it was pretty cool.  So I went over to some big Ford dealership.  I walked in and I was looking for a brochure (yes, I know, how 1994 of me).  But what did I find?  I found an iPad!  There it was.  And there I was.  So the salesman said to “experience the Fiesta” on it.  Ok. I’m game.  I picked it up, hit the home button and there was this amazing interactive digital “brochure” that let me spin the engine around, see the car, see the colors and read stories of other Fiesta owners.  Oh and those stories?  They were LIVE from comments on Twitter and Facebook.  Yeah….I was looking at the future of brochures. I was interacting with the car and real people.

Here, the iPad is a disruptor.

There are two concrete examples in my own daily life that have shown me one thing: the iPad is a disruptor.  And this is just the beginning.  It is changing industries left and right.  Yes, the iPad IS a consumption device but it is also fueling new ways for us to learn, interact, digest material, and communicate.  Under that glass screen exists a disruptor.  I feel we will look back at 2010 as the year Apple changed things.  And whether its the iPad or the next great thing to come along, it’s now your turn to see how you can use it to disrupt your industry or your market or your niche.

So how will you make use of this disruptor?  What other examples can you think of?

Want to read our other op-eds?  We talk about the iPad as a consumption device and being on the fence about getting an iPad.

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