Let’s start today’s post with the video we’ll be discussing.
The iPad itself has long been touted as the end-all “consumption” device. Users can look at, use, and interact with as much content as is available on the World Wide Web; however, they can’t necessarily create it. This has led to many perceptions of the iPad as the “ultimate consumer device,” a “glorified iPhone” that lets us consume, but not create. The repercussions of this aren’t seen as yet, since most of the available consumer market uses their iPads as a sort of supplement rather than a means in itself; however, the app above- Flipboard- will change this sort of content consumption in an entirely new way. By turning social networks into a condensed type of magazine, users will not only be able to see, read, and interact with content that their friends post on all the networks they use, but they’ll also be able to keep up to date with almost everything happening on the web. It’s the ultimate updater, especially if one uses it for topics he/she is interested in.
Notably, however, the narrator in the video above says explicitly that you can use the app to read information that your friends post, but you can’t really upload your own content (presumably because you’ll be so busy looking at theirs). I have to wonder what this means for the general market- both for news sites who are facing declining profit margins, and for advertisers who target their marketing efforts to key “influencers” or “opinion leaders” within their consumer base. How will this change the definition of what it means to set a trend, or lead an opinion? Will the overwhelming amount of content suffocate those who have a large number of friends/followers, to the point where they stop using these networks altogether? Does the iPad really have, or will it potentially gain, that much power over how we interact on social networks?
And, most importantly, who’s going to be creating if the rest of us are consuming?
Hmm.
