iPad Predications

Once the iPad is released and the hype dies down, we’ll likely get the next generation of iPhone in June or July to keep us excited.  In the interest of my own amusement, here are some ideas / predictions regarding the iPad and the activities surrounding it until the next version is released (our guess? within the first 12 months of the inital release).

1.  It will be jail broken within the first 3 days of its release.  There are some really good hackers out there, and I wouldn’t be surprised if, in the short term, iPads would be available to work on T-Mobile too.  In the slightly longer term, apps that only work in jail broken iPhones, will also work on the iPad.

2.  It will become the must-have device for people in education and the arts, along with legal, medical, and just about every other industry that has mobile professionals.  I know, obvious right?  But I’m beting this happens in the first 12 months of its release.  Would you want to carry around textbooks with that musty smell?  Or all of your meeting notes and research on a heavy laptop instead of a sub $500 elegant device that gets unlimited Internet access for $30 / month?

3.  It will only slow down the inevitable destruction of the publishing industry rather than save it.  Despite the success of music sales within iTunes for the iPod, the industry still sells in terms of dollars only a fraction of what it used to.  With so much free content available online, I don’t see how anybody trying to sell a form of text for money will actually survive.

4.  The next iteration of the iPad will have a front-facing camera.  The second generation needs a catch to pull in those that purchased the first generation.  That will likely be it.  Of course, that isn’t going to stop us from getting our 1st gen iPads when they are released!

What do you think is going to happen?  Think it will be a game changer?