Digital

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Article

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Customer Experience

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Apple’s iPad: What Every
Business Can Learn
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It is likely that the computer you’re using to read this is actually not
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very well suited to the task. The personal computer and graphical user
interface (GUI), with keyboard and mouse for input, and a separate
display as output, was developed in the early 1980’s (and popularized
by Apple beginning in 1984). The predominant […] by Peter Merholz
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This document is authorized for educator review use only by Branko Fernández, Universidad Privada Boliviana until Oct 2023. Copying or posting is an infringement of copyright.
Permissions@hbsp.harvard.edu or 617.783.7860
 HBR / Digital Article / Apple’s iPad: What Every Business Can Learn

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Apple’s iPad: What Every
Business Can Learn

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It is likely that the computer you’re using to read this is actually not
very well suited to the task. The personal computer and graphical user
interface (GUI), with keyboard and mouse for input, and a separate
display as output, was developed in the early 1980’s (and popularized
by Apple beginning in 1984). The predominant […] by Peter Merholz

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Published on HBR.org / April 01, 2010 / Reprint H004JJ

It is likely that the computer you’re using to read this is actually not
very well suited to the task. The personal computer and graphical user
op
interface (GUI), with keyboard and mouse for input, and a separate
display as output, was developed in the early 1980’s (and popularized
by Apple beginning in 1984). The predominant non-gaming use at the
time was the creation of documents, such as with a word processor,
spreadsheet, or desktop publishing program. Unlike text-based systems
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such as MS-DOS, the “What You See Is What You Get” (WYSIWYG) GUI
allowed you to see on screen something that closely resembled what you
got when printed.

Over the past 15 years, due to the increased penetration of the

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Internet, the percentage of computing use spent creating documents

has plummeted. Instead, most time is spent either communicating
(originally just email, then adding IM, Skype audio and video, and social
networking) or consuming media (text, images, and video). However,
our computing tools haven’t appreciably changed.
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Which leads to the question, “What would be the best computing

interface for communication and consumption?” If you were willing to

Copyright © 2010 Harvard Business School Publishing. All rights reserved. 1

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 HBR / Digital Article / Apple’s iPad: What Every Business Can Learn

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forgo legacy, and design a device specifically for these uses, you could
very well arrive at something like Apple’s iPad. This has been a recurring
theme for Apple. Whether it was the original Macintosh, or iMac, or
iPod, or now iPad, Apple is surprisingly cavalier about supplanting

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an existing cash cow with a next generation product that responds
to how the market is moving.

The one thing to learn from iPad is to ask yourself the question, “What
assumptions are we, and the rest of our industry, making about

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customer behavior that might simply no longer be true?”

Southwest Airlines thwarted convention by not offering meals or

assigned seats, instead ensuring low prices and a high on-time
percentage. It turns out people are willing to bring their own food
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on board, and little is as important as on-time arrival. Southwest now
carries more people in the United States than any other air carrier.

The rise of the “extended stay” or suites-style hotel (such as Marriott’s

Residence Inn) recognizes that, thanks to the information at our
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fingertips on the internet, people rarely ever deal with a concierge. Also,
why bother with a kitchen supporting room service when you can just
have guests order in?

Woe to the businesses unwilling to let go of their legacies and embrace

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evolving customer behavior. For me, the poster company for this is
Kodak. I worked on a project in 1995 that would have established Kodak
as having the premier online photo service, but they weren’t willing to
risk taking any business away from their high-margin analog channels.
Because of this short-sightedness, the company that had the dominant
brand in photography for an entire century has now become an also-
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ran.

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This document is authorized for educator review use only by Branko Fernández, Universidad Privada Boliviana until Oct 2023. Copying or posting is an infringement of copyright.
Permissions@hbsp.harvard.edu or 617.783.7860
 HBR / Digital Article / Apple’s iPad: What Every Business Can Learn

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This unwillingness to accept customer behavior change lies at the very
heart of the struggles that media corporations are facing. They are hell-
bent on squeezing every last nickel out of their old models, instead of
wholeheartedly embracing the changes that are clearly coming.

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Many industries still have room for significant evolution. Most bank
branches seem optimized for supporting basic transactions, even
though there are many other ways to handle such things (online, ATM).
Instead, every bank branch should feel like a service center, geared

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toward supporting conversations between you and bank representatives
about how to better handle your money.

Retail ought to move beyond stuff-on-shelves. If I just want to buy

stuff off of a shelf, I can do that online. Physical stores have a
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great opportunity to extend the purchase experience, whether through
creating communities of purchasers with similar interests (like some
bookstores do with reading clubs), or providing service and support
when things go wrong (Apple flouted convention with the prominent
placement of their Genius Bar, and it’s proven undeniably valuable).
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In 2010, many of our businesses continue to operate as if it were

1980. I’m sure if you took a dispassionate and clear-eyed look at your
company and the actual behavior of its customers, you would realize
opportunities that have been obscured by legacy thinking.
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This article was originally published online on April 01, 2010.

Peter Merholz is a founding partner and president of Adaptive

PM Path, and is an internationally recognized thought leader on user
experience. He co-authored Subject To Change.
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Copyright © 2010 Harvard Business School Publishing. All rights reserved. 3

This document is authorized for educator review use only by Branko Fernández, Universidad Privada Boliviana until Oct 2023. Copying or posting is an infringement of copyright.
Permissions@hbsp.harvard.edu or 617.783.7860