John Doerr: The Next Big Thing | Hacker News Reader

John Doerr: The Next Big Thing

techcrunch.com

12 pointsrms11 comments

Multi-touch on a larger screen does make a difference. The killer app would be porn-related that would rocket the IPad to mainstream.

iPad will do to personal computers what iPhone did to smartphones. Let's not worry about iPad or iSlate but think of it as a new mode of computing. I can see schools, hospitals, first responders (police, ambulance, fire department) adopting (or moving to) this kind of device. Question is what will they need on these devices to do their jobs better?

One thing they will need is an open device for their custom software. I think the iPad's play is individuals and other similar open device might capture the speciality business use cases.

I wonder what the chances are of getting a response from emailing those folks directly?

techcrunch or KPKB ?

Kleiner Perkins - they did ask for people to get in touch. It's tempting in a very very long shot kind of way.

Next Big Thing is the iPad ? NOT !

I really don't care about the iPad.

I hope it does well, and I think it's a neat device and a good idea, but it's marketed to a segment that I don't belong to and I can't imagine what I'd do with it if I had one. Nonetheless I'm sure it will be a wonderful device for a lot of people.

But saying "Instead of holding a MOUSE, you’re holding MAGIC" might actually cause me to roll my eyes so hard they rocket out the back of my head. Artificial gravity and force fields and warp drives are "magic." The iPad is merely the next big thing (although comparing it to web browsers in impact might be a bit much).

So is it just me, or does this article overdo it?

I'm ready to bet for the success of this type of devices and specially the iPad. Considering the iPad as a bigger iTouch/iPhone is too reductive. They have different constrains and thus different usage domains. I would prefer an open system, but read (again) Getting Real from 37Signals. The iPad limitations and choices make perfect sense and won't impediment it's adoption.

I don't really disagree with any of that, although the degree of success remains to be seen (and I'd really rather not speculate). But I don't think it's "magic" even in the most figurative sense.

But again, I don't think it's marketed towards people like me and maybe this is a part of that.

I guess hyperbole comes easy when you are investing $100 million in something. I found the slide with Mouse on one side and Magic on the other pretty humorous as well.

Referring to Steve Jobs as "Supreme Commander of the Rebel Forces" is doublespeak that would make Big Brother blush.

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