Maybe the gap is empty.

Before Apple ceo Steve Jobs brought out the iPad, he showed a slide with a question mark in the gap between the cell phone form factor (er, iPhone) and the notebook (er, MacBook) form factor.

He replaced the question-mark-filled gap with the iPad. 

But I've been wondering: what if the gap is empty? The need for an inbetween product does not exist.

A study by Retrevo Pulse study finds that Apple has failed to convince any new buyers to consider the iPad:

Not only did Apple fail to convince new buyers, it may have lost many potential buyers.

You can read the study here and the results to these statements:

• Consumers lose interest after announcement

• Most consumers don't think they need an iPad

• Buyers don't want to pay for 3G

Comments

[Kevin Quigley]

Yes and the same consumers will be queueing up round the block at Apple Stores worldwide in March to buy one.....

[Kevin Matthews - ArchitectureWeek]

I tend to agree with Kevin Q.

The survey interpretation at Retrevo seems to be all about driving a certain interpretation - not really about figuring things out with an open mind.

As the comments now online at Retrevo detail, the same numbers support a variety of very different - and possibly more defensible - interpretations.

And that's in addition to a lack of information about the survey methods... and the underlying problems with polling people about something that's a new game-changer. You tend to end up polling them about the reach of their imagination, not about the future behavior they can't predict accurately without a great deal of it.

[Rachael]

I seem to remember that when Apple released the iPOD, focus group responses were similar to what is reported above - this is probably another product that we didn't know we needed, until we had it.

[Sean Burke]

Seriously Ralph? That's your takeaway from the study? "Failed to convince anybody", sure is ignoring a large chunk of somebodies. It would be such a shame if only 13 million people buy one in the first year. That sure would be a failure. ;-)

Yes, poor little iPod, no one would ever want one of those... Oh, wait, I have two! The iPad has been anticipated for a while, sure the initial spectacle has subsided, but that doesn't mean people aren't interested. Perhaps the wait between announcement and shipping product is too long. People will, as other have said line up to be first.

The gap is wide, and there's probably room for other devices in there as well. I for one will buy one for riding the bus into downtown everyday to catch up on my blog reading. Perhaps not in the first day or week, but very shortly after the launch.

[v]

well...
but possibly the ipad has made touchscreens more practical? I'll wait until a few months of real users' impressions.