Comment : Apple iPad, it's Only The Beginning

Do you remember when the iPod was first launched back in October 2001? It was a white box with a mechanical scroll wheel, up to 10GB capacity and a tiny screen. The first generation iPad is at the same stage right now.

Eight years later and with more than 250 million units sold worldwide, the iPod has been Apple's success-seeking missile to the road of recovery.

There are five models of iPhones that spawn a staggering number of "generations" as well a a whole vibrant ecosystem that's worth tens of billions of dollars and supports tens of thousands of developers and employees.

Apple is keen to apply the same winning strategy to the iPhone and to the iPad. We've already seen three generations of iPhone over the past 3 years and one can expect the same for the iPad.

Remember loyal customers are third in importance for Apple (and any other firms) behind the employees themselves and the shareholders for whom they must provide regular dividends

One can therefore expect the company to have a ten-year plan for the iPad which means that Apple will not provide with all the bells and whistles that we could expect from it.

To put it in other words, the lack of features on the current iPad is what will make customers come back in January 2011 and thereafter, maintaining their enthusiasm and adrenaline levels sky high.