Women: The Key to the Apple iPad's Success

I've been struggling to figure out if the iPad can succeed. I know what it's for—massive amounts of content consumption—but, I've been wondering who it's for? Then it hit me. Some of the core features and even its design should have made it clear as the nose on my face. Apple is hoping it has a secret weapon in the tablet war: women.

I've been noticing that the public is split (about 50-50) when it comes to their initial impressions of the iPad Men and women do not fall neatly on either side of that divide, but I have taken note of some very gender-specific reactions. Men were angry as heck about the missing webcam, and one guy used an epitaph when he bemoaned the lack of flash support. Many men have decried the iPad's inability to multi-task. A few women did, too. Still, most women I'm talking to have more practical concerns. While none asked about flash, more than one quizzed me about the iPad's size. "Is it as big as a laptop?" they'd ask. I told one woman that it was roughly the size of a manila folder. This seemed to surprise and intrigue her as she, perhaps, imagined slipping it into her purse.

Most men I've spoken to see the size as a non-factor. If they're willing to carry around something that big, why not simply tote a laptop? To that end, one woman pointed out that men aren't happy unless a gadget can fit in their pocket.

Perhaps you're thinking that it doesn't matter which gender Apple's targeting with the iPad. I'd say you're wrong and neglecting to consider the quiet, yet powerful, army that is the tech-engaged female. Men may be the more tech-savvy members of some households, but, more often than not, it's the women that hold the buying power. I'm not saying this in some ridiculous, post-feminist, male chauvinist way. Tech marketers often neglect women, and most media that talks tech tends to be built by men for men. And I think Apple knows that women are an as-of-yet untapped market resource. Ask a few friends and associates about who makes the buying decisions in the household. These same women have also been quietly growing more and more tech-savvy by the day.

Take Facebook, for example. I'd wager that hundreds of thousands of post-baby-boomer and Gen-X moms got on the service in the last two years. Now they're using their home computers more than ever. But the experience of using Facebook on a PC is not always very comfortable, depending on where your system resides. Do you think it's any accident that Steve Jobs showed off the Facebook app working on the iPad? I'm sure more than a few women have already imagined themselves checking their Facebook pages and using that large virtual keyboard to update their status, all while sitting comfortably on their couch.

One woman told me how excited she was to check out the iPad's large screen. She won't buy any technology unless it's from Apple, and while she owns an iPhone, she hates reading anything on the device's tiny screen. The iPad's brilliant 1024-by-768, 9.7-inch screen appeals to her. She also added, as another woman had, that the iPad seemed eminently portable. It would fit in her bag, too, and its 1.5 pounds is far more appealing that a 3- to 5-pound laptop.

Most people remarked little on the iPad's personal information management skills (calendar, contacts, etc.), but Apple CEO Steve Jobs spent a fair amount of time discussing and demonstrating them. They look good and, as far as I'm concerned, appeal to the one member of the family who's typically in charge of managing schedules—mom. For all the cool and entertaining things this tablet can do, there's something very practical at the heart of it.

Even the iWork productivity suite appears engineered to appeal to moms who have to create PTA flyers, manage home budgets, and help their children create presentations for school.

As I've mentioned before, the iPad will spend a lot of its time at home, which means it'll be around mothers and their children more than usual. Mom will have it propped up in her kitchen where she can see it. It'll remind her of appointments and entertain her with her favorite shows while she works in her home office or the kitchen.

Looking at the iPad through the prism of gender turns the whole argument about its prospects inside out. Women are not grousing about what they can connect to the iPad and its lack of ports, because they'll use it as is and focus on how it serves their daily needs. As Steve Jobs noted, many consumers own iPhones and iPods, so they'll have no trouble figuring out how to dock and synch the iPad. Women are not worried about how much the 3G version costs because they'll have Wi-Fi at home and the iPad will rarely leave the house. When it does, they'll use it to consume the content they synched before they walked out the door. Men will complain that they need the 64-GB model, but that it costs over $800. Practical moms will buy the $499 iPad and expertly manage the somewhat limited space.

Perhaps the one topic on which men and women will agree is that Apple tripped up in leaving out a webcam. Everyone likes to use Skype and iChat.

Some will read this and say, "But what about the name and what it implies?" I consider this a false argument. Perhaps the name is simply a small misstep by Apple, because, believe me, Steve Jobs had women in mind when he built this product.