offer an alternative. This will create new opportunities to expand family focused services like Cozi into the home. Cozi is well-positioned to capitalize on that opportunity.
Robbie Cape, CEO and founder, Cozi, Seattle:
No question the Apple announcement today will have a huge impact on the consumer electronics ecosystem in the home, but not in the way you would expect.
More than anything, this announcement will drive some exciting innovation between popular CE [consumer electronics] companies that build and market phenomenal hardware and companies like Cozi that focus all their energy on creating great experiences through software. As a result of this iPad play, Apple is saying, “there is a big business around digital solutions for the home” and that is very meaningful to Cozi; we’ve known this for some time, but it is exactly the sort of affirmation we look for as we continue to build great solutions for families.
I have a rather controversial opinion about the iPad itself. Simply put: I think it is the wrong device, at the wrong price, in the right space. At the end of the day, based on early reports I’ve seen/heard (which is limited, I must admit), the device is a big iTouch and a Kindle, all in one. But hold on a second! I already have an iTouch (it happens to be an iPhone), and I can buy a phenomenal eReader from Amazon (and soon, many others) for less than $300. And you still need a phone. So why would I pay $500+ for a device that is primarily different from my phone in that it’s an eReader?
The iPad looks to be a cool personal device that Apple is targeting at a very interesting space: the home. But the home doesn’t need another personal device. The home needs a device for the WHOLE FAMILY to use. The iPad as Apple appears to have positioned it, is not the right device for the whole family to use. It isn’t the device that I think will float around the home, being used by everyone. The home needs a family device that everyone can use. That device is not a big iTouch. It’s something else.
Apple took what I think was the easy road here, and I am betting their results will show it. They took their existing iPhone experience and dropped it on top of what appears to be just a big iTouch. And they built a new eReader application with a new eBook ecosystem. The are reacting to the Kindle phenomenon. But I don’t see this device as revolutionizing how people consume digital applications and content in the home.
The great news is the Apple announcement will drive just that sort of revolutionary thinking amongst CE manufacturers and Cozi can play an important role in all of these devices, including the iPad. Ultimately, devices built for the whole family to use will need to solve core everyday family challenges like scheduling, shopping, and other information families need to coordinate.
[New] John Chuang, founder and CEO, Litl, Boston (maker of the Litl Webbook, a cloud-based home Internet appliance):
We think [the iPad] is an extension of what they already have done, in a different form factor. Ultimately, we are about a much bigger change in how operating systems work and how
