When the iPad was launched at the end of January, one of the things Steve Jobs tried to impress on us is the fact the iPad will offer the best browsing experience there is.
If the iPad is going to be anything like the iPhone (and let’s face it, it’s essentially a big iPod Touch), then he’s probably right – and I think this will make the iPad the platform of choice for content curators.
In the two weeks I’ve had my iPhone, it’s already dramatically changed the way I consume web content. Suddenly, the keyboard/screen/mouse combo seems a clunky, archaic interface. I want to interact with the screen using my fingers now, not drag something round my desk. When I eventually get my hands on the iPad, I’m anticipating the change in my web consumption habits to be even more dramatic. I expect I’ll even write blog posts on the iPad, as opposed to my laptop.
Of course, a content curator won’t have to worry about having a physical keyboard for entering masses of text the way a content creator (such as a blogger) does. Most of the work a content curator will do involves gathering, organising, and redistributing content from others, so there’s no real need for a physical keyboard.
In any case, there’s always the keyboard dock when the need arises to do a little more typing than usual.
The built-in 3G means it will be possible to curate great content from anywhere, as soon as it’s found: on the train, in a coffee shop, at a hotel, sitting on a park bench, or on a sofa at home. There will be no need to rely on finding a convenient WiFi spot anymore.
Then there’s the apps. I’m not a heavy app user yet, but I already love the Evernote, LinkedIn, Facebook, Echofon, and WordPress apps for the iPhone. Apple have promised we will be able to run all of the 140,000 apps in the App Store on the iPad. This adds further weight to the argument that the iPad will be the best tool for curating content.
As more content curators begin to appear, dedicated apps for content curation will make their way onto the App Store, making it even easier to find, organise, and share quality content with an audience.
You can probably tell I’m pretty enthusiastic about content curation. I see my online role growing into a hybrid of content curator and content creator in future – and for sure, I’ll be selecting the iPad as my tool of choice.
