Front of the Line, or Playing Catch Up?

If you were a buyer of vinyl records in the 1960's and 1970's you'll probably recall having to line up to buy the latest Queen album, Beatles single or Pink Floyd release. Fast forward to May 28, 2010 and the line ups continue, but for a far different medium. Now that album, that artist, all the books that have ever been written about them, plus access to fans, tickets, and more are all in one hand held, portable device that's known as the i-Pad.

Apple have ingeniously created demand for the latest i-Pad electronic device. In countries around the world, potential buyers have been camping out overnight to grab their latest version of CEO Steve Jobs most recent addition to the phenomenal Apple range.

The final week of May 2010 will go down on record as the week in which the digital world worlds collided, yet again. The National Rugby League broadcast their first game of the State of Origin Series in 3D, Twitter produced data to show that they were approaching 50 million global Tweets a day (pretty impressive when you consider it was 30 million in January 2010!), and the i-Pad hit the Australian market.

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, Australian media companies are scrambling to get i Pad apps ready in time to capitalise on the initial launch buzz. Australian magazines, newspapers and broadcasters that have confirmed iPad apps include: The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, The Australian, ABC, APC Magazine, GQ Australia, Men's Health, Women's Health, Australian Macworld and Sport & Style. An Austereo employee was reportedly second in line to pick up his i-Pad at the Apple Store in Sydney.

When all of this social media and digital technology collides it's easy to get caught up in the eye candy and miss the reality of what's taking place.

Throughout history, it's been consistently observed that we often overestimate the short-term impact of new technologies while underestimating their longer-term effects. Not convinced? Not that long ago in technology terms, when it came to listening to recorded portable music SONY had the SONY Walkman and Discman under their dominance. Along comes Apple on 23rd October, 2001 with the first i-Pod. The course of portable music technology and accessibility to music ( including the music label's business models) were turned on their heads. SONY has been playing catch up ever since.

Where's all this leading to ? What have you been brainstorming, discussing, working on within your business operation to ensure that you don't underestimate the long term effects of new technology. Take the i-Pad for example. Apple shipped a million-plus in the US in the first month alone and ongoing stock shortages have resulted in a delay in the international release. Even in Australia, the delivery date for pre-orders was pushed back twice since Apple began taking orders on May 10. First it was May 28, then June 7.

If you're still struggling to get a web site up and running for your business, then you'll need to make a quantum leap to get near any where New

Media devices like the i-Pad, and new communication channels such as Twitter and Facebook are taking us. What sets Apple's latest release above its competitors like The Kindle and other similar electronic hand held reading devices is the vast array of other media related integration available. So how do we ensure we are at the head of the queue and not playing catch up? Look at the second level of impact from these New Media channels and devices. How do you use them to build your brand, provide engagement with your listeners, customers, business partners and other media? Maybe post your music logs each hour to the i-Pad or social networks complete with links to the HD version of the music film clips of songs on your playlist; set up a unique "Listener Loyalty" club and reward your listening or viewing customers with additional content they cannot access through your free to air "broadcast" channels.

My vision for the future is an i-Pad that includes 3D vision on screen, plus a built in camera... now that's something I'd stand at the front of the line for!