iPad changing the game sooner than I thought

Just a quick note on something I read today on Gizmodo (linked to Jalopnik). Hyundai has decided to ship their new luxury sedan, the Equus, sans the owners manual. They have decided to include an iPad loaded with a digital version of the manual instead.

http://jalopnik.com/5507349/hyundai-equus-to-ship-with-ipad-ditches-owners-manual

I know this may initially appear to be an expensive gimmick. But if you take a deeper look at how these manuals are produced, this is actually an awesome idea. I once worked for the printing industry for a lithographer who did high end car brochures and manuals. Each cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to produce and print. The iPad may actually represent an overall savings to auto manufactures for those models that are on smaller runs. I imagine we are going to see a lot more unusual uses for the iPad – with software customized for niche industries…

Examples could be:

Home Automation Control Panels

Yacht  and Private Jet Control Centers

Hotel Personal Concierge

Museum Personal Tourguides

Restaurant Table Ordering and Jukebox control

Real-Estate Model Walkthroughs

High-End Showroom Assistant

Pro-Team Coaching Assistant

Broadcasting “On-Site” Control Centers

… the possibilities are fun to think about, do you have any ideas?

• iPad