Is the iPad a turning point for hybrid mail?

The launch of the iPad by Apple a couple of weeks ago was, for many, a disappointment, as many of the rumoured features were not present. However, what is interesting is the industry response to the format rather than the device. In the last week there have been no fewer than 11 announcements of devices sporting a similar tablet format. Most of the competition to the iPad are hampered with having to try and use some version of Windows which is not as flexible or customer friendly as Apple’s OSX (my windows 7 work laptop takes 7.3 minutes to boot up!)

The idea of the tablet format raises an interesting question/opportunity for the postal industry for virtual mail delivery. This could be the tipping point for hybrid mail!

The large, high resolution screen is similar in size to a piece of A4 paper, and so provides all the visual clues that the reader needs and associates with paper mail. The instant ‘on’ capability of the Apple operating system means that there is no long wait whilst the things boots up.  Navigation is by touch and there is no cumbersome keyboard to try and navigate around the page and the device is light enough to carry around.

As the iPad has not yet been released to the public (3 April is the new date so I understand) most of this is still conjecture. A few years ago, I remember suggesting that banks, etc. might provide low cost laptops or Amazon Kindles for their high value customers to manage their accounts, however with the launch of the iPad this could now become a reality.

It would be interesting to look at the economics of offering such a service and understanding what a business model would look like for it to become a reality –

• What price would the iPad have to be to make it attractive?
• What infrastructure would nee to be in place for to become a window into hybrid mail?
• Could it be subsidised from advertising?
• How would customers respond to receiving their mail this way?
• Would there be cost savings by not delivering to certain households or would this be insignificant?

If anybody is interested in looking at this business model let me know and lets see if we can make it work!