iPad: when a little thing becomes a big thing

When the iPad was announced in January, a chorus of critics cried that it was “just an oversized iPod Touch.”

Let’s assume for a moment that they’re right.

But this “little change” has serious implications.

As David Pogue writes in the Times:

“The simple act of making the multitouch screen bigger changes the whole experience. Maps become real maps, like the paper ones. Scrabble shows the whole board, without your having to zoom in and out. You see your e-mail inbox and the open message simultaneously. Driving simulators fill more of your field of view, closer to a windshield than a keyhole.”

The iPad refutes one of the persistent misconceptions about creativity, namely, that it needs to be about big, radical change.

The truth of the matter is that creativity is more often about incremental change, building upon something which already exists, tweaking what we already have.

It’s only after the fact that we realize our little change is a big deal indeed.