How the iPad Pro Can Get Millennials Hooked on iOS

Windows and Mac OS X have been my operating systems of choice for years, while iOS and Android have been supplemental OSes for smartphones and tablets. But I believe there is a changing of the "OS" guard happening as younger tech users move into the business world.

Some of this younger generation use PCs, even though most use Macs. However, much of their time is spent on phones and tablets for personal and productivity projects, particularly iPhones. I believe Apple understands this better than anyone, and the introduction of the iPad Pro is a nod to this generational trend. More importantly, I see Apple using this to drive millennials towards making iOS their OS of choice, even at work. In fact, within three to five years, I suspect Windows will be an afterthought.

Tim Cook told the audience at Apple's recent launch event that the iPad Pro is "the clearest expression of our vision of the future of personal computing." Steve Jobs basically said the same thing at the original iPad launch, where he called a PC a truck and tablets cars. Cook also told BuzzFeed recently that "I think that some people will never buy a computer, because I think now we're at the point where the iPad does what some people want to do with their PCs."

I believe Apple's goal with the iPad Pro is to make it the next major tool they provide to all, but especially millennials. An iPad Pro with a keyboard and iOS will handle the majority of what they need to get work done. And thanks to Microsoft, even Office is on iOS. Even if kids hold on to their Macs, Apple's Continuum strategy makes it easy to move between a Mac and an iPad Pro without skipping a beat. It is not a coincidence that IBM has ported over 100 of its enterprise-class mobile management and security tools to iOS. With the iPad Pro and iOS in general, Apple is poised to bring the Apple ecosystem to the business market in a dramatic way.

Beyond millennials, Apple is eyeing the enterprise market. While Apple lost out to Bill Gates and the Windows crowd for the first 30 years, Cupertino could dominate the world of personal computing over the next 30 years, if it executes this plan as I think it will.

Although Tim Cook is now at the helm, make no mistake that Jobs was the architect of this enterprise push. From the beginning of the Mac era for Apple, Jobs hoped and probably expected it to become the business tool of choice when compared to a DOS-based PC back in 1984. However, he misjudged Microsoft's ability to adapt to a GUI-based world and the PC dominated business for decades.

Jobs knew that he lost my generation and the Gen X'ers but understood that if he could get the generation under them hooked on his newest OS, iOS could someday become the cornerstone of his broader strategy to undermine Windows. The iPad Pro is Apple's first serious tool that is at the heart of this strategy. Perhaps a clamshell with touch using iOS is not far around the corner.

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The Mac will still be an important part of this strategy too, but I think Apple is content with letting the iPad Pro and future iOS products be the tool that millennials and the generation under them use in the workforce. That is why Continuum is more strategic to its longer-term strategy than any of us expect.

It is clear to me that Apple is not content with just owning the consumer market, something that was a key part of Jobs's goal since he rejoined the company in 1997. But Jobs wanted to own the entire market, and it appears that by getting this younger generation hooked on iOS, Cook and team just might be able to deliver on that goal.