What If the Tablet is Just An Apple Phenomenon?

[jimsocks]

Lets wait to see a decent competitor come out first. Xoom is a rush job. Nook color seems to be doing fine. Find the right pricepoint and let it be moddable

 

[Guest]

Honestly I think the enterprise is going to heavy-hand the decision on this. Enterprise didn't openly adopt the netbook in droves because it wasnt convenient enough, or fast enough to be efficient. Now netbooks might be fast enough to meet needs but it's too late. The line between a netbook and a full blown laptop are starting to blur and tablets are beginning the true "third device" as Steve Jobs wanted.

I hate Mac OS. I despise iTunes. But I also happen to own an iPhone 4 and a first gen iPad (currently posting this with it right now.) I understand the need for simplicity and efficiency. Android is not simple or stable enough for me to use in my job. I also cant trust a business model that relies on someone else's software to power their hardware. They have no incentive to moving major updates out to me, they make money on selling hardware.

I'm a senior server administrator and I find that with a small array of apps and web interfaces, I can control and monitor my systems and make myself a more efficient manager. Sure, I could use a netbook or laptop to do this, but the iPad is more convenient. iOS is also more stable, in my personal experience, than android. That's why I've made the choice to stick with Apple and why I think that tablets are going to be a part of our lives like netbooks couldn't.

 

[hellwig]

I don't understand the concept behind making a Tablet that costs MORE than the iPad. The point of Apple is that you pay for the little logo on the back. You pay for the sleek lines of the product and smooth graphics of the OS. You do NOT pay for the hardware. If you cannot create a cheaper tablet, you will not compete with the iPad, simple as that.

When Joe Schmoe walks into a store and asks for an iPad, he pretty much wants an iPad (even if he doesn't know what "tablet" means). Your only hope to convince him to buy something else is going to be price. "Have you considered a Motorolla Xoom, it has similar hardware specs, runs Android (so it has hundreds of thousands of apps Too!), and its $150 cheaper!". THAT might be convincing, but saying the exact same thing, except that its $150 MORE, and you'll never make that sale.

You know how grocery store generics work? They work on the advertising of name brands, and their own lower price. "I want Kraft Mac and Cheese (R)!" says your little kid. But you get to the store, and generic "Macaroni and Cheese" is half the price. Unless your kid is in the kitchen with you, they won't know the difference, so save yourself that money.

It's the same with technology. Most people wouldn't know the difference. Windows versus Apple versus Android? I would like to see stripped-down versions of the OSes go head to head. No Apple Logos, no Windows logos, etc... No IE and Safari, just Firefox or Opera. Put generic buttons on there, and see just how many people can tell you which is which. I'm guessing much of the population couldn't tell you the difference. If it browses the web, takes pictures, edits documents, lets them update Facebook and play Angry Birds, it's a "computer", and that's all they care about.

 

[Guest]

I think the only company that can beat the ipad is Microsoft. Window Mobile 7 interface a thing of beauty. If they can use that interface on a tablet and don't allow the manufacturers and service providers to put there own junk on it like Andriod has allowed as well has cost $$$ less then they will surpass apple. Consumers want simplicity which is why AOL is still around after all these years and Apple is the AOL of computing world.

 

[southernshark]

Someone will eventually make a more popular product but it won't do it with TECH. The Apple wins because it is a social product. Go to a high school. Look at what the kids are using. Kids don't buy something because of the specs. Kids buy stuff based on what is socially acceptable. Also I notice that most kids hate having to work at something. So once they have learned the Apple OS.... well then getting them to use another product because very difficult.

A prime example. I teach high school. I gave a kid some brand new speakers that I had no use for. I found the speakers later in the day in the trash. I asked him what was wrong with the speakers. His response, "Could not plug them into my Ipod." These speakers required the now apparently obsolete amplifier wire/jack..... And so it goes.

Kids aren't the entire market of course, but there was a reason that cigarette companies and beer companies spent so much money on kids. It wasn't because kids spent a ton of money on those products, but rather that once they were hooked they would use the same brand for life.

So to combat Apple another company needs to take a social approach. They need to have an image, make it cool, package, make it easy to use, have an app store, only a cooler app store, and then they can take on Apple. Until then,.... Forget About it.

 

[Vladislaus]

[citation][nom]slycraft[/nom]BEST ARTICLE YET....Wolfgang Gruener I applaud you with such a realistic thought process to this whole Ipad Tablet mania. I completely agree with you that this rush to the market with tablet copies is something that will in my opinion either bankrupt companies or severely hinder them. The Ipad, Iphone, & Ipod all have been innovative and offer a great deal of product integration between all their offerings. These tablet clones just cant offer the same end user experience as the Ipad has shown to offer. Mark my words, this trend will go the way of the dinosaurs and be something that is no longer in the spotlight in a few years. Companies trying to dive into this market will realize they just dove into the shallow end of the pool.[/citation]
The iPad, iPhone and iPod have never been innovative. Apple picked up technologies and ideas that already existed to make them.

 

[stingstang]

I'm pretty sure you just nailed a very valid point in this article. Other companies trying to copy an improved architecture/idea which is an improvement of a flopped architecture/idea doesn't work. Being one step behind is 100x better than being 2 steps behind.

 

[Vladislaus]

[citation][nom]jon_doe_x[/nom]Yeah, these Toms Guide articles don't seem as focused on technology anymore. In fact Tomshardware has successfully transformed itself into a Google/Android stooge, complete with a whole host of angry Droidtards raging against every successful iProduct currently on the market.Tablets are dying. Yeah, thats why every major hardware manufacturer is preparing to launch the next iPad killer. So now this ridiculous Tom's Guide article reports the demise of the tablet. Wow, way to reach. I guess you didn't get the IDF memo that predicts explosive growth in the tablet market in the next year. How about this. Perhaps Android just isn't as functional, stable, secure, or open as people think it to be? Perhaps Android simply sucks as an operating system...[/citation]
Did you even read the article? Because the author is saying that perhaps only Apple will succeed in the tablet market. The author didn't bash Apple in any way, in fact it's views appear to be Pro-Apple.

 

[illo]

asus ep121 windows 7, i5 processor SSD drive. Works for me and Zbrush, photoshop and league of legends.


Android and Ipads are just novelty toys, like nerf guns...about as useful too.

 

[nukemaster]

If i remember right Apple actually said they did not want to enter the netbook market as they could not make an Apple product(small laptop) at that price point.

 

[11796pcs]

Nothing will ever be as "magical" as the iPad. LOL

 

[Guest]

Really, I am waiting for my Windows 8 ARM tablet with baited breath, and may get myself a Honeycomb to tide the time!

But I wouldn't go anywhere after the Drip Feeders Apple!

 

[Guest]

It seems highly doubtful that anyone will catch Apple in tablets. Everyone knows that Apple designs its own operating system, iOS, but I think many people forget that Apple designs its own chips in the iPads. And Apple can tune the performance between the operating system and the chips that others simply can't match. Given that Apple dominates the demand for buying displays, giving Apple a significant cost advantage, and the cost benefits to designing their own silicon, I'm not sure why some people think Apple is vulnerable on the price-performance issue.

 

[Guest]

Is it really that difficult to proofread your writing before you submit it? Just one spelling or grammar mistake reduces your credibility dramatically.

 

[ericburnby]

[citation][nom]house70[/nom]iPad copies are doomed to fail because they are trying to be just that - copies, nothing original or better about them. Of course they will fail; even if your hyundai looks like a mercedes, it's still a Hyundai. Same psychology applies here.OTOH, tablets that are capitalizing on the iPad's failures will succeed, mainly because they are addressing the intelligent populace that is capable of looking beyond the emblem on the device and seeing it for what it is: a flawed/limited hardware with an even more limited OS. These devices will sell, albeit not as much as an ipad. The ratio will pretty much reflect the intelligence distribution/ratio in the average population (the majority average will pick the average ipad, the rest... see above).[/citation]

This is an even bigger pile than Gomer himself could make. Pure, elitist bullshit. You wanna know something? The least intelligent person posting here is you. The "intelligent" person would buy the tablet that is well supported and has a huge market of apps & accessories behind it. The "stupid" person (AKA the hater) would buy something as long as it's not Apple.

 

[dalethepcman]

Unless smartphones can cannibalize the netbook/laptop market as well, then tablets are here to stay. Although why anyone would buy an oversize iphone that doesn't make phone calls is beyond me. Just wait for a tablet that can run Windows 7, or a hackintosh tablet. And if you really like android, then emulate it on your windows tablet.

 

[speedemon]

Good article but im wondering why this was "News"

 

[speedemon]

"Hello,everybody,the good shoping place,the new season approaching, click in. Let's facelift bar!"

Rofl.. made my day. If the thumbs system was working i might actually give a positive to the spammer for once.

 

[maestintaolius]

[citation][nom]Gulli[/nom]Of course Apple didn't come up with the idea of the iPad: similar devices have appeared in the Star Trek universe since 1987, they were even called PADDs.I also believe that for Apple marketing and image are just as important, or even more so, than the actual features of a product. A company that really listens to the customer would include USB ports for example. Not including a USB port would kill off a product instantly unless it's made by Apple because Apple is a brand with an image.[/citation]
Heh, I was watching The Incredibles last night and the video message thing that was given to Mr. Incredible early in the movie was so close to an iPad in appearance I had to giggle a bit about it.

 

[Guest]

I discuss this often with my friends, the whole tablet format to me seems rather pointless. Too large to really take around with you, inferior to an actual pc when you are at home, an inferior ereader, just from my perspective the whole pad form factor seems completely frivolous and yet here we are. I am no apple lover but they do have the superior product in this market though the success of the market at all really does mystify me. A pad could be twice what they are now and still offer no further utility for someone like myself. I think "apple" has everything to do with it.

Also: nice to see an article on the subject without the apple zealotry/hate and just an objective observation