Posted on 02/17/2011 1:00:18 PM PST by SeekAndFind
Microsoft is scrambling to get some traction in the slippery tablet space, even though it invented the genre back in 2002. The next version of Windows, called Windows 8 for now, is supposed to embrace the tablet form better than anything produced to date. That should be a long way out, but information leaked by Dell implies it will release a Windows 8 tablet in Q1 of 2012. Can that timetable be met?
ZDNet’s Mary Jo Foley isn’t betting the farm, but offers an interesting scenario that would allow such aggressive timing on Dell’s part. Her conjecture, and she makes it clear that’s all it is, has Microsoft releasing the system-on-a-chip (SoC) version of Windows 8 first, ahead of the regular versions of Windows for the desktop. Her reasoning is that Microsoft has made it clear it is porting Windows to the ARM platform for quite some time, and pushing it first would allow Dell to meet this aggressive schedule of releasing a Windows 8 tablet early in 2012.
This makes sense for Microsoft, as it would allow them to get back in the tablet game sooner, rather than later. The folks in Redmond need to do this, as the tablet segment is expected to exhibit continued growth for the foreseeable future, and the longer Windows 8 is delayed the further behind it will fall. It is clear that Windows 7 on touch tablets is not going to get Microsoft any tablet market share, so perhaps Windows 8 will be better for producing compelling products. I hope Microsoft does whatever is necessary to speed up the effort to bring a compelling competitor in the tablet space. I also hope they realize to make a good showing in the tablet segment, it’s not just the form factor, nor the OS, but also a good app ecosystem is required that can take advantage of the touch experience
I’ve never stated that, nor have I read it.
You are the FIRST to mention it, and then attribute it to me. So, yes - from my point of view, you are projecting.
Will Apple make it into Enterprise? I don’t know, never played with an Apple server. I wish them well.
I’ve never read a thread where Apple fanboi’s made the statement that iPads were ‘taking it to the enterprise’ - I’ve never seen them, and I have never claimed to have read every thread - that’s you projecting, again.
I do not speak for anyone else, I can’t be responsible for what an Apple fan says - any more than you can be accountable for another thread with a MSFT fan.
I agree with much of what you have stated. We simply don’t know what the Tablet market will be. It’s a ‘new’ market - that has been drastically redesigned with Apple’s iPad.
With 15 Million plus in the first year - I think we do have an idea where it’s going. But, bear in mind this was projected by the ‘experts’ to be a phenominal failure. The ‘experts’ predicted sales of less than 3 Million; and Apple would have to drop the price.
In 2 to 3 years, the tablet will be a commodity - much like the laptop you have. But, the question will what ‘kind’ of commodity will it be?
I question you, if 15 Million in 1 year; for a brand new design - something totally unique - if 15 Million isn’t ‘good enough’ - what did you expect?
And yes, I do agree that the price tag is high - but what I do not understand is that the competition cannot match, or beat the ‘Apple tax’ reputation that Apple has.
Now, IMHO, the bottom end iPad is unuseable. At 16 GB, it’s too small for multi-media and anything else. So, for the interest of simplicity - let’s say that the entry point for a Tablet from Apple is $600. That’s 32 Gig and a 10” screen.
I fail to see the appeal of 3G or 4G; as I can use my cell to Hot Spot - so why pay $25-30/month for a duplicate data plan. The Xoom is available with 3G for $800, and it’s now reported that after 6 weeks in the lab, you can upgrade it to ‘4G’ (and it’s really not 4G - that’s another discussion).
I was one of the folk who pre-ordered the iPad 1.0. At that point in time, I owned exactly 1 Apple product - a 7 yr old iPod. I now own an iPhone 5, that same 7 yr old iPod, and an iPad. So, I’m hardly an Apple fanboi. I do own 2 Win7 desktops and a 17 inch HP laptop also sporting Win7 Ultimate. 3 different Windows machines - not one Mac.
Will I replace the iPad 1 with the iPad 2? Absolutely not. Why? Because the iPad 2 is just polish on an already solid design. Possibly 1.2 GHz dual core over my single core 1 GHz? big deal. Better display? Sorry, this one is good enough for me. More memory? I have 64 Gig and I currently have 34 Movies, 2,248 songs, 88 Apps and 2,200+ pictures and still have 2 GB left.
The iPad 2 is not really such a strong offering that a signifiant number of iPad 1 users are going to upgrade. However, it does reset the bar for those debating the Android competition. Personally, I would suggest that instead of getting the iPad 2, buy a refurb iPad 1 and save $100. The camera is a market driven device. It’s simply not practical to take a picture with a tablet.
Price-wise - I’d like to see the price come down; and in a couple years it might. My question is “Why haven’t the Androids come out at a lower price than the iPad?”.
Yes, you can get a laptop cheaper; yes the performance is drastically (incomparably) better on your laptop. Your laptop is a commodity product, the tablet market is not.
Sales comparisons is not silly, when you have new products. How else would you compare them? Sales dictates developers. 500K+ Apps iOS, 50+K apps Android, 5K apps for Win7 mobile is the latest I heard.
Why was I touting the iPad when the market didn’t exist? Because IT DID EXIST!! HP and Dell both had flip-top laptops with touch screens that were touted as ‘Tablets’. They bombed. Apple took an idea - and despite a HUGE negative campaign (remember the funny Hitler hears about the iPad YouTube) - came out with a market stunner.
This was predicted to be a failure - I knew a year ago that it was a new “niche” product. It’s not a laptop, it was never intended to compete in the laptop marketspace.
The iPad is a LEISURE DEVICE!!!
Why do you want a tablet? Small, no keys, light weight, super display, long battery life. Kindle got it, and they are doing very well with it. Nook got it, they are doing pretty well too. Apple got it, and expanded on it. Newspapers, email, books, movies, music, games.
That is the difference. I seriously doubt the iPad will EVER be competing against the laptop market. Laptops are PRODUCTIVITY devices. I fly a lot. I pack my laptop, and carry my iPad with me. Why? I get 1.5 hrs battery life on my laptop. Small airplane seats will result in a damaged laptop if the guy in front of me decides to recline. Nearly had that happen twice. With the iPad - it’s not an issue. I get 10 hours on a charge - 10 useful hours!!
At the airport (assuming AT&T can manage to provide data at International Airports) I hotspot my phone, and book my hotel, car, return trip, email ect on my iPad. At the hotel, I fire up my laptop and crunch whatever stuff I gotta crunch. I do my reports, my presentations, my schematics, ect on the laptop.
And it all revolves around what’s inside the Tablet. Small, energy efficient, and just fast enough to get the job done. If you are looking for doing PRODUCTIVITY - then you are probably looking for the Win 7 Tablet, that will cost more, and give you a 3 hour battery life.
I would humbly suggest that your money would be better spent on a laptop.
If you travel a lot - like I do, then the iPad Tablet (or possibly Android, if that’s your cup of tea) would be fine. Do NOT expect Tablets to be Productivity devices - HP and Dell tried that - and they failed.
I attributed it to “Apple proponents”. Is that you?
Hey, you finally sound a bit more reasonable with your rhetoric.
I’m not really interested about the reasons that you bought an iPad, and I’m not interested about the virtues of one tablet over another.
I want value, and as of today, there aren’t really any tablets that offer “good” performance for the price range of today’s tablets. The tablets need to come down to prices that are commensurate with their functionality. As such, there aren’t any tablets out there that people should be foolishly spending $500 or more for. However, if one wants to justify his/her purchase, then one should look for the tablet which can offer more advantages for similar prices.
The tablet market is evolving and prices will undoubtedly come down, and the new tablets will be coming out with more “features”.
Nevertheless, the pie chart you linked to is worthless when the comparison is in a nascent market that is still virtually composed of mostly the iPad. Like I said, let’s see what the charts reflect a year or two from now.
Now, since you apparently aren’t going to answer the question I posed to you, let’s just drop the discussion and go about our lives.
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