Exactly, NO surprises here...one has to be really ignorant or with bad taste to choose anything different from the iPad 2...there is still no competition, more than one year after the original iPad launch.
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iPad Continues to Dominate Tablet Purchasing Plans, Eating Into eReaders and Portable PCs
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Exactly, NO surprises here...one has to be really ignorant or with bad taste to choose anything different from the iPad 2...there is still no competition, more than one year after the original iPad launch.
I have a Nook Color that I have installed Honeycomb onto for the time being. I am actually liking Honeycomb very much, and it isn't even a full release for the Nook Color. I'll get around to installing the real deal when Google releases the source code. 
For an actual tablet, I'm waiting on the HP Touchpad as I absolutely adore webOS. I couldn't care less if my chosen tablet is in the "minority" as long as I am happy with the device and that is really what is all boils down to. I have no interest in an iPad at this point.
Different strokes for different folks, I think a LOT of people on MacRumors forget that...
EDIT: Proof positive to the above statement with what I've quoted below. Unbelieveable.
What an ignorant thing to say...
For an actual tablet, I'm waiting on the HP Touchpad as I absolutely adore webOS. I couldn't care less if my chosen tablet is in the "minority" as long as I am happy with the device and that is really what is all boils down to. I have no interest in an iPad at this point.
Different strokes for different folks, I think a LOT of people on MacRumors forget that...
EDIT: Proof positive to the above statement with what I've quoted below. Unbelieveable.
What an ignorant thing to say...
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aww that is soooo cute. Posting charts and stacking up the ipad versus other tablets that JUST hit the market or aren't really out yet. It's one thing to be a fanboy but another to distort reality.
Not for nothing, but it's been over a year since Apple entered a tablet market that was already ten years mature. Tablets are not new. Various companies have tried pushing them for over a decade. It's not Apples fault that nobody else has been able to launch a commercially successful device in this area.
Go ahead and bury your head in the sand, but Apple has been truly successful here and to deny that is a distortion of reality.
I'm really excited to see the HP Touchpad. So far the demos have been incredible!
I think the ipad is ultimately a fad.
It's not that it didn't bring about lasting changes. I think it did.
It's just that those changes will be aped by laptops eventually.
MBA has already aped the instant-on and flash storage.
It's also getting smaller and thinner.
Next they will ape the touchscreen which some pcs already have done.
And they'll have the touchscreen flip over to form a tablet which has also already been done.
Last the OSs like Windows and OSx will ape the easier to use Android/iOS/WebOS or dual-boot or ...
That is going to happen with WebOS. Even Lion is copying some of the stuff iOS does.
But ultimately not sure tablets can stay at $500 or more and still be a separate category. Laptops and tablets will merge at those prices.
Either that or tablets become much cheaper. Maybe they don't need all that power. They suffice as digital readers and surfers.
It's not that it didn't bring about lasting changes. I think it did.
It's just that those changes will be aped by laptops eventually.
MBA has already aped the instant-on and flash storage.
It's also getting smaller and thinner.
Next they will ape the touchscreen which some pcs already have done.
And they'll have the touchscreen flip over to form a tablet which has also already been done.
Last the OSs like Windows and OSx will ape the easier to use Android/iOS/WebOS or dual-boot or ...
That is going to happen with WebOS. Even Lion is copying some of the stuff iOS does.
But ultimately not sure tablets can stay at $500 or more and still be a separate category. Laptops and tablets will merge at those prices.
Either that or tablets become much cheaper. Maybe they don't need all that power. They suffice as digital readers and surfers.
i keep laughing at how often they try to compare this thing to the kindle.
it isn't even a comparison, and i mean that in a good way for both products. the kindle sitting on my sink vanity next to the toilet in the master bathroom is the perfect reading device.
i wouldn't even consider an ipad to read a book.
I guess the ipad is a better book reader than a laptop, but only because it's lighter and doesn't have to be opened.
the people saying they are going to buy an ipad instead of a kindle were NEVER going to buy a kindle. or they are mistaken, and will buy a kindle eventually.
I know lots of people with ipads, and none of them read books on the things.
i usually, out of habit, poke around on their ipad and see what they've got in there. maybe half of them have the kindle app, and of those, only a couple free books are downloaded and apparently unread.
i don't know a single person who has purchased a book from apple's ibook store.
it isn't even a comparison, and i mean that in a good way for both products. the kindle sitting on my sink vanity next to the toilet in the master bathroom is the perfect reading device.
i wouldn't even consider an ipad to read a book.
I guess the ipad is a better book reader than a laptop, but only because it's lighter and doesn't have to be opened.
the people saying they are going to buy an ipad instead of a kindle were NEVER going to buy a kindle. or they are mistaken, and will buy a kindle eventually.
I know lots of people with ipads, and none of them read books on the things.
i usually, out of habit, poke around on their ipad and see what they've got in there. maybe half of them have the kindle app, and of those, only a couple free books are downloaded and apparently unread.
i don't know a single person who has purchased a book from apple's ibook store.
You know the talking point from the anti-apple crowd is that Steve Jobs intentionally misquoted the Samsung CEO.
Let's look at the overall issue:
1. November 2010: Reports that sales of Samsung Galaxy tab are poor and production was cut in half. Large shipments but poor sales surmised.
Analyst: Galaxy Tab Productions Halved Due to Slow Start
2. January 2010: Price cuts on Galaxy tab. Expected reasons are poor sales and imminent release of the next version. More on the "next version" later.
Galaxy Tab price cut in US and UK
"This seems like more evidence that the Galaxy Tab 4G is pretty close. Of course, it could also be evidence that people have stopped buying the Galaxy Tab because they are waiting for the true generation of Android 3.0 Honeycomb tablets to begin. T-Mobile USA and Tesco in UK are both dropping the price for the Galaxy Tab.
T-Mobile US is dropping their price from $349 to $249 (with mail-in rebate) with a 2-year contract, and from $599 to $499 off contract."
3. February 2011: Samsung tries to stop rumors of 16% return rate on galaxy Tablets. Which is it? 2% or 16% or somewhere in between? Time will tell. But if Samsung wanted to they could do more than make a blog post about it.
Samsung responds: Galaxy Tab return rate below 2%
"he saga of the Samsung Galaxy Tab sales numbers and return rate continues, with a Korean blog by Samsung stating that “the return rate is below 2 percent“. This cryptic statement is attributed to the Samsung Electronics Mobile Communications Business, in response to analyst reports that the Galaxy Tab return rate is as high as 16 percent.
Samsung needs to get better communicators on staff, as it keeps creating problems of perception over how well the Galaxy Tab is doing in the market with its unclear statements. The company has come under fire for claiming that 2 million Galaxy Tabs have been sold, then back-pedaling when pressed admitting that these are in-channel sales to partners, not consumer sales."
4. The price of the galaxy tablet has decreased but the truth is that it requires a contract to get such a good price.
5. Late January: The infamous smooth vs. small translation. Here is the full quote with smooth put back in. But look at the rest of the quoted paragraph. The 2 million was the produced and shipped number. The sales to customers wasn't "as fast as expected".
Samsung Galaxy Tab Sales Not As Fast As Expected
Samsung provided the translator/transposer and the translated/transposed document. Then Samsung "fixed" the misquote. This is brilliant. Now the debate is whether it was supposed to be "smooth" or "small" and with Job's using the original quote days later the second debate is whether or not he deliberately ignored the correction. But the debate distracts from the original story: How many did they actually sell? There were reports it wasn't selling well and the CEO said the "sell-out wasn’t as fast as we expected". Nice bit of distraction there.
6. March 2011: The ipad 2 was announced and Samsung announced immediately that they needed to rethink their design.
Apple iPad 2 Prompts Samsung to Rethink Galaxy Tab 10.1 Choices
7. Finally the ipad sales ranking and competition in general (beyond just Samsung). A number of people on this site were trying to use Amazon's sales rankings as a metric to gauge the competition this last week. If you go to the rankings on Amazon, the ipad models are ranked in several top locations. Last week another brand took the #1 spot. Some people were suggesting that this was the end of the ipad. In truth this is a ridiculous argument to make. The ipad 2 had just been announced after a long period of upgrade rumors. The ipad 1 lost the number one spot to a much cheaper and likely lower performing rival in part due to the upcoming release of a new model. Still it kept several spots in the top ten. The Samsung Galaxy tab isn't in that list. It is in the cell phone list as you need a contract to purchase at the advertised prices.
Some forecasts on the coming sales:
Vendors To Delay New Notebooks Price Rethink Due To iPad 2
JPMorgan: iPad 2 Could ‘Burst Bubble’ of Rival Tablet Hopefuls
So considering Samsung's model of shipping large numbers hoping for sales and the similar strategy being attempted by others, it seems possible that some of these companies are taking a big risk here. Should they g for large volume sales that don't work out, it will be quite a loss. Something to consider when investing.
I am not anti-Samsung, nor am I trying to blindly defend Apple. I have simply seen a number of ridiculous arguments posted here trying to shift the focus onto Steve Jobs' "misquote" when it should really be on the actual sales numbers of competitors' tablets. So I thought it might be worthwhile to compile some of this information here. Feel free to add to the list.
As for Jobs' "misquote", I will just say this and then drop the silly debate. Samsung released a transcript not long before the ipad 2 event and it made the WSJ. The correction came later and didn't warrant a new story; just a correction. One could argue that Apple should have seen the correction. However given the back story of possible poor sales, and dissatisfaction along with Apple's knowledge of the industry that surpasses the general public's, I wouldn't be surprised if Apple didn't view the "correction" as simply back pedaling to cover bad sales on samsung's part. It might be that Apple figures the truth will show eventually that regardless of the correct word in the quote, the meaning is the same. Enough on that. Its a silly debate.
Let's look at the overall issue:
1. November 2010: Reports that sales of Samsung Galaxy tab are poor and production was cut in half. Large shipments but poor sales surmised.
Analyst: Galaxy Tab Productions Halved Due to Slow Start
2. January 2010: Price cuts on Galaxy tab. Expected reasons are poor sales and imminent release of the next version. More on the "next version" later.
Galaxy Tab price cut in US and UK
"This seems like more evidence that the Galaxy Tab 4G is pretty close. Of course, it could also be evidence that people have stopped buying the Galaxy Tab because they are waiting for the true generation of Android 3.0 Honeycomb tablets to begin. T-Mobile USA and Tesco in UK are both dropping the price for the Galaxy Tab.
T-Mobile US is dropping their price from $349 to $249 (with mail-in rebate) with a 2-year contract, and from $599 to $499 off contract."
3. February 2011: Samsung tries to stop rumors of 16% return rate on galaxy Tablets. Which is it? 2% or 16% or somewhere in between? Time will tell. But if Samsung wanted to they could do more than make a blog post about it.
Samsung responds: Galaxy Tab return rate below 2%
"he saga of the Samsung Galaxy Tab sales numbers and return rate continues, with a Korean blog by Samsung stating that “the return rate is below 2 percent“. This cryptic statement is attributed to the Samsung Electronics Mobile Communications Business, in response to analyst reports that the Galaxy Tab return rate is as high as 16 percent.
Samsung needs to get better communicators on staff, as it keeps creating problems of perception over how well the Galaxy Tab is doing in the market with its unclear statements. The company has come under fire for claiming that 2 million Galaxy Tabs have been sold, then back-pedaling when pressed admitting that these are in-channel sales to partners, not consumer sales."
4. The price of the galaxy tablet has decreased but the truth is that it requires a contract to get such a good price.
5. Late January: The infamous smooth vs. small translation. Here is the full quote with smooth put back in. But look at the rest of the quoted paragraph. The 2 million was the produced and shipped number. The sales to customers wasn't "as fast as expected".
Samsung Galaxy Tab Sales Not As Fast As Expected
Samsung provided the translator/transposer and the translated/transposed document. Then Samsung "fixed" the misquote. This is brilliant. Now the debate is whether it was supposed to be "smooth" or "small" and with Job's using the original quote days later the second debate is whether or not he deliberately ignored the correction. But the debate distracts from the original story: How many did they actually sell? There were reports it wasn't selling well and the CEO said the "sell-out wasn’t as fast as we expected". Nice bit of distraction there.
6. March 2011: The ipad 2 was announced and Samsung announced immediately that they needed to rethink their design.
Apple iPad 2 Prompts Samsung to Rethink Galaxy Tab 10.1 Choices
7. Finally the ipad sales ranking and competition in general (beyond just Samsung). A number of people on this site were trying to use Amazon's sales rankings as a metric to gauge the competition this last week. If you go to the rankings on Amazon, the ipad models are ranked in several top locations. Last week another brand took the #1 spot. Some people were suggesting that this was the end of the ipad. In truth this is a ridiculous argument to make. The ipad 2 had just been announced after a long period of upgrade rumors. The ipad 1 lost the number one spot to a much cheaper and likely lower performing rival in part due to the upcoming release of a new model. Still it kept several spots in the top ten. The Samsung Galaxy tab isn't in that list. It is in the cell phone list as you need a contract to purchase at the advertised prices.
Some forecasts on the coming sales:
Vendors To Delay New Notebooks Price Rethink Due To iPad 2
JPMorgan: iPad 2 Could ‘Burst Bubble’ of Rival Tablet Hopefuls
So considering Samsung's model of shipping large numbers hoping for sales and the similar strategy being attempted by others, it seems possible that some of these companies are taking a big risk here. Should they g for large volume sales that don't work out, it will be quite a loss. Something to consider when investing.
I am not anti-Samsung, nor am I trying to blindly defend Apple. I have simply seen a number of ridiculous arguments posted here trying to shift the focus onto Steve Jobs' "misquote" when it should really be on the actual sales numbers of competitors' tablets. So I thought it might be worthwhile to compile some of this information here. Feel free to add to the list.
As for Jobs' "misquote", I will just say this and then drop the silly debate. Samsung released a transcript not long before the ipad 2 event and it made the WSJ. The correction came later and didn't warrant a new story; just a correction. One could argue that Apple should have seen the correction. However given the back story of possible poor sales, and dissatisfaction along with Apple's knowledge of the industry that surpasses the general public's, I wouldn't be surprised if Apple didn't view the "correction" as simply back pedaling to cover bad sales on samsung's part. It might be that Apple figures the truth will show eventually that regardless of the correct word in the quote, the meaning is the same. Enough on that. Its a silly debate.
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I wouldn't say it's a fad, but you make an interesting point. To me, the new MBA is a game-changer in terms of how i see the tablet market. I just got a 13" MBA, and I can't see where there's room for a tablet too when I have that and an iPhone. Even with a mbp, ok maybe because 5 lbs vs. 1.3 is a big difference. But with the 13" air at 2.9 or the 11"er at 2.3, I can't ever really see where I'd grab the iPad instead (except ebook reading).
trip1ex said:
I wouldn't say it's a fad, but you make an interesting point. To me, the new MBA is a game-changer in terms of how i see the tablet market. I just got a 13" MBA, and I can't see where there's room for a tablet too when I have that and an iPhone. Even with a mbp, ok maybe because 5 lbs vs. 1.3 is a big difference. But with the 13" air at 2.9 or the 11"er at 2.3, I can't ever really see where I'd grab the iPad instead (except ebook reading).
I agree 100%. The kindle is great. I do not own an ipad but will likely get one someday. For reading books, the kindle is superior. And choice of tablet aside, I prefer kindle app over ibooks. I think Apple has made a mistake with ibooks by restricting it to iOS devices. A kindle book can be read on multiple devices. Apple does not even allow purchasing or reading on a Mac! I remember downloading ibooks into itunes before getting my first iOS device and I was so confused as to why I couldn't start sopping for a book.
I reiterate what I said above. It's either of the following: Ignorance or bad taste.
If you don't agree, check the link below.
http://www.macworld.com/article/158475/2011/03/android_hacking.html
What's your point? Apple has had their issues as well with apps, iOS, and the actual devices they sell.
Calling someone ignorant or saying they have bad taste because they have a differing opinion? You have to be kidding, right? Your smug attitude, and the smugness of Apple product owners like you honestly make me ashamed to be a Apple fan at times.
Good thing this forum has an "Ignore" option.
I wonder why the chart only includes Best Buy, Walmart and Target as places (other than Apple or cellular carriers) to buy iPads. Are the number of people buying an iPad at other places just so small as to be insignificant or were they grouped into the 30% of 'Don't Know/Other?' If it's the former, it makes me glad I live where I do. If I get one, I'm buying mine from Small Dog Electronics.
the ipad isnt for everyone.
what i think needs to happen for others to get into the market is to do things the ipad doesnt. i have no interest in a device that has to be married to another device (itunes and a separate computer) to use. this to me is a flaw but im sure its one that is repeated with the others.
the others wont get anywhere as long as they keep following in the steps of the ipad.
what i think needs to happen for others to get into the market is to do things the ipad doesnt. i have no interest in a device that has to be married to another device (itunes and a separate computer) to use. this to me is a flaw but im sure its one that is repeated with the others.
the others wont get anywhere as long as they keep following in the steps of the ipad.
You're joking right?
A tablet may replace a laptop, and a laptop may replace a desktop, but a "post-pc" device needs a desktop or laptopI think you guys are on to something. The thing to remember is that the iPad is all about the compromises that you needed to make to bring to market a lightweight, large screen touchscreen device with long battery life, and a competitive price point, based on 2009-2010 technology. As things like battery technology and processor energy efficiency improve, along with miniaturization, these devices will come closer and closer to being able to handle full blown desktop-equivalent OS's, and the compromises made by iOS will no longer be necessary, so I think you are right that you will basically see convergence between the MBA and the iPad.
Amazing results considering all the prospects that Verizon lost because of their $35 activation fee. Countless people are sticking with AT&T because of that. Those results are far from accurate.
The waiting period is giving the Android tablet marketplace time to mature. Right now, there is no competition for the ipad app store, because the other stores haven't started developing. It took time for the app store to achieve all those apps for the ipad; it's only fair we give Android the time to mature as well. I feel a year is fair.
While I don't personally dig on Xoom, I think it's the first alternative for people who don't like itunes, Apple, Steve Jobs or whatever other bug they have up their butt.
Anyway, the way android works is they place their software on many different hardware configurations. So, while I don't like the Xoom, HP or someone else might come out with a non-laughable alternative to the ipad.
While I don't personally dig on Xoom, I think it's the first alternative for people who don't like itunes, Apple, Steve Jobs or whatever other bug they have up their butt.
Anyway, the way android works is they place their software on many different hardware configurations. So, while I don't like the Xoom, HP or someone else might come out with a non-laughable alternative to the ipad.
Except, of course, those 'compromises' are a huge part of the attraction of the iPad... Do try to bear in mind that what the techie geeks want is fast becoming the minority view as, for lack of a better term, consumer computing takes hold. Form factor is, ultimately, irrelevant, it's software that makes the difference and, frankly, iOS is better in many ways for the average user than os x and it's still a relatively new os at this point.
Well, the compromises I'm talking about are things like poor multi-tasking, poor notifications, and lack of support for flash. I think you are referring to the simplicity of the interface, but really, most buyers of tablets are already comfortable with a desktop interface, if for no other reason than that you can't even boot up your iPad without connecting to a desktop/laptop computer. The only real demographics that need the simpler interface are the very young and the very old, which interestingly have been two demographics penetrated by the iPad that had not really been penetrated much by the desktop/laptop world, but those two demographics are not going to drive the success or failure of the tablet form factor. As far as software, some of the iPad programs are fun, but for the most part they are either very limited versions of desktop OS programs, or simply replacement for flash-based web content, so I don't see the current iOS software base as a benefit relative to the desktop OS software and web content base.
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I can see it the other way around too. It seems that the MBA was the testing ground for many of the technologies and design ideas that went into the iPad.
Also why is the clamshell so important? I’m not saying I see a tablet replacing it anytime soon…or perhaps ever…but it’s not an untouchable (no pun intended) form factor.
But will there be greater convergence across form factors and OS’s? Yes.
I agree. It's ridiculous that you need a machine that runs iTunes in order to use an iOS device. Besides leaving Linux users out, it just seems burdensome. I know some people with PCs/laptops on their last legs, and while an iPad will meet ALL of their computing needs, theyll still need a (or have access to anothers) PC/Mac. Its also not very future forward. Steve said were heading into a post-PC, ultra-mobile world. So why do we still need a PC to use our ultra-mobiles?