Re: Tablet features
Originally posted by Sol
But what about the iPod with which Apple was one of the last companies to enter the MP3 player market? The advantage of waiting is that you get to analyze the competition's mistakes. For all the hype tablets have received I still think that such portables are novelty laptops (some even have keyboards).
Apple could make the tablet relevant by taking the same less-is-more approach that made the iMac such a success. Perhaps the screens need to be smaller, expansion options limited and software updates minimized. After all, if a tablet needs constant maintenance then it is not so different from a desktop or laptop computer.
Yes I understand what your saying about the ipod, but such ventures are often the exeption to the rule. I dont want to get into a big debate over the merits of michael porters approach to economics and its weaknesses, but the successes of the ipod is mainly due to apple being able to leverage their core competences into a sustainable competitive advantage over simular offerings. An mp3 player is a basic device in its current incarnations, and while the ipod is a wonderful little toy its hardly the most inovative of tools. its minimalist and simplistic in its design, and had the competition brought out a more complex offering sooner then the success of the ipod might not have been so forthcoming. So yes yoru right they did capitalise from the competitions mistakes, but trust me that is a very very dangerous game to play strategically. No economist, marketer or Strategist would advocate such a long term strategy; youd simply die as a business. Also had apple been the first company to have got an mp3 player to market and made it available cross platform to all, then you can bet your bottom that they would have deeper market penetration. The fact is Apple has a loyal customer base, if not somewhat fanatical (myself included). we all want apple to succeed, how many pc users do you know who feel any form of atachment towards what is for all intents and purposes an inanimate object. yes you have a valid point with the ipod, but lets not oversimplify strategic choice, and agree that apple needs to take a step change and leverage its resources into a more agressive penetration strategy. A basic strategic mistake was to source their high end chip from one supplier, this form of strategy has seen many companies go under. Apple know that if they release a product, mac users will buy it. They have to look past this and offer something that is so different, and is first to market, that the pc using community wont have an alternative and will want to buy one. Once they buy something from apple, it could well spark off a more lasting relationship between Apple and the consumer. hopefully that will dispell some of the myths that pc users have about owning a mac, i feel like head butting people who talk about being frightend of using a mac because of compatibility and a lack of techincal support. For crying out loud i dont know a mac user who needs the level of technical support a pc user needs, purly because although the mac forum is full of people with problems, lets face it we sure as hell dont experience the magnitude of problems the pc community experiences. and as for compatibiltiy, goodness most people i talk to word process, do a bit of spreadsheet work if your lucky and browse the internet nad do presentation work. I've never found compatibility a problem, and they sure wont either.
as for your point on the imac, i agree the imac is a wonderfully aesthetic machine. hell i use one myself!! but the fact is its underpowered, its the OS and everything else that appease us as mac users. Even the imac user wants something that can rival a P4 of comparible price, and often the debate only centres around the top end powermac competing with the P4.
There are many things that Apple should include in its machines, which in previous years it has prided itself on. I mean i cant even fathom why apple isnt using DDR which runs at 300mhz (or is it 333, not to sure what the top end DDR is, which is used by P4 based machines. Told you i wasnt a techie
).
ok guess its time for me to say what i'd want from a tablet and not skirt around the issue, id love to see a fully funtional work and multi media device. I'd love it to be able to double up as a toy (DVD viewing, game playing, built in video cam etc) and a work tool (presentation capabilities, keyboard, voice recording capabilities etc etc). i work in sales and I'm finishing off an Msc at the moment, i currently use wintel in work and univeristy
(trying not to use four letter words when i consider work ive lost or contacts and details that have been destroyed by stupid crashes or goofy error messages, at home i use a G3imac, and wo and behold no problems and no loss of data, and lots of pleasent up time
. and i constantly use a pda, visor edge thingy with targus full sized keyboard (touch typist). I have an ipod, a web cam thingy, and a seperate mp3 player i use for running. So for me a tablet would be a very welcome subsitute to the PDA and would be so useful, i could carry it to lectures, tuck it under my arm and take it to sales meatings, take it on training, basically use it for so manydiffernt things. Problem is Apple havent made one, and i sure as hell am not going to waste mymoney on some crappy dos based OS that will cause me nothing but grief. the amount or training courses and presentations ive seen hampered because someones laptop doesnt work, its ridiculous. i guess the bottom line is I want convergence from a tablet, i dont want someone to ditch the keyboard in fact i quite like keyboard input.
anyhow, enough waffling.
Jason
