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Dell's 7-Inch Tablet Coming Soon, 10-Inch Model Later

THX1139 said:
Most of the posters on here have such a limited vision. What's wrong with having a tablet that isn't all glass and chrome? Sure they look cool, but for a tablet I would like to have something that is functional, cheap, and it doesn't have to be treated with kid gloves. Imagine something a bit larger than an iPod/iPhone that is durable enough that you could toss it into a backpack or purse without worrying about it. I see that potential in the Dell and other product lines. Apple makes things that are so fragile and pretty that most people are afraid to scratch or break them. For the most part, they are over designed and not practical for every day use unless you only hang out at Starbucks. Try taking your Apple product out on a long hike in the woods, or into a dirty construction zone. It won't last long.
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Interesting. So I guess all the people traveling with their iPads are just doing it wrong. They should listen to you and pretend that Apple makes fragile equipment that cannot stand up to real world use.

Of course 100 million iPod owners might disagree with you, but who are you going to trust, actual users of the product or someone who says things about Apple products that we all know are not true?
 
dpruitt said:
Yeah, Apple, you better start shaking in your boots. This thing looks real cool.. hahahahahaha.. man, it cracks me up that when Apple does something everyone fires up the copy machines. Good stuff, but I don't know if I would call all these guys, "competition".
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Although it's true that companies like to copy Apple (and let's face it, companies copy each other all the time), I really don't see the iPad as groundbreaking. To me (and a LOT of other people), the iPad is some kind of iPhone/Touch crossover in a bigger case...minus some major features (camera, video camera) and added in a few features (bigger screen). If you're one of the few people that have never seen/used an iPhone or Touch in the past 3 years, the iPad is quite groundbreaking...but to the rest of us who have a clue about technology, it's simply ho-hum (and yes, I know nobody else has an iPad competitor right now).

Yes, if Apple plays its cards right and gets the iPad (a tablet) into the business world, Apple may dominate as it already has the lead in tablet computing. But if Apple doesn't get into the business world, within a few years, the iPad will be limited to consumers...which may be fine to Apple's execs.

The real beauty of tablet computing is far beyond playing some movies (yawn) or playing a game (yawn...just a big PSP)...acting as medical/hospital devices replacing clipboards and paper processing, acting as much better kiosks in stores/hotels/aiports/everywhere, acting as executive-toting units for instant updates on company performance/business intelligence/etc.

Those are some examples. Historically Apple has never played nicely with the corporate world. Although I am not a Dell fan, I can easily see Dell or HP eating Apple's lunch in this new arena. Trust me, the non-Apple vendors are not sitting around waiting for Apple to earn hundreds of billions of dollars in an entirely new marketshare segment of computing (compared to say laptops, desktops, servers, smartphones).

Don't get me wrong...the iPad is kinda neat...but it's just version 1.0 and there will be major major competition very very soon. This will not simply be an iPod vs. Zune replay.

-Eric
 
carmenodie said:
Wrong! the ipad screens are made to order. If they were off the shelf then you could have a valid point.
Sorry kiddo.
Fail!!!
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Ooooo.... Did ya lift up your self esteem ?

Who cares.

By the way who cares about Dell ? Let's call Dell customer support. As with HP, you get India. Hadji doesn't always speak good English.

Call Apple. In America, you get an English speaking American. Or I can also take an hour and 15 min drive, visit my mother and take it to the Apple store. Hmmm, which device will I choose???
 
The iPad is already in the business world, so Apple already played its cards right.

The key breakthrough of the iPad, one of the things missed by the people who wrongly think it's just a bigger iPhone, is the extension of the touch OS to practical use by anyone. We are in the early stages of the touch revolution, a revolution that will see touch as the dominant UI by decade's end. Apple is popularizing touch more than anyone else. Look at how many gestures other companies lift directly from Apple. People are being trained to use their fingers, yes even to create documents or spreadsheets, let alone art work. People are learning that touch is a far better interface for Web usage. It's extremely better for browsing email and media.

A little of this was possible with the iPhone, but the larger size makes the iPad the true breakthrough touch device that the world has seen. Just like going from a bathtub to a swimming pool opens your eyes to new possibilities.
 
THX1139 said:
....

Try taking your Apple product out on a long hike in the woods, or into a dirty construction zone. It won't last long.
Click to expand...

...yup, you're right... when that happens, I'll get iPad # 2 and keep on going...


you: bumble-bee, I studied aerospace engineering and after multiple CFD and aero analysis, I found out that you cannot fly, so stop flying now...

bumble-bee: ok... (and keeps on flying...)
 
MrWillie said:
By the way who cares about Dell ? Let's call Dell customer support. As with HP, you get India. Hadji doesn't always speak good English.

Call Apple. In America, you get an English speaking American. Or I can also take an hour and 15 min drive, visit my mother and take it to the Apple store. Hmmm, which device will I choose???
Click to expand...

This right here sums up the reason I recommend Apple products to people and small businesses. For an individual, Apple support is second to none.

Of course, businesses lines from Dell or HP are a different story, because they have a completely different tier of support.
 
NebulaClash said:
The iPad is already in the business world, so Apple already played its cards right.
Click to expand...

iPad is not in the business world...I'm talking about real, rich applications...not just a $500 web browser on the corporate network.

The key breakthrough of the iPad, one of the things missed by the people who wrongly think it's just a bigger iPhone, is the extension of the touch OS to practical use by anyone.
Click to expand...

This is why so many people say the iPad is just a bigger iPhone/Touch...it's all about the OS and touchscreen. It's all the same. The OS is identical and certain features are just turned off by the flip of a bit. There's nothing wrong about any of this...it's just a methodology. You said it yourself, it's an extension of the OS...I would certainly imagine many other creative revisions of the iPhone, Touch, and iPad for years to come.

We are in the early stages of the touch revolution, a revolution that will see touch as the dominant UI by decade's end...
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I would agree...and we're going to see how Apple's expensive prices and iTunes lock-in fairs to the other 99 vendors out there soon with alternatives. $500, for the basic el-cheapo iPad model is ridiculous (because I already own an iPhone)...but someone who owns nothing (no laptop, no desktop, no iPhone, no Touch) may spend the $500+.
 
ericinboston said:
we're going to see how Apple's expensive prices and iTunes lock-in fairs to the other 99 vendors out there soon with alternatives. $500, for the basic el-cheapo iPad model is ridiculous (because I already own an iPhone)...but someone who owns nothing (no laptop, no desktop, no iPhone, no Touch) may spend the $500+.
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I already own an iPod touch and a MacBook Pro, but the iPad was revelatory for me. It gets used in ways that my other devices are just not designed for. And yes, the "el-cheapo" model does that too.

And how can you describe Apple as producing expensive prices and still describe one of their models as "el-cheapo"? When the iPad was a rumor, people hoped it would start at $799, and hoped it wouldn't be $999. So it comes out at $499 (startling their competitors who had to go back to the drawing board, and even now are struggling to find ways to match iPad functionality at iPad prices) and you still call Apple expensive?

Apple TV gets revised at $99 and you still call Apple expensive?

You don't like iTunes lock-in, but suggest 99 other companies will produce an alternative that has no lock-in? How? What music and media companies will agree to that?

Apple criticism goes too far.
 
NebulaClash said:
I already own an iPod touch and a MacBook Pro, but the iPad was revelatory for me. It gets used in ways that my other devices are just not designed for. And yes, the "el-cheapo" model does that too.

And how can you describe Apple as producing expensive prices and still describe one of their models as "el-cheapo"? When the iPad was a rumor, people hoped it would start at $799, and hoped it wouldn't be $999. So it comes out at $499 (startling their competitors who had to go back to the drawing board, and even now are struggling to find ways to match iPad functionality at iPad prices) and you still call Apple expensive?

Apple TV gets revised at $99 and you still call Apple expensive?

You don't like iTunes lock-in, but suggest 99 other companies will produce an alternative that has no lock-in? How? What music and media companies will agree to that?

Apple criticism goes too far.
Click to expand...

I think by lock in he means.. everything has to come from itunes in order to be put on the ipad. I cannot install apps from outside the appstore.

Android I can
BB I can
Windows I can

on all those platforms I can watch a meriad of content with different file extensions. IN the apple ecosystem I cannot(Stock)
 
NebulaClash said:
Yes, the iPad is in the business world.
Click to expand...

Corporations are testing it...I agree...but the product has been available for about 5 months...it may be in a handful of businesses deployed (and deployed as what?...a cool toy for the CEO? A laptop replacement for the Marketing person that surfs the web/blogs all day?) but mostly it is being tested. And there's nothing wrong with my examples...no shame.

You may technically able to say that because 1 business owns it, it's "in the business world" but in reality, it's not. In 1-3 years we will know how often they are deployed and WHAT BUSINESS CASE the iPads are being used.

Desktops and laptops do a LOT more in the business world than let Frank surf the internet...there are thick client apps (that I assume in some shape may be converted to iPad apps), network share drives, network printing, local software demos, thick-client email (Outlook, Notes) that web-based email just can't provide all the features needed, and lastly, pure storage (all your MS Office docs for example), corporate chat, Camtasia/Youtube/video creation, an industry adopted browser (IE or Firefox), projector output, etc. Those are some examples. And let's not forget that IT in all businesses likes to have control over pushing security patches to machines...in an easy and user-friendly manner to both IT and end users.

For instance, in my role, I work with all day long:

Camtasia
VMWare Workstation
Remote desktop
FTP
Chat
Thick client email application due to complex calendaring
VPN when not in office
Need to use both IE and Firefox
WinRAR/Winzip to compress things
MS Office
Screen capture ability
Printing
 
NebulaClash said:
And how can you describe Apple as producing expensive prices and still describe one of their models as "el-cheapo"?
Click to expand...
El-cheapo is simply a term to state the cheapest model of the lineup. That's all. And yes, I still find $500 pretty expensive. We all have opinions, you know. :)

Apple TV gets revised at $99 and you still call Apple expensive?
Click to expand...
I have no interest in AppleTV...none whatsoever. And yes, I still call Apple expensive, in general, as a company...they've been the most expensive guys on the block since 1978. Just because 1 particular product is $99 doesn't suddenly turn the company's entire history of expensiveness around.

You don't like iTunes lock-in, but suggest 99 other companies will produce an alternative that has no lock-in? How? What music and media companies will agree to that?
Click to expand...

I am not going down this path...we could write a 192-page book on the topic of iTunes and the music industry and the upcoming tv industry. I'm talking about the APP STORE...and I'm also talking, in general, about how I have to register every ******* iPod/iPhone/iPad with iTunes immediately after powering it on for the first time...giving my name, email, etc. Not a fan. Whatever happened to the days of buying a device and using it from the moment you first turn it on? Again, that is a long topic too so I'm not going to sideline this original topic.
 
dgree03 said:
I cannot install apps from outside the appstore.
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Yes, but you can install app directly form the appstore app of your iPhone/iPad. On the other hand you need iTunes for setting up your idevice and for transferring all kind of files, which is quite a lock in in my view.

IMHO, Ericinboston has some points:

- In the enterprise market, RIM has still the lion's share and Android is growing fast. There will be a real competition in this sector. In addition, user experience has never been a prominent concern of IT departments, and most of them seems to have a bias against Apple. Even an 5 pounds tablet with a desktop version of windows 7 has its chance against the iPad in this sector.

- The iPad is cheaper than what was expected, but for $250 I can have a similar sized netbook with a 10" screen, a keyboard, a webcam, 160 Gb of HardDrive and 3 USB. Add another $100, and I can get a really decent computer.
 
Point noted about the app store lock-in. Sorry for misunderstanding.

To me personally that's no big deal because I can never find functionality I want that is missing from the app store, but I guess if you do that's an issue. I guarantee it's not an issue for 90-95% of Apple users (of which we are not typical).
 
NebulaClash said:
Point noted about the app store lock-in. Sorry for misunderstanding.

To me personally that's no big deal because I can never find functionality I want that is missing from the app store, but I guess if you do that's an issue. I guarantee it's not an issue for 90-95% of Apple users (of which we are not typical).
Click to expand...

np...I think the iPad is gonna be just like the iPod line...version 1 of the iPods were a step ahead of everyone, but expensive...and locked into Apple Mac...as the years went on, Apple opened it up to Windows folks as well as released updated and more lines of the iPod...AND reducing price.

What I see, however, is that the tablet industry is far larger than a personal mp3 player...the vendors are not going to go down without a big fight. This means better pricing, features, and competitiveness for all and pure win for the consumer. Back to my point, however, is that if Apple doesn't quickly get into the corporate market, the iPad is going to be just for consumers (which may be perfectly fine for Apple)...and unfortunately for Apple it will be yet another 1% marketshare for business (like the Macs) and 95% marketshare for Wintel units.

This touch tablet market is going to explode and I, for one, am super excited for the years to come.
 
I think he was thinking that the business world is just in the evaluation phase on the iPad. But that would be quite typical for business. Guess what? The Dell tablets will also be evaluated before being deployed.

But the iPad is very much being used in the business world. I've seen it. And we've all been reading stories about how this hospital, that school, this board room, that sales force are using the iPad already.
 
dgree03 said:
I think by lock in he means.. everything has to come from itunes in order to be put on the ipad. I cannot install apps from outside the appstore.

Android I can
BB I can
Windows I can

on all those platforms I can watch a meriad of content with different file extensions. IN the apple ecosystem I cannot(Stock)
Click to expand...

You say that like that's a good thing... It's not. BTW these Android tablets are not Google partners, therefore you cannot down load apps from the Google store without a hack. If you are going to root your Android device, why not jailbreak your iPad? Problem solved.

Apple is easing restrictions on what apps are allowed to do. The iPad is and its software is evolving. Wait till ios 4 comes out for the iPad. I dislike making statements about waiting till whatever, but ios 4 should be available for the iPad before this 7 incher comes out.

Oh, you left out on OSX you can.
 
MrWillie said:
If you are going to root your Android device, why not jailbreak your iPad? Problem solved.
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Agreed. A quick jailbreak and you get all the benefits of Android from an openness perspective and all the benefits of iOS from an app quality (and app store experience) perspective. This skews the argument dramatically towards iOS (though of course the Android fans will never admit it).
 
LagunaSol said:
Agreed. A quick jailbreak and you get all the benefits of Android from an openness perspective and all the benefits of iOS from an app quality (and app store experience) perspective. This skews the argument dramatically towards iOS (though of course the Android fans will never admit it).
Click to expand...

Right, and it's as easy as can be to go back from a jailbreaked iPhone to an iOS iPhone within iTunes. So iPhone users get the best of all worlds. You want freedom? You got it. You are happy with the App store? Got you covered.
 
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