iPad Drives Apple to Third Place Worldwide, First in North America for Mobile PC Sale

[Evangelion]

Categorizing based on hardware/software features is a lot simpler, as long as everyone agrees on what features define what category.

OK, so what are those features? Would iPad running Windows 7 be a proper computer? Why? Why not? Is PS3 running Linux a proper computer? Why? Why not? What does the iPad need in order to be considered a computer? An USB-port? Why? Mac OS X? Why?

How do we define what "computer" is? Capability to multitask? My C64 could not multitask, so it was not a proper computer? Ability to add peripherals? You can do that with the iPad. What are the features we are looking for here? Anyone?

Fact is that iPad is replacing traditional computer for many people. If it's not a computer, then how could it replace a computer?

 

[Žalgiris]

This is very true.

However, categorizing after use is difficult, as different people use their devices for different things. My Windows desktop would be classified as a "gaming console", and my iPhone would be classified as a "PC", as would my macs.
Categorizing based on hardware/software features is a lot simpler, as long as everyone agrees on what features define what category.

Awesome. Explains everything without explaining anything.

 

[Žalgiris]

OK, so what are those features? Would iPad running Windows 7 be a proper computer? Why? Why not? Is PS3 running Linux a proper computer? Why? Why not? What does the iPad need in order to be considered a computer? An USB-port? Why? Mac OS X? Why?

How do we define what "computer" is? Capability to multitask? My C64 could not multitask, so it was not a proper computer? Ability to add peripherals? You can do that with the iPad. What are the features we are looking for here? Anyone?

Fact is that iPad is replacing traditional computer for many people. If it's not a computer, then how could it replace a computer?

He is just stuck in 90'.

 

[ValSalva]

If the iPad is a mobile PC then why did they exclude the iPod Touch or even the iPhone? They all run the same OS and do the same things. These should be considered mobile PCs if the iPad is considered to be one.

 

[Digitalclips]

Before you folks rage...I own an iPad.

1)I love how this survey considers an iPad a mobile PC...but not an iPod Touch or an iPhone?...

2)And that an iPad is missing so many qualities of a laptop/netbook (camera, normal storage capacities, USB and other industry standard ports, ability to save files (other than picture, iTunes movies, and mp3s) on the unit, etc)...so the iPad really doesn't even compare to a traditional personal computer.

Surveys like this are useless. The iPad is a lovely device...and certainly not for everyone (example: people who already own an iPod Touch and/or iPhone and/or numerous traditional laptops). But to claim that Apple is in 3rd place worldwide because the survey is lumping an iPad into the mix is an injustice...the whole point of an iPad is that in its advertising and Jobs' speeches the iPad is NOT a traditional laptop/netbook.

What's next...comparing LCD monitors to printers?

I would point out by your own list of required features no PC manufactured during the 1980's and heck a good part of the 1990's would qualify as a PC either. However, in the end the 'proof of the pudding is in the eating' as they say. The volume of people that now use iPads to do so much indicates it is a 'personal computer', a rather different one I grant you, but a 'personal computer' for sure.

Also I'd point out many of us with MacBooks, MacBookPros, MacPros, multiple iPhones and iPods STILL have iPads since it is so different and fun.

Lastly, I rarely print anything now preferring to use the iPad or MacBookPro to see 'printed material' and even show clients. So yes, there is merit in comparing LCD monitors (or any other mobile screen design) to printers, certainly in the growing usage of the screen over the printer.

 

[Digitalclips]

If the iPad is a mobile PC then why did they exclude the iPod Touch or even the iPhone? They all run the same OS and do the same things. These should be considered mobile PCs if the iPad is considered to be one.

By modern standards the iPhone and iPod are a sub set rather than the real thing IMHO. The small size makes them such to me. Yet it's funny to think the iPhone is way more powerful as an actual computer than any PC made during the first half of the PC years.

 

[archipellago]

Doesn't mean it isn't one.

Sony actually went to the EU court to try and get PS3 classed as a 'personal computer' (tax dodge) but were unsuccessful.

so legally, PS3 isn't a computer.

iPad isn't a computer either by any standards as it cannot function as a standalone device.

Its good for media viewing.... and thats about it!

 

[Žalgiris]

iPad isn't a computer either by any standards as it cannot function as a standalone device.

Lets hear those "any standards" again. It's too funny.

 

[Evangelion]

iPad isn't a computer either by any standards as it cannot function as a standalone device.

Um, yes it can.

Its good for media viewing.... and thats about it!

You are wrong

(last link in Finnish, sorry).

 

[Popeye206]

Sony actually went to the EU court to try and get PS3 classed as a 'personal computer' (tax dodge) but were unsuccessful.

so legally, PS3 isn't a computer.

iPad isn't a computer either by any standards as it cannot function as a standalone device.

Its good for media viewing.... and thats about it!

Huh?

Sorry... I couldn't disagree more.

The PS3 does have a processor, but it's primary function is very focused... play games. Last time I checked, you could do much more than view media or play games on an iPad. Just because the iPad requires an interface to manage applications and download content does not disqualify it. Untethered, it operates just fine on it's own.

 

[BaldiMac]

If the iPad is a mobile PC then why did they exclude the iPod Touch or even the iPhone? They all run the same OS and do the same things. These should be considered mobile PCs if the iPad is considered to be one.

Again, this study is a market analysis. The iPad competes with laptops within the market being analyzed. The iPhone and iPod touch do not.

 

[Žalgiris]

Huh?

Sorry... I couldn't disagree more.

The PS3 does have a processor, but it's primary function is very focused... play games. Last time I checked, you could do much more than view media or play games on an iPad. Just because the iPad requires an interface to manage applications and download content does not disqualify it. Untethered, it operates just fine on it's own.

Last time i checked it has App Store and iTunes Store, so even in that front it's covered. He just tries hard to believe that iPad is just a big iPod. Too bad he is wrong.

 

[archipellago]

Um, yes it can.



You are wrong

(last link in Finnish, sorry).

my iPad needed 'activating' with iTunes before using, was yours different?



the real world says hi...

try creating a good powerpoint or excel sheet with VB and macros quickly on one.

compare it to a desktop made version for quality and speed... (and compatibility)

these are tasks that millions need to do everyday, which are far easier and quicker to do with a 'normal' machine.

heck, try using expedia quickly with an iPad..... painful!!

I have one its a good device but it has very limited functionality outside of media consuming.

 

[archipellago]

Last time i checked it has App Store and iTunes Store, so even in that front it's covered. He just tries hard to believe that iPad is just a big iPod. Too bad he is wrong.

it is a big iPod...

 

[ericinboston]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_computer

Please read before posting your silly definitions of what you think a PC is.
An iPad is definitely a PC, and so is any other tablet computer.

Not sure who/what Somtaaw is referring to...use the Quote button, buddy.

Me, and a lot of people here, clearly know what the definition of a Personal Computer is...I believe what Somtaaw is misunderstanding is that people don't have a beef that a "personal computer" survey was taken...the beef is that numerous items were excluded (as in my point that if you're going to include the iPad, you really should include the Touch and/or iPhone).

 

[Žalgiris]

my iPad needed 'activating' with iTunes before using, was yours different?

For now.

I have one its a good device but it has very limited functionality outside of media consuming.

Funny.

 

[Evangelion]

my iPad needed 'activating' with iTunes before using, was yours different?

You can have it activated in the store. Once it's been activated, you can use it without ever hooking it up to a computer.

try creating a good powerpoint or excel sheet with VB and macros quickly on one.

Oh, I didn't realize that PowerPoint, VB and macros are required in order for device to be called a "computer" ... I guess my C64 was not a computer then, since it did not have those.

iPad has Pages, Numbers and Keynote, why don't those count? And you claimed that iPad can only be used for consuming media. I showed that you are utterly, 100% wrong. Go on, be a man and admit it.

compare it to a desktop made version for quality and speed... (and compatibility)

Those have nothing to do with the definition of "computer".

these are tasks that millions need to do everyday, which are far easier and quicker to do with a 'normal' machine.

So, I guess laptops are not real computers either, since desktops are faster, and they have better keyboards, pointing-devices, more RAM, more expansion-slots....

heck, try using expedia quickly with an iPad..... painful!!

Why don't you go use expedia right now, and stop wasting our time with your inane comments? Because by jove, you are making no sense!

 

[Žalgiris]

it is a big iPod...

And mokey is underdeveloped human. Again you are too funny.

 

[ericinboston]

The only problem I see with this survey is that they call the product category "mobile PCs". The whole point of the iPad is that it's not a PC but something else.

If,on the other hand, they had called the product category "mobile computers" I would have found it hard to argue why the iPad shouldn't be included in that category.
I mean, it's hard to argue that it isn't mobile, or that it isn't a computer, right?

Furthermore I think you put too much importance on how the OS of these different devices work, when you deem the iPad out of category. The fact that iOS works differently than say Windows doesn't really matter here. It's what people use them for that matters. In that regard I think you'll find that people use their iPads for pretty much the same kind of "light" computer tasks that they'd otherwise have used a netbook for. So why shouldn't the iPad be in the same category as netbooks when comparing marketshare? It is a mobile computer after all.

You misunderstood what I was saying...I was simply stating that the survey considers and iPad a mobile PC but DOES NOT consider an iPhone or Touch when the features between the iPad, iPhone, and Touch are 90% the same. AND...since the features between a traditional personal computer and iPad are clearly nowhere near 90% (iPad is touchscreen, closed app environment, lack of standard ports, etc) then how can a survey compare apples to oranges but not apples to apples? No pun intended but the phrase clearly works here.

 

[BaldiMac]

my iPad needed 'activating' with iTunes before using, was yours different?

Windows needs to be activated by another computer as well. An iPad can be activated before you leave the Apple store and never interact with another computer again. What does any of this have to do with whether it competes in the same market as laptops?

 

[Popeye206]

my iPad needed 'activating' with iTunes before using, was yours different?

the real world says hi...

try creating a good powerpoint or excel sheet with VB and macros quickly on one.

compare it to a desktop made version for quality and speed... (and compatibility)

these are tasks that millions need to do everyday, which are far easier and quicker to do with a 'normal' machine.

heck, try using expedia quickly with an iPad..... painful!!

I have one its a good device but it has very limited functionality outside of media consuming.

Sorry... you focus too much on what it does not do and not what it does. Sorry... you're still wrong and activating is not a qualification. When you started your new Mac, didn't you have to go through some set up? Maybe that's not a computer either?

 

[ericinboston]

my iPad needed 'activating' with iTunes before using, was yours different?

That is an excellent point. How can 1 "pc" be defined (as in this survey an iPad) as a "pc" when it relies on a "pc" to activate it?!

That point really annoys the ____ out of me...thankfully I had an 8 year old WINDOWS PC that would activate it because my 3 YEAR OLD MAC would not! Yup...you read that right...my 3 year old Mac would not support iTunes 10 because I didn't have the latest Mac OS...so Apple wants me to upgrade my entire _____ing Mac just so I can activate my new iPad?! Totally lame. 100% lame. Not to mention the risk of the upgrade...new "features" I do not want, new versions of iLife that I do not want, risk of corruption/data loss during migration/upgrade. Again, lame.

 

[ericinboston]

Windows needs to be activated by another computer as well. An iPad can be activated before you leave the Apple store and never interact with another computer again. What does any of this have to do with whether it competes in the same market as laptops?

And what about all the people that do not buy an iPad via the store or get one as a gift? Now they have to DRIVE to an Apple store to use the damn thing?!

And there is a big difference between being able to use Windows (name your flavor as your broad generalization is of no help) for 30+ days before "activation" and powering on your iPad for the first time and it DEMANDS to be connected to a computer before anything will work...heck, there aren't even any icons or anything...just a logo demanding to connect to iTunes. Thanks, Apple!

 

[BaldiMac]

You misunderstood what I was saying...I was simply stating that the survey considers and iPad a mobile PC but DOES NOT consider an iPhone or Touch when the features between the iPad, iPhone, and Touch are 90% the same. AND...since the features between a traditional personal computer and iPad are clearly nowhere near 90% (iPad is touchscreen, closed app environment, lack of standard ports, etc) then how can a survey compare apples to oranges but not apples to apples? No pun intended but the phrase clearly works here.

It is not a survey. It is a market analysis. iPads compete in the same market as laptops. The iPhone and iPod touch do not.

 

[Evangelion]

That is an excellent point. How can 1 "pc" be defined (as in this survey an iPad) as a "pc" when it relies on a "pc" to activate it?!

read my lips: so.... frigging.... what? What does that have to do whether it's a computer or not? If you have it activated in the store, you can then use the device without even owning a computer.

That point really annoys the ____ out of me...thankfully I had an 8 year old WINDOWS PC that would activate it because my 3 YEAR OLD MAC would not! Yup...you read that right...my 3 year old Mac would not support iTunes 10 because I didn't have the latest Mac OS...so Apple wants me to upgrade my entire _____ing Mac just so I can activate my new iPad?! Totally lame. 100% lame. Not to mention the risk of the upgrade...new "features" I do not want, new versions of iLife that I do not want, risk of corruption/data loss during migration/upgrade. Again, lame.

I'm calling bullcrap on this. Activating iPad requires Mac OS X 10.5.8. OS X 10.5 require a Mac with at least 867Mhz G4. Your 3 year old Mac fits those requirements just fine.

Quicksilver Powermac G4 released in 2001 is enough to run 10.5! The first PowerBook to support 10.5 was released in 2002!

In short: you are utterly full of crap, and I'm calling you out on this!