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iPad Expected to Maintain Position as Tablet Market Leader

Salacion said:
When it comes down to it, the iPad can replace your computer for basic things.
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Indeed. Basic things such as communication, viewing media, casual gaming, web, note taking, word processing, and spreadsheets. Essentially everything that 90% of the computer market does. The other people are tied to legacy ports and software (who will be indulged by niche players forever. You can still buy ISA cards, after all), use their computer professionally (and thus aren't or at least shouldn't be in the market for a netbook-priced computer), and a very small amount are enthusiasts.

There's a reason why Lenovo can only make $55 Million on $5.1 Billion in sales.
 
awmazz said:
The Newton was actually a (the only?) profitable division of Apple at the time so the decision wasn't a competitive or fiscal one.
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The number I heard on the street was that if you counted all its manufacturing NRE, R&D, marketing, and support expenses, the Newton product line was nearly a billion dollars in the hole. The subsequent R&D dollars and resources were far better spent on what eventually became the iPod.
 
Salacion said:
When it comes down to it, the iPad can replace your computer for basic things.

If it's a computer or if it's not doesn't really matter anyways..
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Wow, after all of that, way to back-peddle Salacion...

And I do apologize for my personal attacks, it's just that lately, what use to be a nice community of Apple lovers to share their experiences, has now turned into a troll-plagued Apple-bashing hate-fest. It just got me riled up... sorry.
 
Salacion said:
When it comes down to it, the iPad can replace your computer for basic things.

If it's a computer or if it's not doesn't really matter anyways..
Click to expand...

Arguing about the meaning of a word is pretty pointless. If you agree on a definition, there's nothing to argue about. And if you don't, you can't get to a resolution.

But, please, fix the spelling error in your signature. Or use a synonym.
 
Stella said:
If SJ's minions (Spelling ) decide an application shouldn't be on the iPad then it'll never appear, and thus, reducing what the user can do ( unless you of course you jail beak ).
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You're talking about a minority of geeks who want to mod their device. Apple got it right: they developed a computer that does what most people want it to do, and it does it simply. I have a friend in her 70s who was a technophobe, wouldn't touch a computer. She got an iPad and now e-mails constantly. Apple made a user-friendly device. That's the piece that other tech companies just don't get.
 
Liquorpuki said:
How about group them by their actual market, which is what the analysts in the article were doing?
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You seem to think that markets are actual things. Actual purchasers ignore these artificial categories, and, for instance, start buying cars instead of horses, PCs instead of minicomputers, and potentially iPads instead of other devices (netbooks? terminals? gameboys? whatever).
 
I will stick to the basic technical definition. If these two things are true, it is a computer.

1. is it built off of some kind of Turing derived instruction set.

2. Is it not currently running Windows or any other Microsoft OS.

If it can run Turing code and it is not running MS software it is a computer. If the device has run Windows code, it becomes a computer after the Windows code is unloaded. Thus a computer running Boot Camp can be both a computer and a door stop. A device running Linux or OS-X and Windows through visualization is half a computer.

Why is this hard to understand?
 
cvaldes said:
I tried this. I typed "is the ipod a computer" on the WolframAlpha app on my iPod touch.

WolframAlpha says "computer" is a monthly periodical published by IEEE.

Thus, the iPod is not a computer. QED

:D
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I am sure you can read the periodical on the iPad, thus the iPad is a computer.

:D
 
infowarfare said:
Wow, after all of that, way to back-peddle Salacion...

And I do apologize for my personal attacks, it's just that lately, what use to be a nice community of Apple lovers to share their experiences, has now turned into a troll-plagued Apple-bashing hate-fest. It just got me riled up... sorry.
Click to expand...

It's all good ;)

The thing is, I still have trouble seeing the iPad as a "computer", when the OS is fundamentally iOS. For me, it's not particularly useful when I have an iPhone, but others love it. The whole "computer" debate is pointless after all, as in the end, the iPad is a device with some great features.

And that's that.
 
firewood said:
You seem to think that markets are actual things. Actual purchasers ignore these artificial categories, and, for instance, start buying cars instead of horses, PCs instead of minicomputers, and potentially iPads instead of other devices (netbooks? terminals? gameboys? whatever).
Click to expand...

A market is the backbone of economics. And without any of its derivative concepts, such as market segments, market size and market share, nobody would even know that Apple leads the Tablet market at this point in time.

So I don't know what you mean when you call them artificial or imply they're useless.
 
Ipad is a perphrial. You need another computer to use it to its fullest, heck you need a computer to begin to USE it.
 
cvaldes said:
Some day you will learn that there are valid definitions to words that widely accepted by the general public, not just esoteric definitions that are espoused by geeks.
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Like that hack Noah Webster. :rolleyes:

The reason I use Macs is because I'm not "Joe". It's embarrassing to be the same species as some people. eg., what a stupid argument in this thread.
 
dgree03 said:
Yes they will be a leader until Android tabs start popping up, because I will switch in a heartbeat to a viable android tab!
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So what software will you run on it? The current Android software from third parties will not run on it unmodified and Google seems reluctant to include the Android marketplace on non-phone devices.
 
thedoctor said:
I have lots of non-Apple tech and gadgets but I find they get pushed to the back of the draw because they are not engaging enough .. even the cute Acer Aspire One netbook does not get the usage it deserves since the iPad came along! Fired it up today (it runs Ubuntu netbook remix and has run an EFI-based commercial OS before) and updated it and now its somewhat knackered (giving various errors and now the wifi has stopped working) .. so it needs a reinstall, sigh, so it will have to just go back in the cupboard until I have a spare day or so to fix it! Maybe Android 3 might be a good choice for it .. no only kidding, Darwin would be better :cool:
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Sure about that? Sounds about right from the rest of your comment.
 
The problem with "the market" is that they are now just playing catch up, not (as Steve likes to quote Gretzky) skate where the puck is going to be. By the time the bigger players have something fairly competitive (read: not as good, but cheaper), Apple will have a far superior Version 2 at an even lower price point.
 
cvaldes said:
Some day you will learn that there are valid definitions to words that widely accepted by the general public, not just esoteric definitions that are espoused by geeks.
Click to expand...

The general public also widely accepts a lot of things that just aren't true, or are only half-truths. Geeks as well sometimes agree with things that aren't supported by the latest research in science and engineering. I'll go by the majority opinion of experts in their field of expertise. What do your university's computer science and computer history textbooks say?
 
JGowan said:
The problem with "the market" is that they are now just playing catch up, not (as Steve likes to quote Gretzky) skate where the puck is going to be. By the time the bigger players have something fairly competitive (read: not as good, but cheaper), Apple will have a far superior Version 2 at an even lower price point.
Click to expand...

The problem is 4 months back, there was barely a market to catch up to.

Apple tends to blow up markets and make them immensely profitable - mp3 players, smartphones, and now tablets
 
firewood said:
The general public also widely accepts a lot of things that just aren't true, or are only half-truths. Geeks as well sometimes agree with things that aren't supported by the latest research in science and engineering. I'll go by the majority opinion of experts in their field of expertise. What do your university's computer science and computer history textbooks say?
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Nah, I'll go by the company who manufactured the device in question, a company that employs many engineers and computer scientists.

Not a computer. But it is magical!

:) :p :D

P.S., remember that I already consulted WolframAlpha! lol
 
cvaldes said:
Nah, I'll go by the company who manufactured the device in question, a company that employs many engineers and computer scientists.
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And ignoring marketing spin, have you actually talked to engineers and computer scientists inside that company about what the device in question really is? They seem to be answering a lot of basic computer software and computer networking questions on the iOS Developer support boards.
 
iPad is not a tablet

It lacks the basal tablet function of being able to hand scribe onto the screen! Until this feature is implemented you can hardly compare it to real functioning tablet computers.
 
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