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That's a common misreading of what Jobs said.

iOS was developed for the phone first.

As Jobs explained, there was a simple UI demo done on a touch device originally designed to be a keyboard input prototype. That demo gave him the idea to go all touch on the iPhone. That's what he meant by "the tablet came first".

Since we know that during summer/fall 2005, the first iPhone UI concepts were done using iPods with wheels, his touch "eureka" moment probably came in late 2005, with the UI demo almost certainly done under OSX.

According to all known histories, the actual creation of iOS didn't begin until 2006. Prior to that, some at Apple were still proposing using Linux for the phone OS.

But he then said after how well it would work on the phone, they put the tablet project on the shelf and focused on the phone as it was more important. Which means it was a tablet and no just a touch screen device in the beginning.
 
I own both the iPad and the Xoom - both do some things very well, and both do some things horribly.

I am starting to wean myself off of iOS, though. The iPad served me well as a "starter" tablet, but I constantly find myself wanting it to do more or different things, which is something Android (not the Xoom specifically, but Android as a whole) does offer.

To each his own, you know?
 
I own both the iPad and the Xoom - both do some things very well, and both do some things horribly.

I am starting to wean myself off of iOS, though. The iPad served me well as a "starter" tablet, but I constantly find myself wanting it to do more or different things, which is something Android (not the Xoom specifically, but Android as a whole) does offer.

To each his own, you know?

This is an excellent point. I still recommend the iPad to my parents, family and friends who are new to the tablet market. For those of my friends who are techy and into computers/technology, the XOOM is much more enjoyable.

This is why having competition is good. If Jobs had his way we'd all be stuck with iPads whether we wanted them or not.
 
What a joke

I purchased a Xoom over the weekend it's a great device, a little heavy, but very awesome for its first pass. I used to own an iPad 1, gave it away, didn't want an iPad 2. Why do I need two devices of the same OS where the UI was designed for the iPhone (smaller device) to begin with? I love the versatility of honeycomb, widgets are phenomenal on a large tablet screen. Everything is great about the interface so far, although there are a few things here and there which make no sense, but I'm sure they'll fix that. I ran into some bugs, called Moto support, they troubleshooted with me, fixed it and were really cool about it. As far as hardware, the materials are great, but definitely Motorola needs to learn a thing or two about button placement. They put the sleep/wakeup button on the back of the device. I used to like to hit the home button on the iPad to wake it up and do stuff (while I was having a bowl of cereal for example), with the Xoom I can't do that, I HAVE to pick up the device. Another interface/hardware awkwardness are the volume buttons and I cannot find a way to change volume within the device itself, unless I press the volume hardware buttons a window will popup.

Other than that, I can live with all this, and the device is extremely awesome and a fresh feeling of a new UI the way it should be done for a tablet.


You list ONE issue with the iPad, that it looks too much like the iPhone, and then go on to a laundry list of issues on the Xoom that culminates in a tech support call and THAT is your preferred device?

Rock on winner. I have a bridge I want to sell you.
 
That's what I've gone for, Wifi only. With the wireless hotspot feature of the Nexus S, a 3G version seemed pointless for me.

I thought the same thing, until i bought my 3g Xoom. Then i felt finally freedom! I have a rooted EVO and with my ipad 1 I would tether all the time. Take my phone out, start wireless tether, put my phone back, kill my phone battery.. rinse and repeat.

Now I dont have to kill my phone battery tethering, nor do I have to deal with the hassle of enabling tether on my phone all the time.
 
But he then said after how well it would work on the phone, they put the tablet project on the shelf and focused on the phone as it was more important. Which means it was a tablet and no just a touch screen device in the beginning.

yes, seems it was this way:

1. tablet concept/prototype
2. use ideas from that tablet concept to create iOS/iPhone
3. continue development for tablet

Apple also realized that it is easier to market a smart phone first which than makes it easier to market a tablet build on the same OS. iOS/iPhone was never a independent development but strongly tied to the tablet development.
 
You list ONE issue with the iPad, that it looks too much like the iPhone, and then go on to a laundry list of issues on the Xoom that culminates in a tech support call and THAT is your preferred device?

Rock on winner. I have a bridge I want to sell you.

If you want I can give you a laundry list of things wrong with the ipad.. it will surely be longer than my xoom cons?
 
well...

It's nice for Apple to have high iPad2 sales, and I think that's great. It's too bad the Xoom isn't selling more, although 100k isn't too terrible right out of the gate.

I've seen and hefted a Xoom, and you know what? It's a pretty decent piece of gear. Good job Moto! From a hardware perspective I liked it every bit as much as the iPad2. In my opinion, its only downfall is Android. For me, Android is not intuitive at all. I can deal with that when it comes to traditional computers, but I don't have time to waste with that sort of nonsense on an appliance - I want it to just work, and that's what Apple provides.
 
Costco supplies not moving

I've been going to my local Costco for the last month and they have a display kiosk on the floor with cards for sales and pick-up of the Xoom. During that time, the number of cards on the display have not dropped significantly and the majority of customers simply walk past it without looking. In fact, during my visits I've only seen one person (other than myself) take a serious look at the display's information. He walked away without taking a card.

This is why I'm far more interested in real sales numbers and not just units shipped into the market. The display holds some 100 cards and I'm willing to bet they haven't sold ten in a month.
 
:apple:

That's all I have to say.

Really? Are sales numbers what dictates one product is better than the other?

I'm not saying the Xoom is better (I haven't used one) but a reading of the posts on this thread would suggest that sales number indicate that one product is better than the other.
 
I remember when I was a kid and I asked my father for a toy and he came with a different one... I was the saddest kid on earth.

I believe that who ever asked for an iPad and got a Motorola would feel the same.

(Dad, I love you)
 
It's nice for Apple to have high iPad2 sales, and I think that's great. It's too bad the Xoom isn't selling more, although 100k isn't too terrible right out of the gate.

I've seen and hefted a Xoom, and you know what? It's a pretty decent piece of gear. Good job Moto! From a hardware perspective I liked it every bit as much as the iPad2. In my opinion, its only downfall is Android. For me, Android is not intuitive at all. I can deal with that when it comes to traditional computers, but I don't have time to waste with that sort of nonsense on an appliance - I want it to just work, and that's what Apple provides.

Actually, 100,000 is pretty bad. I think it was released sometime in late Feb. the iPad 2 sold 300,000 in the first weekend.

Regardless, I think competition is good. If the XOOM had a WiFi only @ $400, it's make a huge dent. Plus, I've read that Honeycomb is less than polished, so I think that, along with a high price tag has some people turned off...

That's just my opinion though..and we all know what opinion's are like...lol
 
I remember when I was a kid and I asked my father for a toy and he came with a different one... I was the saddest kid on earth.

I believe that who ever asked for an iPad and got a Motorola would feel the same.

(Dad, I love you)

Funny, and true.

By the same token, if I explicitly told my wife I wanted a Xoom, Playbook, Tab 10.1 and she came home with an iPad, I wouldn't be the saddest kid on earth, but I do know that I'd be returning it for something I want.

Of course, I also hate it when she brings me home a cheeseburger when I wanted a hamburger.
 
I own both the iPad and the Xoom - both do some things very well, and both do some things horribly.

I am starting to wean myself off of iOS, though. The iPad served me well as a "starter" tablet, but I constantly find myself wanting it to do more or different things, which is something Android (not the Xoom specifically, but Android as a whole) does offer.

To each his own, you know?

To each his one, yes; but exactly what does Android offer as a platform than iOS doesn't--and I don't mean multiple download sources. What "... more or different things..." are you doing on Android that can't be done on iOS?
 
Really? Are sales numbers what dictates one product is better than the other?

I'm not saying the Xoom is better (I haven't used one) but a reading of the posts on this thread would suggest that sales number indicate that one product is better than the other.

In that case, Windows is obviously the best OS on the planet, by a magnitude of 10.
 
Funny, and true.

By the same token, if I explicitly told my wife I wanted a Xoom, Playbook, Tab 10.1 and she came home with an iPad, I wouldn't be the saddest kid on earth, but I do know that I'd be returning it for something I want.

Of course, I also hate it when she brings me home a cheeseburger when I wanted a hamburger.

Yeesh dude, at least your wife cares enough to do nice things for you. :(
 
ahem

the people want a ipad, not a tablet.

same when they want a ipod, not a mp3 player.




Basic marketing there folks.
 
But he then said after how well it would work on the phone, they put the tablet project on the shelf and focused on the phone as it was more important. Which means it was a tablet and no just a touch screen device in the beginning.

Sure, it could've been a full tablet. It just didn't have iOS, is my point.

People misremember a lot. You know how it goes: a story always gets better as time goes by :)

For example, in the later tablet version we are told that seeing kinetic scrolling on the demo made him want for Apple to build a touch phone:

“I had this idea about having a glass display, a multitouch display you could type on with your fingers. I asked our folks: could we come up with a multitouch display that we could type on? And six months later, they came back with this prototype display. And I gave it to one of our really brilliant UI guys and he called me back a few weeks later and had intertial scrolling working and I thought, ‘my God, we can build a phone with this!’ So we put the tablet on the shelf… and we went to work on the iPhone.”

Yet, years before in one of the first iPhone articles in 2007, we were told that kinetic scrolling came later on:

"At one point, Mr. Jobs got a call from one of the iPhone engineers with an idea: Why not allow iPhone users to navigate through both song collections and contacts stored on the device by simply flicking their fingers up and down across the surface of the touch-screen? The engineer gave Mr. Jobs a demonstration of the technology, and the Apple chief executive signed off on it immediately, according to a person familiar with the process."

I'd love one day for a definitive history to come out, so we can know the full timing, and also credit those unsung engineers who actually invented it all.
 
I hope that number keeps rising; we need competition to not let Apple rest on it's laurels.

John Gruber once (correctly) stated (or maybe quoted someone else) that Apple's greatest competitor is Apple. Jobs & Co. have never been keen on flipping on the cruise control when they have a successful product (unlike, say, Microsoft).

Do you honestly believe that the XOOM is pushing Apple to do better? Please.
 
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