Tablet Manufacturers Reevaluating Pricing Options in Light of iPad Announcement?

[DesignerOnMac]

Well have a seat.

Are you seated yet ? You could stand up I suppose. While holding your laptop *cough*

I'm in my office at an important meeting and I have some great stuff to show the board. Thing is I don't want to rent a projector. I want to impress the CEO or the director.

I have on my iPad a keynote presentation I made at home and it's on my iPad.

I walk over to the big guy and hand him the iPad with the presentation on it.

He flips through it looking at various concepts and prices. He likes what he sees. He decides. OK. We will do this project. Oh. by the way "Bob" how much are those things ? I want one.
---------------------------------------

Another person is walking around campus and that person has been hauling around books for 3 years and is tired of it.
He gets an iPad. Purchases all those books and has them on one device that only weighs a pound instead 15 pounds like with his books. He's a happy camper now.

--------------------------------------

Now the good part.

YOU. Yes you! are walking around the IT center and you find a stack that has some clunky non working part in it. What do you do ? Go back to your office and look it up in the catalog? Nope. You open the iPad and look at the inventory stats that are stored dynamically on the iPad because it will update using wifi.
You then select the device you need and see it's low on stock. Wow you need to buy more.

Open the Flash free browser and go to the place you buy your goods at and order 3. Just in case.

You just did that standing next to the one that bit the dust.

----------------------------------------

I'm at home sitting on the couch and I want to listen to some music so I put the iPad on my lap. Note it has no physical keyboard so it fits quit nice. Not all bunched up like a laptop would be if it were sitting on your lap.

I'm now listening to my favorite. Grateful Dead. Live at the Tweeter center.

Now I know this thing doesn't do multi-tasking right?. But I decide I want to flip through a spreadsheet I've been working on. so I open Numbers and start checking it out. Oh. btw. The music is still playing.

hmm.. These numbers don't look right so I lean back on the couch comfortably and start using the very nice virtual keyboard and touch to change some of the numbers.
There we go. All fixed. I'm still listening to the GD btw.

hmm.. I wonder if those photo's I took are still there. I go into Photos and look around. They aren't there. So. What do I do ?

I think back to my mac works on the iPad.Lets see.

I look for shared computers in the settings ( which wasn't shown BTW. wonder why.hmm. ) and I find my main computer and it has the pics I needed so I transfer them from my main computer to my iPad. There. I now have them to show to a client tomorrow.
-------------------------------------------------
Understand the "focus" yet ?

The "focus" is YOU. The Person being able to comfortably do work and play at the same time without having to get up after a long hard day and walk around looking for stuff.

There's a lot more examples I could use but I know you're going to come back with some snappy anti- iPad remark so I'll stop.

Nice scenarios, great job!

Haven't been to the Tweeter Center in years. Since Tweeter went out of business, is it still called that?

 

[RawBert]

I'm sure most of us believed the $1000 iPad rumors/speculation could have easily been true. Although few of us would have liked that.

But, perhaps it was Apple that purposely had this speculation develop - just to shock us with a price that was half of that. I certainly was.

 

[ungraphic]

For those bitching that iPad doesn't do this and doesn't do that, all I have to say is you weren't even on the dance card when this product in development.

Apple goal was making a very nice, casual on the go and home computer about the side of a clipboard. They did it. What really matters is how well is sells two to three months from now and not what people on line bitch about

Thats such a generic way of describing the iPhad. I once had a netbook, it too was nice, casual and actually smaller than a clipboard. It also came with a tactile keyboard, a fully operational OS of *my* choice, allowed me to run as many tasks as RAM would allow (meaning, lots)....best of all, the browsers, also of my choice ran flash without a hitch.

And to top it off, netbooks cost half the price.

Apple did *nothing* to improve upon this market, they just took their previous success of simplifying products by inflating an iPhone and restricting it more than simplifying it. This is why its a failure now, and it will be a failure when it lands (and sits) on store shelves.

 

[DesignerOnMac]

Exactly. My reply to all those who don't understand who would want the iPad, is that to tell you the truth, I don't understand who would want the iPod Touch.

To me, the Ipod touch is not a great iPod. The nano or classic are better. And it's not a great internet device because it lacks constant wireless. Finally, while it can be a cool mobile gaming device, many games now really need the web too, so you're back to the previous point. All this is of course addressed by the iPhone.

And yet, iPod touches fly off the shelf. Go figure.

So what about the iPad. It does everything the iPod touch does, except better in every way except in portability. That's an interesting tradeoff, and I believe given the size of the iPod touch market, the iPad will have a similar share.

This is only the beginning. Missing hardware features will be rolled out in the future, but that's just noise. Apple does have its work cut out though to make this a true success in market creation and not just yet another iPod. They need to work much more on the "print" media side, including magazines. Relying on apps is lazy and will eventually come back to bite them when someone else does it better. They need to work towards the Courier, it needs to be more integrated, not just an oddball collection of apps. I agree that to get started, the app store is the way to go. But they need to keep integrating and innovating the product, otherwise the iPad will just settle into the iPod lineup and take its place along side the nano and touch, rather than being a new product category itself.

And yes, I agree that comparisons to netbooks is simply incorrect, and a mistake on Apple's part. This does not replace a netbook. They needed to make that clear. It's not the same thing. But it may do most of what some people are buying netbooks for. What people do with it and what it can do are different things.

I watched the entire keynote, and I might have missed it, but I never felt that this was or was going to be a better netbook.

 

[TMay]

I'll go as far as to say that even Apple doesn't have much confidence in the product.

Bold statement that.

60 days.

Egg meet face.

 

[*LTD*]

Thats such a generic way of describing the iPhad. I once had a netbook, it too was nice, casual and actually smaller than a clipboard. It also came with a tactile keyboard, a fully operational OS of *my* choice, allowed me to run as many tasks as RAM would allow (meaning, lots)....best of all, the browsers, also of my choice ran flash without a hitch.

And to top it off, netbooks cost half the price.

Apple did *nothing* to improve upon this market, they just took their previous success of simplifying products by inflating an iPhone and restricting it more than simplifying it. This is why its a failure now, and it will be a failure when it lands (and sits) on store shelves.

The first advantage of the iPad is that it isn't a typical netbook, meaning the interface doesn't suck ass and the hardware doesn't look like crap.

You don't get it, do you. No worries, there's a really big company a short drive from Seattle that just doesn't get it, either.

 

[Eidorian]

The first advantage of the iPad is that it isn't a typical netbook, meaning the interface doesn't suck ass and the hardware doesn't look like crap.

Do we need to play the facts vs. opinions game again?

Bold statement that.

60 days.

Egg meet face.

I suspected as much. I'm not saying it's a disaster. It's just that Apple knows how the MacBook Air and Apple TV ended up. I'm wondering if Apple was expecting the response they got.

It's a lot of pain to take for a product that's considered a gamble. As I've mentioned before my views are still evolving. If you want to insult me feel free to bookmark the post and wave it at me.

The otherwise it's somewhat depressing that my Super iPod Touch and lack of focus device comments turned out true.

 

[wizard]

Interesting some of the negativity.

It is interesting to see people claim slack of focus for this device and then two responses down find another call the device to limited because of iPhone OS. In either case each is demonstrating a massive lack of imagination or ability to evaluate the limited facts we have.

First; one has to look at iPhone OS 3.2 as a transitional platform to keep us until a more fleshed out OS arrives. Even then 3.2 has been extended significantly to handle the big screen and the apps that allows. Even then iPhone OS is not a limiting factor to the extent that RAM and other hardware short comings of the Touch devices are. Once these are dealt with iPhone OS should become much more interesting.

As to the ignorant suggestion that the device lacks focus please consider a Kindle if you want focus. Seriously the reason I purchased an iPhone was it's ability to run apps like a mini computer. The reason I don't have a Kindle is that it only does one thing making it very expensive. The iPad on the otherhand apparently does many things well right out of the box, plus it runs a huge array of apps. That means we do not have a narrow focus to deal with but the freedom of a wider ranging platform.

As to the dick heads scared of the name all I can say is grow up. The word pad is used everyday to describe numerous things , time to demonstrate at least a bit of maturity. In many ways the name is fitting as it describes the electronic replacement for a pad of paper.

Will it be successful. Well if the article is correct I think it is a success already. That is if the low price is having asian manufactures rethinking pricing, the debut has been successful. Let's face it iPad represents a new approach to computing --- scratch that, to using E-Mail and the web. In other words it is not a device to replace a computer but a device to deliver services.

As to business use I think people are grossly underestimating it's appeal. I could see many businesses putting the iPad to use in focused ways. The one way it might have trouble is with B to B web sites that use flash. Believe it or not some do. I'm really hoping Apple pulls it's head out of the sand here and considers supporting Flash. Not because there is anything wonderful about flash but rather that when you need it, you can't get work done without it.

The allusion to this being a version one device and that waiting for version two is smart makes sense. Hopefully Apple will use version two to correct a few problems with version one. The most glaring is the lack of flash space which needs to be more than doubled. To a lesser extent it needs a SD card slot built in and an USB port. Modest changes that would certainly make for a more interesting, capable platform. Oh no using a dongle will not be good enough.

Many have claimed that you need a PC to own one of these. I'm not sure how much truth there is in that. It looks like one could get by find with intermittant access to a PC. In the long term I see it as in Apples best interest to make iPad as independant as possible. But I also have to acknowledge that the lack of an SD slot or other boot device is an issue. In any event the complete back up that one gets with iPhone is very appealing.

Will I buy? That is a good question. I could see myself going that route if I can keep my expenses relatively close to todays. That would mean dropping the iPhones data plan. I would do that only if I could keep the contacts and other syncables synced across all hardware I own.

Dave

 

[*LTD*]

Do we need to play the facts vs. opinions game again?

The more these glowing reviews roll in, the sillier the knee-jerk reactions of the naysayers seem.

The iPad hasn't even hit the shelves, yet it's already making the unimaginative also-rans reevaluate their entire game. They expect to get absolutely trashed by Apple. And for once, they're absolutely right.



http://blogs.forbes.com/velocity/2010/01/29/hands-on-with-apples-giant-ipod-touch/

Hands On With Apple's iPad
January 29, 2010 - 8:30 am
Brian Caulfield

Apple Chief Steve Jobs says using the iPad is like "holding the Internet in your hand." Blogger MG Siegler gushes it's like "holding the future." The first statement is ridiculous. The second is impossible.

No, it feels like holding a one-and-a-half-pound iPod touch. Or being really tiny and holding a regular iPod touch. Or being 15-feet tall and using Microsoft's table computer. Weird part: pick it up and play with it and the iPad works.

Does the gigantic iPod iPad have USB ports? No. Flash support? No. HDMI output? No. SD Card slot? No. Can it run several different third-party apps at once? No.

Will you ever need to clean the registry and defragment the hard drive? No.

The iPad sounds silly if you're shopping based on features and specifications. So Apple will have to get the device in front of as many people as possible. Apple's stores will give it that opportunity.

So what will these shoppers encounter? Touch the home button and it turns on. Immediately. Select an application and it starts. Instantly. If the 9.7-inch screen is what sets this apart from an iPod, less waiting is what sets the iPad apart from a netbook or a laptop. Less is more.

The software Apple has created for the iPad builds on these two qualities: speed and screen size. Open up the phone's iPad's photo application and you can instantly fill the screen with an image, swipe to the next picture, or pinch on a stack of photos to check them out. Same goes for every other application Apple has built for the phone that I had a chance to try, whether it's a book reader or a web browser. Playing with this machine is like eating Doritos. It's hard to stop.

Jobs' secret is that he's built a software company that makes hardware. The screen just provides a bigger window for that software. The 1 Ghz processor Apple has built for it is fast enough to make sure nothing gets in the way.

Caveat: I only had a few minutes with the machine. That's just enough time to poke at some apps and pound on the optional keyboard accessory, hardly a thorough test. I'd really like to spend some time with Apple's iWork productivity suite for the iPad, see how it works with web applications such as Google Docs, and loan the device to a 9-year-old boy or a chimpanzee to see what they do with it.

It's already plain, however, that some people will never like this machine. A pair of protesters from the Free Software Foundation holding a huge sign -- even bigger than the iPad -- outside Apple's event Wednesday had it right. When you purchase an iPad you're paying $499 for Apple to put its digital media store, software store, and digital book store in your face.

For some, that's a real problem. The rest of us own these general purpose machines we call 'personal computers' that let us do anything we have the wits to make them do. A so-called Ultra-Mobile PC (UMPC) with all the features the geeks say they want costs more than $1000... and it's a usability disaster.

Make a PC really small and it kind of sucks. Make an iPod really big, however, and it's kind of great.

 

[carmenodie]

True...I just am not going to sit here and come up with a 172-cell matrix of who is going to buy the iPad.

stop showing off!

 

[Eidorian]

The iPad hasn't even hit the shelves, yet it's already making the unimaginative also-rans reevaluate their entire game. They expect to get absolutely trashed by Apple. And for once, they're absolutely right.

iPad gets trashed by Apple's own existing products. You don't even need to go elsewhere. That's scary.

The propaganda war hasn't started but for the unwashed masses it seems like a confusing blip. I'll have to survey more people though.

Like I've said people aren't going to be filing their unemployment on their iPads.

 

[tdream]

Yet nobody accused Apple of copying HP...

Yeah they copied the HP slate. That's why everyone says it looks like a giant iphone.

 

[TMay]

Do we need to play the facts vs. opinions game again?

I suspected as much. I'm not saying it's a disaster. It's just that Apple knows how the MacBook Air and Apple TV ended up. I'm wondering if Apple was expecting the response they got.

It's a lot of pain to take for a product that's considered a gamble. As I've mentioned before my views are still evolving. If you want to insult me feel free to bookmark the post and wave it at me.

The otherwise it's somewhat depressing that my Super iPod Touch and lack of focus device comments turned out true.

Uhm, I think that "egg on face" statement went over your head.

I missed.

I blame myself.

 

[ashoka8350]

Just wait!

No way.

If I'm going out (dinner, date, whatever), I just need my keys, wallet and phone. There is no way I'd schlepp the iPad around; it doesn't fit in a pocket.

Just wait....man purses are coming...man purses are coming...every one will start carrying a leather purse...LOL

 

[tdmac]

I agree with what LTD posted and Wizard said above.

I also laugh at the knee jerk reaction to saying that they will wait for 2.0 and how this makes no sense. Listen we just got a gli,pse. 60 days is a ton of time to make tons of releases about features, partnerships and direction.

Also, isn't that Apple Server farm supposed to come online about the time the iPad is released. Hmmm.

 

[carmenodie]

the death of the netbook is imminent! Ok, that was a bit too dramatic.
See, I have blogged for weeks about the them cheap, crap netbooks. I have told folks that they were nothing but a trick pony for the laptop guys. The traditional windows laptop has been over saturated in the market so a new device was needed to undercut it to fuel sells. The netbook arrived. Powered by them low powered atom chips and alike they started to sell like crack cookies.
Now here comes Apple, again(YEAH!) with a product that they control from the chips(DANG!) to the OS(FROM DAY ONE!) and the money(BA BA BA BILLIONS!) and talent to slay all their foes. You don't think Jobs and Co. mulled for years about how this device could and will dominate in every aspect business, school etc.? Yeah they did and with earnest.
This ain't some punk putting together a gaming rig(CRISIS CORE!) to satisfy them little game geeks for a few moments. No. This is a long term strategy for domination on a global scale.
I wish I could be a fly on the wall at the strategy meetings at Apple when they come up with possible solutions for schools. OMFG! I have goose bumps! For the medical community and the science community.

THIS IS A REVOLUTION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
All the haters get ready to get pawned homey. And all the naysayers in the tech game that sit and do nothing but chuck windows into a beige box...RIP. It was fun while it lasted.

 

[tdmac]

One more thing. The future is cloud computing. All companies are moving their applications and content online.

 

[ungraphic]

the death of the netbook is imminent! Ok, that was a bit too dramatic.
See, I have blogged for weeks about the them cheap, crap netbooks. I have told folks that they were nothing but a trick pony for the laptop guys. The traditional windows laptop has been over saturated in the market so a new device was needed to undercut it to fuel sells. The netbook arrived. Powered by them low powered atom chips and alike they started to sell like crack cookies.
Now here comes Apple, again(YEAH!) with a product that they control from the chips(DANG!) to the OS(FROM DAY ONE!) and the money(BA BA BA BILLIONS!) and talent to slay all their foes. You don't think Jobs and Co. mulled for years about how this device could and will dominate in every aspect business, school etc.? Yeah they did and with earnest.
This ain't some punk putting together a gaming rig(CRISIS CORE!) to satisfy them little game geeks for a few moments. No. This is a long term strategy for domination on a global scale.
I wish I could be a fly on the wall at the strategy meetings at Apple when they come up with possible solutions for schools. OMFG! I have goose bumps! For the medical community and the science community.

THIS IS A REVOLUTION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
All the haters get ready to get pawned homey. And all the naysayers in the tech game that sit and do nothing but chuck windows into a beige box...RIP. It was fun while it lasted.

Netbooks aren't going anywhere, even with the presence of the iPhad. I'd easily buy another, I just have no need for a laptop on the go. However, since all laptops perform very poorly compared to my mac pro, it doesnt matter which id get, performance wouldnt be an issue, therefor i wouldnt have a problem buying another netbook for basic applications at a VERY small size yet still have a complete system on the go (which is great for me as a photographer since I can load all my photos to a small laptop).

The iPhad has far too many restrictions and limitations. THATS a niche product, not the netbook.

 

[gwangung]

Apple did *nothing* to improve upon this market, they just took their previous success of simplifying products by inflating an iPhone and restricting it more than simplifying it.

Dude, that's why you're not making the big bucks.

Simplifying is HARD. Doing it without tossing out too much of what's wanted is a very hard thing to do. In many markets, simplifying and restricting is EXACTLY how you improve a product, by establishing a core competency first and then adding power later.

Apple has done EXACTLY this for over 25 years. And you haven't identified a single reason why it can't work here.

 

[ShiftyPig]

THIS IS A REVOLUTION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
All the haters get ready to get pawned homey. And all the naysayers in the tech game that sit and do nothing but chuck windows into a beige box...RIP. It was fun while it lasted.

You do realize the MS sells over $45 billion in JUST Windows, Windows Server, and Office in a year... right?

The arrogance of calling the iPad and its 2+ year old tech "magical" is enough for me to never buy one.

 

[leomac08]

The point of Apple as a company is to profit

Why don't you wish for those prices in one hand and crap in the other. Report back as to which fills up quicker.

A little bit mean! you wouldn't think apple would make more money if they're cheap? -_-

they wouldnt make any profit...a bit selfish also, from a consumer perspective.

I dont even think they would even break even... with 199 for the cost of the device + shipping + packaging + promotion...

SELFISH!? that's a first... Isn't customer service, and satisfaction always the #1 priority in business?

Do you know what the BOM costs are for an iPhone 3GS? About $180 (Google "iphone 3gs isuppli"). That just the raw parts, and doesn't include assembly, licensing fees/royalties, R&D costs, accessories, packaging, etc.

Presumably, the iPad costs a little more to make so your $199 pricing would be a loss for Apple.

As an AAPL shareholder, I am not interested in having Apple destroy their margins to entertain your fantasy.

well since your an AAPL shareholder you would know in economics you take risk to get more $$$. People who take risks can either fail or be victorious.

Should be ?

that's my opinion.

Those are iPod Touch prices, son!

I know.....Sir.

 

[Wampahoofus]

It's probably priced so cheap because its a cheap product. I think there was a report that the tablet cant run multiple programs at once. Why would anyone want a tablet that an only do one thing at a time?

 

[zacman]

I dont even think they would even break even... with 199 for the cost of the device + shipping + packaging + promotion...

The Freescale tablet design that was shown at CES starts at $199. Actually most tablets announced at the CES are between $199 and $499.

 

[vini-vidi-vici]

Wait till you touch one...

It's easy to sit here and rag on this or that... virtually none of the "naysayers" have actually used an iPad in the flesh. We only need food water and shelter... maybe medicine. People buy things because they want them. When you go to an Apple store, or borrow your friend's iPad, and have that rush of "wow this is pretty cool" hit you... you'll probably want one. That's exactly why/how I bought an iPod touch... It's the only Apple product I own, and I use it constantly. Do I want a "big iPod touch"? Are you kidding me? duh.

I know at least a dozen people at work here (high tech co.) who have iPod touches for the same reason I do... A very quick way to get e-mail, keep lists, have a few apps that relate to your hobbies, play silly games to waste time, play some music & podcasts, and look random stuff up on the internet - and it doesn't cost $70/month like an iPhone! WiFi is all over the place. The iPad will enable you to do all that. I envision using the iPad at home, when traveling (car, bus, plane), and sometimes at work. The rest of the time, I'll use the iPod touch, because I can put it in my pocket.

Also, people have joked that the iPad is an "iPod touch for old people". This is actually true. My 85 year old mother-in-law uses WebTV... yes, WebTV! because it's simple and just works. An iPad is a computer she could actually "use"... and it'd save her money too. All she does is e-mail and sometimes web-surf. Why would she need a laptop, or desktop or netbook or anything else? There are millions of people like her.

The iPad is truly a computer for "the masses". I hope AT&T is ready...

 

[Peace]

Netbooks aren't going anywhere, even with the presence of the iPhad. I'd easily buy another, I just have no need for a laptop on the go.

ummm..Aren't netbooks and laptops designed for "on the go" ?

It's probably priced so cheap because its a cheap product. I think there was a report that the tablet cant run multiple programs at once. Why would anyone want a tablet that an only do one thing at a time?

Probably for the same reason Apple has sold 15 million iPod Touches.