Tablet Manufacturers Reevaluating Pricing Options in Light of iPad Announcement?

[theBB]

Exactly. I thoroughly expect that by next holiday shopping season, there will be Win7 tablet devices that take a dump on the iPad.

Using the same operating system and just replacing the mouse with a stylus (or finger) will not lead to success. There were many smartphones before iPhone, they never became that popular. If you think it is only because of marketing, you are way too geeky to see beyond a feature matrix. Hardware is only part of the puzzle, interface and software are in some ways more important. Whether iPad gets us there is another question, but touchscreen "laptops" will be a lot more common in the near future. If any company wants to get there, they need an appropriate operating system for it. Unfortunately, there are not that many alternatives out there, yet.

 

[MWPULSE]

Add a Camera and Video Conferencing functions
Add USB ports and 9-1 card Reader
Add XP or similar OS so we can use it like a computer rather than a peripheral
Add the Video Port or I/O so I can hook it up to my TV or use it as a touch screen monitor for my computer.
Add a pressure sensitive stylus for us artists out there (Wacom can do it, why not Apple?)

If its a bit more bulky, who cares! Its going to do everything a computer should rather than be a 10" 1.5lb magazine on your coffee table (which if you believe the hype will also be a touch screen device)

Sorry but I'm not sold on this as something that will survive long term in the way people are going. Cool for bus rides for students but they need the function of a laptop OS, not an iPhone and I can't see someone carrying a iPad & Laptop as much as I can see a iPod Touch or Iphone & Laptop. I may look into it if some specific apps come out that allow me to use it as stated above, but I think I'll wait for Version 2 if it makes it.

Its simply not a "MUST HAVE" product I was hoping for.

sounds like you need a netbook not a tablet..

They were never realistically going to be able to add a full blown OS to this device. Full blown OS uses more harddrive space, more CPU (n thus battery) more graphics (more battery on top).. and you want that (as well as USB ports? which require at least 5v if i remember rightly) to all happen on an ARM processor? They arent as fast as atoms, for a reason, they are designed to be fast and nimble- Systems on a Chip.

As for the camera(s) and video conferencing.. Theres already talk that Apple had planned it, but things fell through at the last minute..

PTP

 

[theBB]

The irony is that the iPad will probably be made in some Asian sweatshop factory alongside other laptop manufacturers where the workers get a dollar a day and sacked for taking more than a single toilet break !!

Yes, it would be so much better if they did not even have that low paying job and ... what exactly? That they starve to death instead?

 

[theBB]

As for the camera(s) and video conferencing.. Theres already talk that Apple had planned it, but things fell through at the last minute..

Camera would let many people to switch from a regular laptop to iPad, assuming they already had a full blown computer in the family already. Maybe in the second gen version...

I am fairly happy with my iMac and iPhone combination to fulfill my hardcore computing and on-the-go browsing needs. I doubt I'd buy one at $500. One day these sorts of devices will come down to below $200, my impulse buy range, then it will become attractive.

 

[ShiftyPig]

Using the same operating system and just replacing the mouse with a stylus (or finger) will not lead to success. There were many smartphones before iPhone, they never became that popular. If you think it is only because of marketing, you are way too geeky to see beyond a feature matrix. Hardware is only part of the puzzle, interface and software are in some ways more important. Whether iPad gets us there is another question, but touchscreen "laptops" will be a lot more common in the near future. If any company wants to get there, they need an appropriate operating system for it. Unfortunately, there are not that many alternatives out there, yet.

Blackberry was, and still is, more popular than iPhone.

tbh, I'm skeptical of the entire tablet idea. From a software side, mouse/touchpad/cursor is too efficient to be replaced by fingers on a large scale. In that vein, the trackpad on MBP's is a massively underrated feature. I absolutely cannot stand using a non-multitouch trackpad when I jump on someone else's laptop. The whole idea that navigating the Internet with your finger is "magical" is a load of cack. From a physical item side, you have to hunt-and-peck type while holding it. An iPhone/Pod is easy to thumb-type on with one hand or two - I have a feeling that people are going to be massively disappointed with the awkwardness of text input on the iPad.

 

[sharkinfested]

Wow, who would have thought that the industry is worried that an Apple product is priced so low?

You know, I just have to say this:
Apple knows that we will pay virtually anything for a slick well-designed product that works. Then why didn’t we get a touch-capable Snow Leopard version of this tablet? I mean, we would have been willing to pay big bucks for it, right? Then why didn’t the iPad live up to all to the hype? (The hype that WE created BTW)

Because it wouldn’t work and here’s why:

Problem number 1) They would have had to redesign Snow Leopard to work with a touch interface – and that means they would now have 3 operating systems to deal with. Then they would have to redesign iWorks (they did that one), iLife, iMovie, etc. all for this touch interface.
Solution: They already have an OS that is specifically designed for a touch interface.

Problem number 2) (This is the big one) There are no 3rd party software titles for Snow Leopard that are designed for a touch interface! Unless the programs are designed for a touch interface they would be glitchy and unpredictable. So people would have loaded up something like Photoshop only to realize then that Photoshop isn’t designed for their finger… and neither are any of the titles you own.
Solution: They already have 140,000 software titles that are designed for a touch interface – plus they have thousands of developers that know how to make more titles.

Problem number 3) The input device (your giant finger) isn’t as precise as a cursor – especially on a tiny 10” screen. Why do you think the icons are the size and shape they are on the iPhone? Because any smaller and you be constantly activating the wrong one.
Solution: The iPhone OS is designed with your giant finger in mind.

Mark my words, these slate PCs with Windows 7 are going to be aggravating, glitchy, and unusable. Every time I’ve seen actual demos of Windows 7’s touch interface it’s been on a HUGE 32”(or larger) monitor – you know, because you’re inputting with your giant finger. And people will soon realize their 3rd party software titles won’t work correctly.

The only hope for slate PCs is to put something like Android on it… and then of course all of those will look like big ole’ iPad wannabees – only they won’t have as many apps.

We’ve only seen the hardware people, I’m betting the new iPad apps are going to blow our collective socks off.

 

[pmz]

Add a Camera and Video Conferencing functions
Add USB ports and 9-1 card Reader
Add XP or similar OS so we can use it like a computer rather than a peripheral
Add the Video Port or I/O so I can hook it up to my TV or use it as a touch screen monitor for my computer.
Add a pressure sensitive stylus for us artists out there (Wacom can do it, why not Apple?)

If its a bit more bulky, who cares! Its going to do everything a computer should rather than be a 10" 1.5lb magazine on your coffee table (which if you believe the hype will also be a touch screen device)

Sorry but I'm not sold on this as something that will survive long term in the way people are going. Cool for bus rides for students but they need the function of a laptop OS, not an iPhone and I can't see someone carrying a iPad & Laptop as much as I can see a iPod Touch or Iphone & Laptop. I may look into it if some specific apps come out that allow me to use it as stated above, but I think I'll wait for Version 2 if it makes it.

Its simply not a "MUST HAVE" product I was hoping for.

Sounds like the last time you paid any attention to what Apple was doing was 15 years ago.

I laugh quite heartily at the sheer fanboy venting. It's quite hilarious. Listening to the whiners whose lives are not suddenly changed by the mythical tablet.

LMAO. Only another incredible game changer from Apple could generate such a response.

 

[AnalyzeThis]

Neither is good :-(

Whatever is out on the market, this time it will be not as simple to choose one.

Both look like an "old fart" touting youth that "soft" is better than "hard".

Tablet failed every single time it was introduced for the last 10 years. BTW, iPad is hardly even qualifies as a full featured computer - it is more of the gadget type.
Apple is capable of building a great tablet, but it would cannibalize macbooks sales. So here you have it -"MAXI PAD".

I do not recall any successful product introduced by Apple to receive such a "worm" welcome from macrumors folks, ever. So game changer it is (kind of like a Vista for M$).

This should really go to the history of man kind.

 

[LagunaSol]

I think a lot of you are trying to make this thing a laptop.

It's odd - sci fi movies have always shown a future where tablet-type devices are the norm. It's the computer we've always dreamed of having. Yet throw an Apple logo on one and suddenly everyone is screaming for a laptop (which we already have).

The iPad is simply the first of many iterations of devices from Apple. To dismiss this massive shift in computing because the first iteration doesn't meet some arbitrary need (HDMI port? Really???) so readily is foolhardy at best.

I just cannot believe how cheap it is.

That to me may be the most astounding part. Apple: price leader. Who'd a thunk it.

Though you still have the peanut gallery (unsurprisingly) raging about the price, though they were ambivalent about $490 Kindles only a week ago. Go figure.

Geez, I once paid $500 for a Sony Clie.

 

[elhungarian]

Wirelessly posted (Opera/9.80 (J2ME/MIDP; Opera Mini/5.0.16831/2444; U; en) Presto/2.2.0)

can't wait till psystar sells their tablet lol

 

[springerj]

....
My feeling is that the Apple intentionally left a few features out of the iPad for their future roadmap. .

I think Apple intentionally left a few features out of the announcement to slow down the copy-cats. I'm expecting some surprises before it actually ships.

 

[jb1280]

These tablet manufacturer's in my opinion are thinking about this wrong. The iPad is pretty limited, but it does have a good price. If I wanted to compete with the iPad right now I would compete on features not price.

1) Develop competitive software (sticking normal Windows on there has already shown that it won't work).
2) Add an HDMI or mini-display port.
3) Add a front facing video camera for video chats.
4) Add a USB port, and an SD Card port.
5) Sell a foldout bluetooth keyboard accessory.

Keep it the same price as the iPad. My feeling is that the Apple intentionally left a few features out of the iPad for their future roadmap. The new features will be included in rev 2,3,4. Though I don't think Apple will ever put a bunch of ports on the iPad.

Instead they will focus on price and only match the features ignoring the software which is the key to Apple's success.

Nope.

It's software and usability.

Looking at the last decade, feature creep in myriad of mp3 players should have killed the iPod.

I'm sure there will be plenty of people who would buy something with all of that and some modified Windows or Android, but I think it will have minimal impact on the iPad.

 

[mickhyperion]

I can't think of anything I would want to plug into this thing if it had a USB port? Seriously guys why do you want USB ports on this thing? Why on earth would you buy a tablet computer to leave it hooked up to a tv? so again, why do you want a HDMI port? Why do you want expandable memory? How many movies could you possible watch between the ability to swap data on the device. I have 2 terabytes of digital movies and tv shows sitting on a hdd attached to my television. You can't possibly tell me that anyone had expected a tablet computer that can hold everything? Most people have more MP3's then 64gb.

I think a lot of you are trying to make this thing a laptop.

I want this thing so that I can sit on the couch and surf the internet. A laptop is not really a portable computer, its just a computer you can pick up and put down somewhere else to use. A device like this takes all of the everyday tasks and lets you do them while walking around the house or sitting in the car.

When I look at everything that I do on computers (I am a professional photographer by trade), most of those things I don't want to be sitting at a separate desk to do. If someone sends me an email, I want to hold that email in my hand and reply to it, like a letter. I don't want to walk into another room, sit down at a desk and type away one a keyboard.

People saying that its useless because it doesn't run adobe creative suite are fools who obviously never actually use it. How on earth could you expect good results with a touch screen? It takes a high precision mouse or a wacom tablet to use photoshop properly. When every pixel of distance matters, a touch screen tablet will never suffice.

This device was created for people like me. I own a laptop, a desktop and an iphone. The desktop is for serious work. The laptop is for serious work on the go. I use the iphone for enjoyment, it is a fantastic internet browsing device however the small screen has always bugged me. Until now I have always had to keep email and real internet browsing on the laptop. I can kiss that good bye since now the iPad will give me a better way of enjoying simple computing tasks.

I just cannot believe how cheap it is.

Applause!

 

[Eso]

Does anyone actually consider the iPad to be equivalent to a tablet computer?

 

[elessar120]

I think Apple intentionally left a few features out of the announcement to slow down the copy-cats. I'm expecting some surprises before it actually ships.

I think so too. I'm becoming increasingly convinced that they just slapped the iPhone home screen on the iPad because they didn't want to show their real plans for the home screen which we will see when iPhone OS 4.0 is released. The zero effort put into that home screen is unlike Apple especially for a device they hope to be a game changer.

I also want to add that I'm excited about the iPad now after initially being disappointed following the Keynote. I have a Desktop/Laptop/iPhone combination and next year instead of getting a new laptop I will be getting and iPad instead. I use my laptop mostly for checking e-mail, web-browsing, reading academic papers and light work in a casual setting -- the iPad looks better suited to these tasks and is cheaper too.

 

[QEII Student IT]

I have a laptop. Why do I want anything else?

You don't. If like me however you can't afford an Apple Laptop but don't think you'll get the use you want from an iPod touch, the iPad is perfect.

 

[wbeasley]

Bookmark these threads...

in 57 days they'll make interesting (and humour) reading.

Happens everytime Apple release something. Whinge, whinge, whinge.

And then the device turns up, sometimes with something extra or just seeing it in person and it sells gang busters and then the whining stops (or gets yelled at by the happy purchasers).

I doubt Steve loses any sleep over forums anymore. Getting people to talk about you at all is a great sign. How many companies are releasing products you barely hear a word about?

I heard more about the HP Tablet after the iPad was announced!

Will a Win7 tablet be instant on? That's a key selling point for using my phone and Touch. I can't be bothered waiting for the WinXP netbook to boot or wake up.

Let's hope they do cram in a camera as a last minute surprise. Then see what all the nay sayers do. Even putting a camera in that doesn't do anything would help to future proof it for Version 1 buyers... we all know at some stage there is going to be a video conferencing app as it just makes so much sense (once the networks can handle large volumes of data and price it right).

Full marks to the guy who said he'd bought a Clie for $600. I paid the same for a portable black and white bubblejet printer and it provided a great function that I never regretted paying for. Paying high prices initially has helped the IT industry get to where it is today and made technology affordable along the way. Who wants to wait another 12 months for the inevitable memory doubling? That's 12 months without playing with this great new toy!

 

[0ld-knight]

Sounds like tablet manufacturers need to read more forums. No one with common sense thought it would cost $1000

Not only many people did think so, but i'd even pay it happily if it was just like it is but w/ x386 and full OSX (by the way, that's something that i'm quite sure that we will see in a near future)

 

[mcoyne]

Ugh this is ridiculous.... it's not even on sale yet, how on earth has this re-invented the industry and all this BS? Didn't Microsoft demonstrate the various slate pc's just a few weeks ago, until these beasts and the iPad (sounds like a feminine product) are out and competing then we shall see which one re-invents the market.

Personally, i'd take the HP/Archos slates running Windows 7 and Media Centre

The difference is in the SDK and the marketplace (iTunes). That should be pretty obvious by now. Apple has a huge audience begging for a product and an easy way for developers to get in to the game. None of the other slate offerings have anything even remotely close.

 

[KnightWRX]

The difference is in the SDK and the marketplace (iTunes). That should be pretty obvious by now. Apple has a huge audience begging for a product and an easy way for developers to get in to the game. None of the other slate offerings have anything even remotely close.

Live in a sheltered world do you ? Every other slate that were announced or have been on store shelves for years/months have SDKs and way to distribute software on them. Be them XP tablets, Android tablets, Maemo tablets or anything else for that matter.

The iPad is not the first to market.

 

[ericinboston]

What's the iPhone market? I know teenagers who have them and grandpas who have them. Why? Because it's a blank canvas of sorts. It's whatever you need it to be. That's Apple's "market".

The iPhone market is the "cell phone" or even "smart phone" market...very crystal clear. The iPod (all except the most recent Touch) is clearly the portable music player market. The Macbook is clearly the laptop computer market.

What is the Tablet?

I'm not hating...I'm just saying. This isn't 2000 where nobody owns iPods or iPhones or netbooks (and where laptops are still in their infancy for consumer adoption)...this is 2010 (Q2 is when the iPad comes out) where so many people (at least in the US) own so many electronic hand held devices that the Tablet may simply be an all-1-one device that people do not NEED. Sure, if they have $500-$700 laying around that they can afford to buy a device that does everything (or a high percentage) that their existing handheld devices can, they are in a unique situation...not all consumers will go out buying a device that overlaps their exsiting devices' capabilities. Some will...most will not. Yes, I would LOVE to plop down money for the iPad and own it and play with it...but for me and what I already own for devices, it will be a $500+ toy.

 

[hss1]

Microsoft Tablet

Lol check this out $499 gets you this

Archos punts 9-inch Windows 7 tablet PC


http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/09/24/archos_9pctablet/

Its running Windows 7 and has 4 hours battery life

=================================

Ipad has 10 hours 720I HD Video playback

140 Hours 6 days music playback with screen off

9.7inch IPS-LED backlight touch screen

1000 charging cycle battery and not 300 like nearly everything else

Aluminium and glass design and less than a inch thick

 

[Eidorian]

Lol check this out $499 gets you this

Archos punts 9-inch Windows 7 tablet PC


http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/09/24/archos_9pctablet/

Its running Windows 7 and has 4 hours battery life

=================================

Ipad has 10 hours 720I HD Video playback

140 Hours 6 days music playback with screen off

9.7inch IPS-LED backlight touch screen

1000 charging cycle battery and not 300 like nearly everything else

Aluminium and glass design and less than a inch thick

Archos has been trying hard at selling their devices stateside for years. This is going to hurt but you're going to be plugging in your iPad to your Archos tablet. Better yet a HP mini 311.

 

[beeh]

One could say HP copied the iPhone design couldn't one ?

It's all about the software...the hardware design is nice for either, but the SW will sell the device and make it useful. That's where Apple has an advantage, they support minimal hardware designs with one SW package and they really constrain developers. They basically make their life "easy", but Microsoft and Google SW will have to run on many HW designs, support SD cards, maybe even USB host and multitasking, etc. so their OSes will be more "taxed"...

That's where the open source community comes into play, make a good piece of HW, deliver Linux ( Android ) on it, let the community "tweak" & support it and you'll be golden ( almost ). That's where Asus benefitted, when they first released their EEE netbook, they "allowed" users to open it up and tinker with it, I think that only helped Asus in the end.

 

[tgc]

Pricing war is interesting...

... it's interesting that if the $499 invokes a pricing war, it's just the PC manufacturers that are hurt as Apple I believe isn't affected in any way??

They'll see manufactures even bow out of that space as margins will be too low and more spotlight will be put on the iPad??