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Tablets: Battle of the OS - FIGHT! (Now with poll!)

Which tablet OS do you like the most? (excluding external factors like apps)

  • Total voters
    173
Sydde said:
I remember when computers had these things called "floppy disk drives". Let me see, what happened to those?

I also remember seeing some CPU design hype. So often, the demo benchmark was (Adobe) Photoshop. I could swear I heard people suggest that certain design features were all but dictated by Adobe. I even wonder if Steve Jobs blames the failure of PPC (Altivec) in part on Adobe and thus wants his pound of flesh. Flash will not come to the iPad.
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We still have to use Floppy disks at work as some $100,000 machinery uses them for data input.
Then again, we live in the real business world where things have to work and get made and not some fantasy IT world where we argue about what the case back is made from.
 
Piggie said:
We still have to use Floppy disks at work as some $100,000 machinery uses them for data input.
Then again, we live in the real business world where things have to work and get made and not some fantasy IT world where we argue about what the case back is made from.
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I wish I could remember where I read about some piece of machinery that still only ran on Windows 95 and how hard it was to keep the computerized part of it running as there was no way to update it to run on something more modern. I read this a few years ago...
 
AppleScruff1 said:
I wish I could remember where I read about some piece of machinery that still only ran on Windows 95 and how hard it was to keep the computerized part of it running as there was no way to update it to run on something more modern. I read this a few years ago...
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Well, TBH, the eight-tower "shaftless" DGM printing press where I used to work had something like 3 Windows based computers to sync the unit drives and scan the register marks, and it did use floppies. That was installed around '05 and is still in use. For the average user, though, they are faded history.
 
Sydde said:
Well, TBH, the eight-tower "shaftless" DGM printing press where I used to work had something like 3 Windows based computers to sync the unit drives and scan the register marks, and it did use floppies. That was installed around '05 and is still in use. For the average user, though, they are faded history.
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Piggie's post just just brought to mind the story of the machine that ran off of a Windows 95 based computer and how difficult it was to find parts for the computer. I just wish I could remember what type of manufacturing the machine was used for.
 
Our very large Laser Engraver, which could quite easily engrave your name beautifully on the back of your iPad runs a DOS based front end, and uses Autocad data for what I engraves.

I think it's a early pentium machine, and this also only accept data via floppy disk.
 
AppleScruff1 said:
Piggie's post just just brought to mind the story of the machine that ran off of a Windows 95 based computer and how difficult it was to find parts for the computer. I just wish I could remember what type of manufacturing the machine was used for.
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While the space shuttle's computers don't run Win 95, they are dated, and there were rumors of NASA buying parts off of E-Bay for them.
 
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Question on touchscreens. Apple has outstanding touchscreens and touchpads on its products. It this due to the screen itself or the OS? Or is it a combination of both?
 
AppleScruff1 said:
Thank you, I hadn't seen that yet. The video on BGR was probably a few days old when it was posted. Anyway, what do you think?
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Well, looking at the wifi version (because that's the one I'd be interested in) it is even on price with the iPad and obviously have far superior specs... at least for about 2 weeks when the iPad 2 is announced :rolleyes:

But for me, as I identified in this thread, it's all about the OS not the hardware. And there is no OS out there right now that could steal me away from iOS besides WebOS, and that's only if Apple doesn't deliver and HP is able to create a proper ecosystem.
 
Mad Mac Maniac said:
Well, looking at the wifi version (because that's the one I'd be interested in) it is even on price with the iPad and obviously have far superior specs... at least for about 2 weeks when the iPad 2 is announced :rolleyes:

But for me, as I identified in this thread, it's all about the OS not the hardware. And there is no OS out there right now that could steal me away from iOS besides WebOS, and that's only if Apple doesn't deliver and HP is able to create a proper ecosystem.
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I'm going to go play with the Xoom when it is released and see if I like it. I have never even looked at the Samsung Android tablet and only played with a few phones in store. I have spent a lot of time using a friends iPad so I am familiar with it and iPad 2 will be even better. I too am looking forward to checking out WebOS.

What don't you like about Android?
 
AppleScruff1 said:
What don't you like about Android?
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I would like to play around with one as well. So I may try to check one out for fun. I get way to excited by playing around with new gadgets that I will never own... haha

First of all one thing I don't like about android, which admittedly has NOTHING to do with the OS, is the fact that there are new, better devices coming out every month. I would have a hard enough time picking between 3 or 4 at any given time. I'd debate over it for a while, and worry that I made the wrong decision. Then every month a new, better tablet would come out and I'd have more remorse thinking "Oh I should have waited for this one!!". At least with the iPad I can rely on having the best I can on my OS for a year.

Another think I don't like is the fact that I wouldn't get the latest updates for months after they are released, if at all! It might be better since they are all making "google experience" tablets, but historically android is pretty awful at getting updates. I am pretty safe getting updates for 2-3 years on iOS.

Now lastly, about the OS itself. Obviously I haven't gotten to play with honeycomb myself, and I've only seen short clips of it in action. But in my observation I feel like the OS is way too focused on widgets. All of the main pages are just a litter of random widgets that you want to throw on there. I just don't particularly like that system. I think it would be nice to have some widgets but that many just make things cluttered and unnecessary.

Honestly, I don't think android is a bad OS, I'm just already invested in iOS so I would need something that really gives me a WOW factor to tear me away. WebOS gives me a wow. I'm also really hoping iOS 5.0 gives me a wow :)
 
I'm sure iOS 5 will have more wow than the current version. And the iPad 2 will be an improvement over the original. What is different about the widgets cluttering on the Android vs all of the apps covering all of your home screens on the iPad? Just curious.

I have never used an iPad on WiFi, just AT&T 3G, and I think for the most part it is slow loading web pages. Is it a lot faster on WiFi or is this a hardware limitation? Will the Xoom and the other newcomers be faster than the current iPad? Will they offer a better web browsing experience? And I wonder what iPad 2 will bring to the table in this regard. From my use of my friends iPad on 3G, I want it to be faster.
 
AppleScruff1 said:
Question on touchscreens. Apple has outstanding touchscreens and touchpads on its products. It this due to the screen itself or the OS? Or is it a combination of both?
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I'd say it's both. Since the first iPhone, one thing it's always had in(my opinion) over the others, is the flawless response, and fluidity of the multitouch.
A lot of other companies don't fully optimise the software to take full advantage of what hardware they have and just opt throw a Snapdragon at it, in the hope it will paper over their software cracks.
This is the reason why the iPad can run pretty well(not perfectly) with only 256MB RAM.
 
AppleScruff1 said:
I'm sure iOS 5 will have more wow than the current version. And the iPad 2 will be an improvement over the original. What is different about the widgets cluttering on the Android vs all of the apps covering all of your home screens on the iPad? Just curious.
Click to expand...

the apps just have a clean look because everything is arranged in the same sized icons in rows and columns. that just feels more of a "home" screen to me (possibly because I'm accustomed to iOS) than the array of widgets. Also I never use the widgets on my Mac. In fact, whenever I pull up my dashboard, it feels very disorganized. Now, of course I do see the merit of having a few widgets on a tablet/phone for things like weather that can be pulled up at any moment to view at a glance. But I certainly don't think the focus should be on that. I prefer the focus being on the full app experience.

Honestly, when I first saw honeycomb, I was "wow"ed actually. I've been wanting to have some sort of widgets on iOS. But then I came to realize that the UI was basically just 5 homescreens of widgets, I couldn't think of what the heck to fill them with. It just seemed silly.

My wishes for iOS are simple 1) add a dashboard for widgets. 2) Add a mission control view to display an expose of all open apps, dashboard, and the home screen. 3) Add viewable widgets from the lock screen (so you can see weather, email, notifications, etc without unlocking). 4)revamp notifactions, where they are unobtrusive, and are located in a unified location where they can all be viewed at a glance. and that's it. I can't imagine that coding would be too impossible for apple
 
iOS has a bit of an advantage in simplicity and user familiarity at this point.

But in functionality, Honeycomb, QNX (Playbook) and WebOS all have iOS beat hands down.

Hopefully Apple introduces some changes with iOS 5.

Either way, I think the new tablet wars are damned exciting. Competition is going to mean better products for everyone, and that's awesome. :D
 
AppleScruff1 said:
I'm sure iOS 5 will have more wow than the current version. And the iPad 2 will be an improvement over the original. What is different about the widgets cluttering on the Android vs all of the apps covering all of your home screens on the iPad? Just curious.

I have never used an iPad on WiFi, just AT&T 3G, and I think for the most part it is slow loading web pages. Is it a lot faster on WiFi or is this a hardware limitation? Will the Xoom and the other newcomers be faster than the current iPad? Will they offer a better web browsing experience? And I wonder what iPad 2 will bring to the table in this regard. From my use of my friends iPad on 3G, I want it to be faster.
Click to expand...

Depending on what you're trying to load - wifi will be anywhere from ten to twenty times faster than AT&T's 3G.
 
afireintonto said:
Depending on what you're trying to load - wifi will be anywhere from ten to twenty times faster than AT&T's 3G.
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So WiFi really speeds it up? That is good to know as I find it quite slow on 3G and that is with a connection of about 2 Mbps. I also wonder if the other devices will be much faster with 1 Gb of memory or will it be a slight increase in speed.
 
BergerFan said:
By giving Apple such a head start, "iPad", like "iPod" and "iPhone" has already entered the general consumer's vernacular, where any rivals don't even exist. That's where the big money is, not from the tech geeks like us, but from the average Joes.
Steve Jobs seems to be the only CEO, who truly understands the power of consumer mindshare, and how it relates directly to sales.
That has to be backed up, by nailing the primary areas of hardware that appeals directly to those general consumers: Screen quality, touch responsiveness and ease of use. The other, less important features that us geeks want, can all be added over time. It's the exact same formula which was successfully applied to the iPhone.
With regard to Microsoft, I guess you didn't see Ballmer show off the new Windows 7 tablets at CES then.
Ballmer thinks that the reason Windows has failed to gain consumer traction on tablets thus far, is purely down to the hardware not being capable of running Windows effectively, hence the recent ARM announcement. He thinks the OS is absolved of any blame, so I don't see a dedicated Microsoft tablet OS on the horizon any time soon.
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I think bergerfan hit the nail on the head here....the "emotional" connection that Apple has hit the bullseye with...once an owner of an iDevice of any kind, MOST folks are instantly mesmerized and intrigued by the simplicity and the fact (albeit cliche), it JUST WORKS!

Where in the world ARE these other tablets? When are they going to ship? The RIM Playbook...announced in September of last year! Then the 4g announcement in January....just recently, the 4gLTE, HSPA+, and Mobile WiMAX announcements??? As mentioned in CrunchGear yesterday....RIM, in short...has released three products (pads) that don't even exist yet!!! It's been 2 months since Motorola dropped the word "Xoom" on us, and HP hasn't released the TouchPad yet either! Really, the only SURE thing "later this year" (as all others brag) is the iPad 2! And IT doesn't exist yet:)

Get my point? I'm just as big a geek as the rest on this board. I own many Mac and Windows products...and can't wait to get my hands on these new tablets to Play Around....however, my Mom and Dad...my three younger brothers (all in their mid to late 30's), cousins, aunts, uncles, and most of my friends could care LESS what the new tablet's processor speed is, how many cores it has....the RAM amount, et al. (Yet these are the bullet points ALL of the new Pads are advertising first and foremost!!!).... They CARE about whether or not it works, whether it is a "Fluid" experience (no glitches, slow downs, ease of use, etc), and the cosmetics of the unit. THIS is the iPad! It works! It doesn't need an instruction manual....there is NO need to customize it, ala Android. And I think this is what's missing in ALL other areas of Tablet development...they listen WAAAAYYYYYY too much to boards like this and NOT enough to those voices "UnSpoken"....IOW, forget us geeks! We make up a tiny fraction of 1% of the buyers in the tech world...whether it be computers, phones, tablets, whatever....The bulk of the buyers want to turn it on, out of the box...and have it working for them in minutes...not hours! They don't want to RTFM. They want to play with their new toy.

It's the Emotional Connection that Apple has nailed with the iPod, the iPhone, and now the iPad. It's VERY hard to convince someone to switch when you've given them something they've NEVER had before! Example; a Well Working Product that requires NO fuss!

I tend to agree with Crunch....the other manufacturers are scared, nervous, and having a Helluva Time getting 10" panels! As Apple has eaten them all up world wide! If you're a small enterprise, forget it! You're out:) Only the big dogs can play in this pen...and if they don't get it right out of the gate, it could hurt for a long, long time.

J
 
akdj said:
I think bergerfan hit the nail on the head here....the "emotional" connection that Apple has hit the bullseye with...once an owner of an iDevice of any kind, MOST folks are instantly mesmerized and intrigued by the simplicity and the fact (albeit cliche), it JUST WORKS!

Where in the world ARE these other tablets? When are they going to ship? The RIM Playbook...announced in September of last year! Then the 4g announcement in January....just recently, the 4gLTE, HSPA+, and Mobile WiMAX announcements??? As mentioned in CrunchGear yesterday....RIM, in short...has released three products (pads) that don't even exist yet!!! It's been 2 months since Motorola dropped the word "Xoom" on us, and HP hasn't released the TouchPad yet either! Really, the only SURE thing "later this year" (as all others brag) is the iPad 2! And IT doesn't exist yet:)

Get my point? I'm just as big a geek as the rest on this board. I own many Mac and Windows products...and can't wait to get my hands on these new tablets to Play Around....however, my Mom and Dad...my three younger brothers (all in their mid to late 30's), cousins, aunts, uncles, and most of my friends could care LESS what the new tablet's processor speed is, how many cores it has....the RAM amount, et al. (Yet these are the bullet points ALL of the new Pads are advertising first and foremost!!!).... They CARE about whether or not it works, whether it is a "Fluid" experience (no glitches, slow downs, ease of use, etc), and the cosmetics of the unit. THIS is the iPad! It works! It doesn't need an instruction manual....there is NO need to customize it, ala Android. And I think this is what's missing in ALL other areas of Tablet development...they listen WAAAAYYYYYY too much to boards like this and NOT enough to those voices "UnSpoken"....IOW, forget us geeks! We make up a tiny fraction of 1% of the buyers in the tech world...whether it be computers, phones, tablets, whatever....The bulk of the buyers want to turn it on, out of the box...and have it working for them in minutes...not hours! They don't want to RTFM. They want to play with their new toy.

It's the Emotional Connection that Apple has nailed with the iPod, the iPhone, and now the iPad. It's VERY hard to convince someone to switch when you've given them something they've NEVER had before! Example; a Well Working Product that requires NO fuss!
Click to expand...
It really is a simple thing, when you think about it. Companies need to put themselves into the general consumer's shoes and make them, their number one target.
Palm(HP) seem to be the only ones who are beginning to understand, but it took an ex-Apple guy to do it, no word on price and they're still taking way too long to bring products to market.

Trolling a particular market, by being 'first' to target the consumer, also helps. :D
 
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Anothing reason Apple is doing so well with their iPads (compared to Macs), is because they are using expanded retail outlets. Same as iPods and iPhones.

(in the US) You can buy iPads in Apple stores, best buy, walmart, at&t stores, verizon stores, target, sam's club, radio shack, and more! Everyone, anywhere has access to them. People who aren't even looking for an iPad will find them.

Opposed to a Mac, you need to WANT a Mac and look up local Apple stores or one of the best buy with a Mac section and go there. People casually shopping for a computer aren't going to end up getting a Mac, but they could easily buy an iPad.
 
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