Why so few Docks?

[godslabrat]

Looking for iPad docks, I find that there are oddly few choices. The device is almost a year old now, there has been time enough to design one. The only options I see are the Apple Keyboard dock, the plain-vanilla Apple dock, and the iHome (which really isn't much more than their iPod dock sans the iPod slot).

Docks are extremely popular for the iPod line, why is the iPad so different?

 

[iphone1105]

I've seen tons of docks, you must not be looking properly, the TiPB.com store has smaybe 15 different docks for sale.

 

[el-John-o]

The iPod has been around for 10 years and everything that worked with the original dock connector works with everything up to the iPhone 4 (although some functionality might not be there and you might get cellular interference on older docks, you get my point). Point is, 10 years is more than 1 year of development time for docks and things, and really, what all are you gonna dock to an iPad? There is a dock extension cable for use with media docks to listen to music, there is a keyboard dock, and there is a dock to sync with?

I would like to see cheaper alternative to what are honestly overpriced solutions from Apple, but in 10 years nobody has really made anything any cheaper than what Apple offers OE. If someone else made a dock keyboard it would probably cost the same as the Apple dock keyboard, companies know people will buy it, why give away margins?

-John