Will you keep buying iPad or change to Windows 8 tablet?

[Sensamic]

Watching today the latest windows 8 news I have to admit Im starting to like more and more the new Metro UI. I use my ipad heavily every day, but its starting to feel very limiting, specially in terms of multitasking: I cant load youtube videos while working on a pages document, for instance. Too little RAM makes every web page to load again and again... I miss features of a desktop OS, like downloading stuff from the internet, or using office 2011, etc.

After seeing Windows 8 I believe it will destroy the ipad. IOS is nice for a phone, but very very limited for s tablet, which should provide more productive and intensive tasks. If apple would release a slate pc with lion I would buy it without doubt. Maybe they will release it someday, but until then the most similar device will be the windows 8 tablets or slate pcs.

Teh ipad has made me love more the tablets than laptops. I dont see myself using a laptop ever again if I can use a tablet with the same power. Samsung just released a slate pc which has the same hardware specs as the macbook air, so mix that with windows 8 snd itll become a beautiful tablet experience.

Considering the future windows 8 (and any other OS like Android or whatever), will you still stick to IOS and the ipad? I feel the main problem of the ipad is iOS, its a very "soft" OS for a tablet. Maybe its good now, but in 2012 and 2013 it will feel like a OS from the dinosaurs era...

 

[poloponies]

Maybe its good now, but in 2012 and 2013 it will feel like a OS from the dinosaurs era...

So the tablet that hasn't yet been released with the OS that hasn't yet been released is "the tablet of the future" but the current functioning tablet is going to be a "dinosaur" in 2012 or 2013?

You aren't exactly comparing like to like. Nobody knows what the iPad or iOS of 2012 or 2013 will look (or function) like. As for the Windows 8 tablet, why don't we wait until it's actually released to decide. Pre-release announcements always tout the best aspects of any device but a real-world review of a real product is about the only thing that would compel me to buy a competing product.

 

[4DThinker]

I suspect I'll keep my iPad AND get a win8 tablet. I may stick it on my old Archos 9" windows tablet. The first generation of them will be experiments though, so I'd suggest waiting for the second.

If Win8 appears to be a runaway hit you can bet Apple will have an iPad-esque tablet running OS(11) ready to ship in a flash.

 

[Meanee]

We still do not know how Windows 8 will look like, or developer support. But if you take current iOS release, stock, no apps, and Windows 8 current preview release, and just by going by video presentations, iPad looks like a combination of a dinosaur and a Fisher Price toy. In terms of "out of the box" experience only.

It's still too early to tell if MS offering will be enough to dethrone IOS, and prevent Android growth. But seeing how abysmally slow iPad moves forward (in terms of user experience, not counting apps), an unreleased product already kicked it's ass.

 

[Carouser]

Echoing the sentiment that a product which you can't even buy isn't much competition for existing products. Also, since I buy things in the present, not a hypothetical future, speculation on the superiority of future products will have little influence when I make a purchase of actual products. If I really need to use Office intensively I'll use a Mac which'll play nicely with iOS.

But with enough FUD and astroturfing, anything's possible.

 

[poloponies]

But seeing how abysmally slow iPad moves forward (in terms of user experience, not counting apps), an unreleased product already kicked it's ass.

Well, to be fair, to have a user experience you actually need a product that you can use and experience. Apple doesn't tout "next year's technology" as a matter of course (it does, unfortunately, get bogged down in "later this year" technology). So the Windows 8 tablet user experience needs to be evaluated against the yet-undefined iPad 3 experience. It may kick its ass, or it may be an almost-there technology. Only time will tell.

It's like my wondering if a 2013 version of another car will give me a better experience than the 2013 version of my car. I know what my car can and can't do, but I don't yet know how the updated version of my car will compare.

 

[PhoneI]

I must be the only person in the world that absolutely hates the Metro UI. I had a Windows 7 phone for a few weeks and I couldn't stand it.

The last thing I want is this UI on a tablet. No thanks, will stick with my iPad.

 

[Meanee]

Well, to be fair, to have a user experience you actually need a product that you can use and experience. Apple doesn't tout "next year's technology" as a matter of course (it does, unfortunately, get bogged down in "later this year" technology). So the Windows 8 tablet user experience needs to be evaluated against the yet-undefined iPad 3 experience. It may kick its ass, or it may be an almost-there technology. Only time will tell.

It's like my wondering if a 2013 version of another car will give me a better experience than the 2013 version of my car. I know what my car can and can't do, but I don't yet know how the updated version of my car will compare.

Something tells me that iPad 3 will be along the lines of "Icon vomit, but with more pixels" type of deal, but it's just my prediction. It's unfair to compare 2 tablets right now. One does not exist (at least not for consumer use and final form), and another one may be updated few times and destroy Windows 8.

 

[spiderman0616]

Read the headline:

http://gizmodo.com/5839665/windows-8-slate-hands-on-its-fantastic-but-dont-sell-your-ipad

It's called competition. If we didn't have it, Apple wouldn't have to do anything to improve their stuff.

 

[chrono1081]

I must be the only person in the world that absolutely hates the Metro UI. I had a Windows 7 phone for a few weeks and I couldn't stand it.

The last thing I want is this UI on a tablet. No thanks, will stick with my iPad.

I don't like it either. I thought I did until I actually used it.

As for the Windows 8 tablet, I'm not so sure. We've seen the tablet speech before that ended up being vaporware.

Read the headline:

http://gizmodo.com/5839665/windows-8-slate-hands-on-its-fantastic-but-dont-sell-your-ipad

It's called competition. If we didn't have it, Apple wouldn't have to do anything to improve their stuff.

This is a myth. Apple has always been inventing and innovating. They are always ahead of their competition.

Not to mention everyone who talks about competition forgets to bring up the downside to competition, and thats fragmentation. Take a look at ebook readers for example, some publishers go with one, some with another, so you need all ebook readers to enjoy all your ebooks.

 

[mystik610]

I'm a big fan of Windows Phone 7. Its too early to tell how well Windows 8 tablets will do, but it is on my radar.

 

[Cyacene]

Yeah, I'm excited. I love and use my iPad everyday, but the UI is starting to really show its age. The apps themselves are great on iPad, but really liking how the Win8 apps are able to seamlessly work together, rather than exist entirely in a closed framework.

I wont be giving up my iPad anytime soon, but we all know competition is great, and in my opinion, Google has NOT been giving any here worth mentioning. Its really nice to see some unique stuff from a competitor.

I for one will be downloading the Dev preview tonight.

 

[PhoneI]

Wonder if I can run the Dev preview on my MacBook using VMWare?

 

[sebastian...]

Parts of a really good tablet experience is battery life, form factor/weight/size , and response speed of the UI/apps. If the windows tablet will be able to offer those similar to the ipad, I believe yes, it could be a good competitor to ipad.

 

[urkel]

This is a myth. Apple has always been inventing and innovating. They are always ahead of their competition.

Claiming "Apples need for competition is a myth" is also a myth.

Apple is always ahead of the competition because they are BETTER than everyone else. But as much as Apple has led the pack, they have also lagged behind and were unmoved until they were spurred on by their competitors. Up until SandyBridge then Apples hardware choices were outdated and far from earning the higher price tags, and for several generations we were getting minimal HDD/ram specs while cheap Windows Machines were equipped with 6GB/500GB HDDs. And sometimes when Apple carves out a market (like MP3 players or AppleTV) then they just sit on their hands rather than invest development to continually improve the products. Or worse yet, they hold back existing technologies because they want to force perceived value on the next generation product (MBA backlit keyboard, poor cameras in Touch/iPad) and rely on their faithful army of unpaid salesmen to make excuses for why these withheld features are unimportant.

In no way am I saying Apple wouldn't innovate without competition, but I also don't feel they'd give us the same quality of products if no competition existed.

EDIT: Forgot to give my opinion on the thread topic. IMO, won8 looks fantastic but no matter how good it is I'm sticking with Apple. It's not a fanboy thing, it's more about how happy I am on this side and how heavily invested I am in this ecosystem. (But then I'm also not against owning tablets the way I own multiple desktop OSs)

 

[Lindenhurst]

I'm the type that looks at all the products out there, and I use what I feel is best. Right now I own an Imac, an Ipad, and an Iphone as well as an Apple TV.

That tells you what I think is best!

If they didn't all work together as they do, I may be more inclined to "mix" it up, but the Apple ecosystem is a nice thing.

And I'm not sure that the fact that IOS is showing it's age is a bad thing. Things that work get refined to work better. Should Apple just scrap it and start from scratch??

 

[chrono1081]

Claiming "Apples need for competition is a myth" is also a myth.

Good thing I never claimed that All I said is that they would continue to innovate regardless of competition.

Competing companies isn't the only thing that drives innovation. Consumers often want the latest and greatest so companies come out with new features on their products year after year in order to coax consumers into upgrading their products.

Apple is always ahead of the competition because they are BETTER than everyone else.

I do agree with this. Not many companies are willing to take the risks Apple takes hence why many companies seem to stagnate. Apple took a risk with the iPod, they took a big risk with the iPad, they took a risk with dropping the floppy drive, and they took a risk with Ping. All but one of those risks proved fruitful.

But as much as Apple has led the pack, they have also lagged behind and were unmoved until they were spurred on by their competitors. Up until SandyBridge then Apples hardware choices were outdated and far from earning the higher price tags, and for several generations we were getting minimal HDD/ram specs while cheap Windows Machines were equipped with 6GB/500GB HDDs. And sometimes when Apple carves out a market (like MP3 players or AppleTV) then they just sit on their hands rather than invest development to continually improve the products. Or worse yet, they hold back existing technologies because they want to force perceived value on the next generation product (MBA backlit keyboard, poor cameras in Touch/iPad) and rely on their faithful army of unpaid salesmen to make excuses for why these withheld features are unimportant.

I don't totally agree with this. Apple operates different from regular PC hardware manufacturers. Apple makes money from hardware, not software like Microsoft does so their prices are higher for hardware (just like Microsofts prices are higher for software). Price differences aside Apple doesn't rush out with each new piece of hardware and upgrade, there is really no need even in the Windows world. It would also cost too much to do that. Apple is a unique company that makes their hardware and software and there is only so many engineers to go around.

As for iPods and Apple TV's, I don't understand why you think they let them stagnate? The iPod went from a hard drive based machine to a machine with a touch wheel, then a click wheel, then to a flash based device with a touch screen that then got wifi and plays games, and movies, and all kinds of stuff. The iPod was always evolving and iTunes along with it to keep up. The Apple TV, yes Apple kind of screwed up with the first generation but completely made up for it in the second generation.

In no way am I saying Apple wouldn't innovate without competition, but I also don't feel they'd give us the same quality of products if no competition existed.

I'm on the fence about this statement, but I'm leaning towards your opinion. I truly think they would keep innovating just because that's how they are, but again, there is no way of knowing for sure unless they wiped their competition off the map.

 

[orfeas0]

So the tablet that hasn't yet been released with the OS that hasn't yet been released is "the tablet of the future" but the current functioning tablet is going to be a "dinosaur" in 2012 or 2013?

You aren't exactly comparing like to like. Nobody knows what the iPad or iOS of 2012 or 2013 will look (or function) like. As for the Windows 8 tablet, why don't we wait until it's actually released to decide. Pre-release announcements always tout the best aspects of any device but a real-world review of a real product is about the only thing that would compel me to buy a competing product.

+1.

Until 2012-2013 apple will have made improvements in iOS, and with windows 8 coming they will focus more on the iPad OS.
You never know, maybe some day we will see a combined iOS+OSX, which will (probably) be a lot better than windows 8, for both tablets, phones and laptops.

 

[poloponies]

Not to mention everyone who talks about competition forgets to bring up the downside to competition, and thats fragmentation. Take a look at ebook readers for example, some publishers go with one, some with another, so you need all ebook readers to enjoy all your ebooks.

Anyone who mindless invokes the "competition" argument has obviously never tried to buy a mattress.

As for Apple "needing" competition to innovate, they "need" to maintain year-over-year growth and they can accomplish that only through producing products that will keep people buying a "new, improved" device. Unless they can continually keep enticing existing owners to buy new, their sales will eventually flatten and fall. So they have a baseline need to innovate absent competing devices.

 

[jsh1120]

Parts of a really good tablet experience is battery life, form factor/weight/size , and response speed of the UI/apps. If the windows tablet will be able to offer those similar to the ipad, I believe yes, it could be a good competitor to ipad.

A very good point. The fundamental weakness of the iPad is that it's running an operating system designed for a phone, not a computer. But having said that Apple has been able to provide a very satisfying user experience with limited multi-tasking capabilities and applications with limited capabilities compared to their PC counterparts. (See Pages, GarageBand, etc.) And they've been able to do so with hardware that has extraordinary battery life and light weight because the OS and smartphone level processor place fewer demands on the design.

On the other hand, Microsoft promises an OS (and associated chip set) designed for full-scale computing. That provides much greater "head room" for the device and its applications. Until now, however, doing that also means considerably greater weight and thickness (including most notably a fan), and substantially reduced battery life.

A two+ pound tablet may sell well as an entry level PC, but it won't be a major threat to the iPad (imo). But if the hardware matches the iPad in terms of weight, form factor, display, battery life, etc. AND provides something close to a full-fledged laptop experience and performance, it will be a major iPad competitor.

 

[merkinmuffley]

Sorry, I don't need a tablet that blue screens on me.

 

[noisycats]

...an unreleased product already kicked it's ass.

That makes absolutely no sense. Seriously.

 

[RossMc]

I would never buy a tablet that has a fan.

 

[Consultant]

I would get win8 tablet on their $99 going out of business sale, and use it as coaster for my iPad.

 

[jclardy]

Watching today the latest windows 8 news I have to admit Im starting to like more and more the new Metro UI. I use my ipad heavily every day, but its starting to feel very limiting, specially in terms of multitasking: I cant load youtube videos while working on a pages document, for instance. Too little RAM makes every web page to load again and again... I miss features of a desktop OS, like downloading stuff from the internet, or using office 2011, etc.

After seeing Windows 8 I believe it will destroy the ipad. IOS is nice for a phone, but very very limited for s tablet, which should provide more productive and intensive tasks. If apple would release a slate pc with lion I would buy it without doubt. Maybe they will release it someday, but until then the most similar device will be the windows 8 tablets or slate pcs.

Teh ipad has made me love more the tablets than laptops. I dont see myself using a laptop ever again if I can use a tablet with the same power. Samsung just released a slate pc which has the same hardware specs as the macbook air, so mix that with windows 8 snd itll become a beautiful tablet experience.

Considering the future windows 8 (and any other OS like Android or whatever), will you still stick to IOS and the ipad? I feel the main problem of the ipad is iOS, its a very "soft" OS for a tablet. Maybe its good now, but in 2012 and 2013 it will feel like a OS from the dinosaurs era...

Thats the thing...you are comparing an unreleased OS to iOS 4 which came out a year ago. Or iOS 5 that will be available in a month.

1-2 years from now the iPad 2 hardware will be dated, and iOS will have gone through another 2 revisions (6 and 7) which my guess will include many improvements specific to the iPad.

I'm not saying to go out and buy an iPad because their will be updates...but I am saying that you shouldn't count out the iPad because of some flashy demos of far off software. Apple tends to keep its software features/releases quiet, waiting until the last few months before release to show them off. Microsoft does the opposite, showing off their next OS when their current one just shipped (There were W8 kernel demonstrations just a month or two after W7 was released. Of course, at that point the Metro UI for tablets probably didn't even exist as the iPad wasn't released yet and a tablet was far from anyones mind.)

If the iPad suits you then go ahead and buy it. If not wait and see what happens in the next year, as all capacitive touchscreen tablets are in their infancy at this point.