The iPad Is Unbeatable: Why Apple’s tablet competitors don’t stand a chance—and maybe never will

Slate ^ | March 8, 2012 | Farhad Manjoo

[dayglored]

> While I agree with a lot of what you said, the fact is this young crowd is the future. And the way they get things done is different—so different many older people don’t understand it. I’ve been to training on this bunch and I was pretty much thinking like you posted, but the reality is we need to figure it out and not just dismiss it. And that’s where I disagree with you—you appear to be dismissive of the younger bunch. I’m trying to figure it out. Not the dating piece, but the working aspects and the interactions that get things done. I’m sure the old farts of your day were saying PCs are stupid—I have a phone. How can you get anything done via email. You need to go stop by their office and go to lunch to get anything done.

Perhaps you underestimate a bit. I'm 60 now, but I was a hobbyist at 13, been programming since I was 18, and been designing and building my own personal computers since I was 22. When the IBM-PC came out in 1981 I had been doing computers professionally for a decade. I started using email in 1984 and for 28 years it has been my primary means of communications with family, friends, and business associates -- today it is still the primary log of my life. Anyway, I daresay I have retained most of my youthful enthusiasm for all this techie stuff.

So I do understand the "younger crowd" mentality, insofar as being attracted to the newest, latest toys -- I had it and used it to advantage. The attention span is a lot shorter now, but otherwise not much is different from 40 years ago.

I agree with you that "we need to figure it out and not just dismiss it". I didn't mean to indicate that I dismissed it -- it's very real, and it is the growing market for the future, no doubt. But meanwhile there remains the vast majority of Windows users -- business and professional users -- who don't have any need nor desire whatsoever for a tarted-up lipstick-on-a-pig approach to an operating system. Win8 is being touted as totally different, but if you're really a techie, you know as well as I do that it's the same old NT codebase, with just another facelift.

I hope Microsoft is successful at marketing it -- I really do. I count on them and Windows for my living. But I think they're becoming a little schizoid in their attempts to simultaneously fend off the challenges of Apple in their PC business, and enter the handheld market with something credible. They've been caught yet again with their pants down, and they'd better pull them up before they try running off in new directions.

Time will tell.

[ReignOfError]

btw, the iPhone is going down hard in about 6-8 months. You’ll see. When windows 8 and windows phones are up to full speed there will be nothing to stand in Microsoft’s way.

Funny how there have been so many "iPhone killers" in the future tense, but none in the present tense. Is it Windows Phone 7? The Samsung Galaxy S II? HTC Tunderbolt? HTC Evo 4G? Palm Pre? Blackberry Torch? Nokia N9? Samsung Wave? HTC Droid Incredible? (All of those links are to stories with "iPhone killer" in the headline.)

On the tablet side, we've had the Motorola Xoom, Galaxy Tab, Kindle Fire, HP Touchpad, Blackberry Playbook, Sony Tablet S, and Asus Eee Pad Transformer. So you can understand why "iPad Killer!!1!!1!" predictions are met with a fair amount of skepticism.

[longtermmemmory]

actually I see all brands in business.

even kindles used to wifi connect to court dockets.

I also see attorneys using the uber new ipad as a mere newspaper reader or game player in court.

[dayglored]

> Imagine being able to install full versions, not stripped down ones, on a tablet.

Not going to happen any time in the foreseeable.

What I, and most business and professional users, use the full version of Windows for, can't be done, and will never be done, on a tablet. It's not an appropriate physical vehicle for that kind of work. And that market is Microsoft's core.

OTOH, if all you're talking about is email, web surfing, some powerpoint, light wordprocessing, and tiny spreadsheets, sure, you can squeeze that into a tablet.

Tablets are terrific for lightweight communications and media consumption. And the app market has exploded with thousands of handheld applications that nobody foresaw even 5 years ago when the iPhone came out. But the point it, you don't need full-blown Windows for that.

I do not believe that installing a full version of any real operating system on a tablet will be effective use of the resources. The stripped down version is fine, for what tablets are best at.

That's all IMO, of course. :) YMMV.

[longtermmemmory]

HP had the ultimate suicide run with their own tablet OS effort.

None of those suits know what the heck their market is or wants.

[Wyatt's Torch]

Agree. Tablets aren’t supposed to take the place of PC’s (desktop or laptop). They are for different purposes. I use mine for the typical (email, web, photos, video, news - via RSS and apps, note taking, and some other functions specific to my job). I am a very heavy user of Excel with enormous financial models, macro’s, database links, etc. That stuff cannot, and should not, be done on a tablet. It would be miserable. Different products for different purposes.

[longtermmemmory]

should not?

why?

there is no reason it can not be made to be “non miserable”.

[dayglored]

> should not? why? there is no reason it can not be made to be “non miserable”.

For the same reason that, although it's physically possible to put a Ferrari engine in a Dodge Dart body, it's not going to work. You can't make the Dart use the power of the Ferrari engine without a total redesign of the body.

Putting a full-blown OS in a tablet -- AND making good use of its capabilities -- would require a redefinition of "tablet" such that it would start looking like a PC. You will have come full circle and rediscovered why there will always be a need for full size personal computers.

Tablets will reduce the PC market considerably, but they'll never wipe it out.

[Wyatt's Torch]

Manipulating tens of thousands of lines of data, building very complex financial models, writing and testing VBS script for macros, creating and editing PP presentations that are hundreds of pages on a 9.5” screen is not a good plan. There is a reason my workspace has dual 22” monitors...

Some light work (viewing, light editing, simple creation) doing these is fine but heavy duty stuff belongs in a different environment.

[editor-surveyor]

I used to think I needed more pockets until I bought a couple of pair of those fake ‘fatigues’ with all the extra pockets, and then I started forgetting things in the pockets when I changed pants...

[editor-surveyor]

>> “And, oh yeah...I want my function keys back on the left side of the keyboard, please.” <<

.
Now that is one for the waaay back machine!

[Wyatt's Torch]

Survey: iPads the choice of 84% of companies buying tablets

by Steven Sande Mar 13th 2012 at 12:15PM

Apple's going to need to keep those supplier factories in China running 24/7 just to meet the demand from corporate buyers. A new ChangeWave Research survey of 1,604 corporate buyers shows that not only are about one in five companies planning on purchasing tablets for employees, but of those companies a whopping 84 percent say that they plan to purchase iPads.

That last number is up seven percent from the previous survey, which was done in November of 2011. With the Apple number going up, logically the share for other manufacturers will be declining. ChangeWave's numbers show that the percentage of companies planning to purchase tablets made by Apple arch-rival Samsung is a distant 8 percent. The results are even worse for companies like Lenovo and Motorola, which are the choice of only 2 percent of respondents respectively.

ChangeWave also asked the corporate buyers which wireless data carrier they planned to use for the new tablets. The results were split nearly 50-50, with 30 percent of respondents hitching their tablets to the AT&T wagon and 29 percent following the Verizon path. Only 4 percent said they'd choose Sprint -- which doesn't currently carry the iPad -- and 11 percent said they'd forego a wireless plan. The rest of the respondents? They really weren't sure.

[PreciousLiberty]

"Apple will still be a very capable company without Steve Jobs. It’s just a reality that without him, Apple just won’t have the same street cred.

That’s the problem Android has had."

No, and no. Steve Jobs was a remarkable man, but Apple now has the culture, money and image to sustain its success.

As to Android, it has many problems besides not having a spokesperson. Android devices are all over the map as to which version they're running, what hardware they have, which drivers they use, and general quality of the device.

Look at the comments from developers on this thread to get an idea of what Android fragmentation means for app developers. It's not pretty at all...

Apple, iDevices and Macs are all doing very well thank you - and that trend will continue for the foreseeable future.

[PreciousLiberty]

“I seriously doubt that I’ll ever own an Apple anything.”

Your loss. I suspect the rest of us (and Apple) will somehow survive. ;-)

[PreciousLiberty]

“I personally don’t like the onscreen keyboard. I like to feel my keys. I think feeling my keys helps me type more efficiently, because I sort of know where everything is by feel.”

Siri largely addresses that problem. :-)

[PreciousLiberty]

“A producer creates something revolutionary, so he starts out owning all of the market, but as competitors start to catch up, the start owning their share of the market.

Apple will not stay at 80 percent of the tablet market. They obviously won’t disappear, but they will probably eventually settle to whatever level their computers sell in the general computer market.”

Apple has some advantages you’re not considering:

First is its overall software ecosystem, including developer tools. Apple’s software leads the industry and its competitors show no signs of catching up. Apple’s hardware R&D team is just about as good too.

Second is the halo effect, where people purchase other Apple products because they work so well with their existing Apple products (or because they want more Apple products due to their positive experience with their current Apple products).

Third is that having achieved the status of “largest company in history”, Apple now has amazing buying power, meaning that its products can sell at the same price point as competitors, while still enjoying larger margins. It will also continue to attract top talent as employees.

So, personally I’m not worried about Apple’s longer-term prospects. :-)

[Jonty30]

Oh that’s useful.

Then everybody on the bus gets to enjoy my half of the conversation, loudly.

[redgolum]

Not that long ago, the same was said about Microsoft and the Office/OS systems.

No company stays on top forever.

Now, Apple makes a nice slick product, but I have never been very fond of them. A blog I go to refers to them as a nice walled in garden, that has very strict rules on what you can do. That is ok for many, but I like a little bit of freedom to tinker. And to be honest most engineering software is geared to the PC.

[Jonty30]

I considered that. I know personal computing is headed for an ecosystem.

If people consider computer first, Apple may not be the primary choice in that regard and will probably consider Windows as their phone of choice. That isn’t to say that Apple will have a huge fall, but the number of people who buys an Apple phone will fall, because they aren’t choosing Apple computers.

If people are considering their phone as the primary factor, then you could see the number of Apple computers sold increase, because they are tying it to their mobile decisions.

[PreciousLiberty]

“Oh that’s useful.

Then everybody on the bus gets to enjoy my half of the conversation, loudly.”

I’d guess that bus riders aren’t Apple’s core target market. LOL

You can also afford to look at the device if you’re not driving.