

IPad Competitors: Reality Check - mlongo
http://ipadwatcher.com/2010/03/29/ipad-competitors-reality-check/

======
kalid
I agree with the article. Other manufacturers have had a decade to inspire
people with tablets, and failed. People don't want a desktop pc in another
form factor.

~~~
ZeroGravitas
Yes they do. It's called a laptop and is (I believe) now the dominant form of
personal computer.

You're right that they've rejected the TabletPC as offered. But we don't
really know whether they want a big iPhone either. Time will tell if this is
an iPod or an AppleTV, iPhone or Airport.

~~~
DeusExMachina
Time will tell, but I think that at least the present is hinting that people
want the iPad.

------
brazzy
Sorry, that's more narrowminded Apple fanboyism than I can take this early in
the morning.

"Are there any really significant ones that are challenging the iPod’s
dominance in that market? Not really."

Dude, take off your US goggles and look at market shares elsewhere.

~~~
mlongo
I'm not in the US. I'm in Brazil. You cannot go into a reputable store here
and find other players. Perhaps if you are really determined to buy non-Apple
and are willing to spend a couple of hours looking you might find something
but probably it will be no more than a memory stick that can play mp3s.

You might go to on street vendors who import a variety of cheap and mostly low
quality iPod clones directly from Hong Kong.

I don't remember it being very different in Australia and a couple of European
countries I've been to, but I might have been blinded by my fanboyism. :-)

~~~
dagw
Every large electronics store I've been to in Europe has mp3 players from a
good half dozen companies prominently on display. So while the iPod may
dominate, it's not like other players are in any way hidden or hard to find.

~~~
mlongo
Thanks for the feedback. Its been a while since I was last in Europe, I
probably just didn't remember that being so.

It certainly isn't so in Brazil. Those other mp3 players normally can only be
found in small, not so reputable stores here. Mostly they are from unknown
Chinese brands.

Other than that, I only remember seeing a model from Sony, this year, in a
large electronics store, as you put it. Everyone has an abundance of iPods,
however. There is also an abundance of very cheap iPod clones, in those not-
so-reputable stores.

------
buster
I thought i might share my blog comment here, too:

So, you are saying that every tablet that is now released is released because
of the iPad? Apple is the big innovator here? That's so ridiculous. It takes
more than 2 month to build a tablet. There have been tablets before. There has
been multitouch before. Combining the technologies of today is not the genius
innovation you think, it happens everywhere.

Second, you are living in this strange alternative world, it makes me sad. Of
course there will be people not buying the iPad because it can't do flash. If
you don't think so you are just ignorant to reality. About the Desktop OS:
There is actually no reason to built a good Tablet with a multitouch friendly
Desktop OS on top of it.

It's ridiculous. You are just repeating what Apple likes you to think. Can't
people take an objective view on things? Just because Steve Jobs says that
Flash is bad and that you shall not have a real OS, doesn't make it true!

People won't throw away their iPhone. But in a not so distant future every
major OS for smartphones will support Flash (and Air), except for the iPhone.
Adobe will have nice tools to build platform independent apps and games from
one source. So, eventually developers will start to make those apps for the
majority of phones, not for the rather small market share Apple has. And
(hopefully) people won't buy the next iPhone but the next non-Apple phone, as
Steve fucks the customers on a daily basis and every apple customer is just
begging for more.

Of course Apple doesn't want Flash: \- They don't let app competition on their
major platform, the want the money for themselves. That the customers lose
choice is well accepted by most apple customers.

Of course they don't want the real Mac OS X on the device: \- The iPhone OS is
so tightly integrated with the appstore that literally everything you want to
do, you will have to buy from the appstore.

~~~
mlongo
You could be a bit more civil in your comment and you are certainly entitled
to your opinion.

I never said that Apple had pure or angelical motives for not wanting Flash, I
just pointed out that many sites are stripping out Flash, because Apple
doesn’t support it, which is quite true. There are several references in this
blog to sites that have started or completed projects to remove the need for
Flash.

I’m sorry that I’ve upset you with my opinion. I’m sure that if you wait long
enough, a tablet that meets your standards, from a company that doesn’t have
any kind of monopoly market position such as Microsoft or Google will come
along and that it will be all that you dream of.

~~~
buster
It's a good move if sites move away from flash. But it's another matter to
disallow flash and air applications that could be a used to write platform
independent applications.

There is just a lot of assumptions and unproven statements in your post. I've
heard that so many times, it sickens me.

Some anecdote: A few months back, when Adobe announced Flash support on the
iPhone, basically everyone in my circle of friends was like "woohoo, soon i'll
be able to play those flashgames!". Now, everyone is just repeating the
marketing talks, that flash is bad and whatnot. Basically i have the feeling
that many people don't reflect what Steve is saying, they are just repeating
the marketing talks. Basically, that's what is driving me mad.

Also, i don't see a reason why a desktop OS wouldn't work on a tablet (except
for the aforementioned appstore lock in). Display too small? Nope, works on
small netbooks, too. Can't hit the buttons? No, i am currently sitting in
front of Windows 7 and i can't spot a button that i couldn't hit with a
finger. Links in Websites are usually way smaller then the buttons in the OS
and you still can hit them on the iPad, don't you?

Also, a few months back it was "oh no. Multitasking? That's sooo draining the
battery, we won't allow that!". Now, that android poses a threat it's like
"uhh, we miraculously implemented multitasking!". The real move behind holding
back multitasking? Get people to use apples notifications, another factor that
ties developers to apple and sends user data through their system. Another
move to more lock in.

~~~
mlongo
I didn't say Flash was bad, though I've had some bad experiences with the
oddest bits of it consuming 30% of a code duo CPU.

The article just states that sits are dropping flash, because Apple doesn't
support it. It also states that people are not stopping to use iPhones because
of it. If you know some people that didn't get an iPhone because it doesn't
run Flash, okay. Apple's sales numbers say that those people aren't all that
many.

I've personally never seen anyone that avoided an iPhone because of that,
though I'm sure these people exist.

~~~
buster
Ok, so you obviously do not know a few things:

\- The reason why the flash plugin hogs your cpu is because apple doesn't
expose the proper hardware acceleration API:
[http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/does_html5_really_beat_...](http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/does_html5_really_beat_flash_surprising_results_of_new_tests.php)
Adobe would want to optimize the plugin but can't.

\- Why is it Adobes fault when your laptop becomes noisy under cpu load? Maybe
you just don't need that fat cpu if you never use more than 30% of it? I don't
know, but when i buy a device that is too noisy i don't blame software that
makes use of it. In Apples world, this is of course not true. It's Adobes
fault that your laptop is noisy.

\- Afaik, the solution for creating flash applications on the ipad would be
very different from the plugin, as it would generate objective-c code that'd
be compiled by the apple SDK

About sites dropping Flash:

I believe that the internet doesn't need apple to get rid of flash. The
internet will eventually not use Flash for navigation or for Ads in the mid-
term anyway. As soon as major browsers support everything that flash does.
That's how the internet has been evolving for the last decades. First it used
frames, then tables, then CSS. Why would flash hold its position if it's the
inferior technology?

And another question:

If Apple thinks that flash on the web is evil: They could've said "ok, no
flash plugin in the browser". But leave the rest intact. Let developers use
whatever tools they want to build applications! Be it Flash, Air, Unigine and
whatever programming language they want! It is, i repeat, not about what is
the best experience for the user it is just about the money, no more, no less.

Also, when flash is that bad. Why is it still supported under Mac OS X? I
mean.. you should just get rid of flash on your laptop too. No? Of course not,
Flash doesn't expose a threat to Apple on the Macbook, you are already buying
your software elsewhere.

~~~
mlongo
Well, I guess it is you that don't know a few things. My notebook in question
was running Windows and it is made by Dell. There was no fan noise, just my
CPU being used all to much to display a one inch big Ad on screen. I love how
people presume you are defending Apple when you are not.

------
unfair
The writer totally ignores android, which should offer a competent alternative
to the iPad within a year as long as a reputable hardware manufacturer steps
up.

I was pretty excited about the iPad until I found out it would be locked down
running the iPhone OS. If a more open alternative (Android with USB ports?)
appeared on the market I think it would make a lot of tech savvy people who
aren't locked into the Apple hype very happy.

~~~
mlongo
As you say, it might offer a competent alternative within a year, but it
doesn't now and there is no competing device running Android right now.

I hope Android does offer a good alternative as I wouldn't like to see a
market with a single dominant player, regardless of who that player is.
Diversity is good for everyone.

------
fondue
"Now, does anyone believe that dropping the keyboard and replacing Windows XP
with Windows 7 will magically turn netbooks into a great experience?"

No, but I bet the new Windows Phone OS' zune-like interface will work really
well. I would be absolutely shocked if there weren't a half-dozen companies
already working on this solution. They'll have Xbox live games and a host of
other applications available by the time these new tablet's running it are
available.

I guess what I'm saying is that Microsoft will build the app market first
through their new phone and then launch tablets from a half-dozen vendors that
can leverage the apps.

------
dirtbox
There isn't any competition for the ipad because it's a pretty yet aimless
media toy. Everyone else is wrapped up in making something that has a clear
and productive purpose with the perceived convenience of a touch screen.

~~~
mlongo
Not much that I can say to that, but I beg to differ. :-)

