
Best Buy CEO: iPad is cannibalizing laptop sales by as much as 50% - drtse4
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703376504575491533125103528.html
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ajleary
The disappointing for most consumers will be that iPads require a computer to
sync to itunes before you begin to use.

Apple must fix this soon, but that require the ability to connect OTA and
probably redownload purchased content (without a mobile me account).

Ease up a little apple and you will add gasoline to the ipad fire.

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protomyth
I wish they would release an intelligent dock that had some storage or USB
connectors for a printer and external hard drive. That would be a neat for
iPad syncing. Adding an HDMI so you could park the dock next to a TV and
control it with and iPad would really be nice.

Alternately, syncing with a Time Capsule would be good too.

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elai
Add ports and a keyboard and it will be perfect! Make it a clamshell style so
fingerprints wont get on the screen, and protect it when your not using it.

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danilocampos
So... Eliminate its differentiating characteristics and turn it into something
that resembles the competing netbooks and sub <$500 notebooks whose lunch
Apple is devouring, according to Best Buy's figures?

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artmageddon
Tactile feedback is pretty important to some people. I haven't tried an iPad
yet but when it comes to emails on the iPhone, I would sometimes kill for the
ability to just type the way I could on a real keyboard. An iPad with a
keyboard hookup is still an iPad.

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danilocampos
Yeah, but they have that. You can buy the keyboard dock or hook up a bluetooth
keyboard. Or hookup a USB keyboard using the camera connector.

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ultrasaurus
That may be just the datapoint I need to shift a new project away from Flash
to HTML5.

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points
Yeah because there's only a bajillion existing flash capable browsers out
there. But apparently the 'hip' crowd are buying iPads! ;)

FWIW though, I'd choose HTML5 over Flash, but not on the basis of this
datapoint - for all the other more important (IMHO) reasons.

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danilocampos
Flash's current installed base isn't really the point, though, is it?

What's interesting about this is that it demonstrates momentum away from Flash
in a fairly dramatic way. That momentum is important to consider if you're
investing in any decently sized project that could depend on Flash.

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points
People have been saying flash is dead for the last 5 years. If not 10 years.

Don't get me wrong, I hate flash, think it will die _eventually_ , and
wouldn't build anything on it.

But I also hate kneejerk decisions based on a _tiny_ amount of data.

The article is definitely worth considering if your users are the type that
buy iPads, but I find it incredibly hard to believe that the iPad will go
'mainstream'. It's still a niche luxury 'extra' device.

People aren't replacing their laptops with an iPad. That would be insane.
They're just buying an iPad as _well_.

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Poiesis
Call me insane then. I bought an iPad instead of a laptop, which is slightly
different from what you said.

Why? It's a family computer. Great for kids. Portable.

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points
>> "Great for kids."

Oh come now. It can't even render things like nickjr.com

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hook
I think the proper term is "eating", not "cannibalizing". It would be called
"cannibalizing" if the laptops were MacBooks, and if it were unintentional.

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glhaynes
From Apple's perspective, yes. But he's talking from Best Buy's perspective.

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hook
Excellent point.

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chrisgoodrich
I am in no way surprised by this. I have 2 laptops and a desktop computer that
are collecting dust now that I have an iPad.

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lurkinggrue
I still can't figure a use case for me to justify an iPad. That and I refuse
to have itunes on my computer at this point.

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chrisgoodrich
I find that my iPad is the perfect fit to replace my laptop.

I have never been able to completely ditch using a desktop anyways, so my use
case for a laptop has always really been exactly what the iPad provides; a
dead simple internet browsing, media streaming and content consumption device.

If I need to work, I'll use my desktop. I generally feel limited by a laptop
screen, mouse and keyboard as it is. If I want to browse the internet, stream
some videos, and consume content the iPad on the couch is a perfect fit.

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cliffchang
As a side note on the conversation, I'm impressed by how well Best Buy is
adapting to the changing demands of the consumers. Rather than desperately
promoting the same stuff that has worked for them for decades, they see the
writing on the wall and are changing their focus.

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chrisgoodrich
I completely agree. I love and respect businesses that are flexible enough to
embrace changes in consumer demands rather than vehemently attempt to avoid
changes in the marketplace.

Businesses like Blockbuster are a prime example of this. Entire industries
such as the entertainment industry (namely movie and music) have tried very
hard to avoid changes in consumer demands.

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ww520
It's amazing how Apple disrupts a whole market with new categories of products
again and again. They might not be the first to enter a nascent market but
they are the one to make it big.

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cosgroveb
I can't write code on an iPad (not efficiently at least), so my recent need
for a replacement laptop ate up my budget for an iPad.

I'm guessing I'm in the minority, however.

