
Move Over Apple, My Tablet Cost $200  - boh
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703662804576188901890884360.html?mod=WSJ_Tech_LEFTTopNews
======
DavidBishop
Move Over BMW, My Kia Cost $12,000.

I had a Kia that did the job for 230,000 miles. If all you want is
transportation, it does the job.

If you want all the nice things that come with a BMW, however, well, you get
what you pay for.

From the article: "Of course, it's hardly the same as an iPad or a Xoom or a
Galaxy. It doesn't have any cameras. It has a slower processor. It's not for
power users. The video support is pretty limited. A few Android programs still
won't run on it. And dedicated gamers will doubtless find it frustrating."

It's an attention grabbing headline which is the purpose of a headline. But
the author is not truly comparing Apples and Oranges. He simply wanted to
highjack eyeballs.

~~~
cheez
Wow, 230K miles! I thought Kia would be one of those brands that broke
hopelessly after 50-100K miles.

Did you do anything special beyond regular maintenance? Any big surgeries?

~~~
stellar678
Kia has a 10-year, 100k mile powertrain warranty. How could they do that if
their cars were mostly trash after 50-100k miles?

~~~
georgieporgie
The paint could blister and peel, the door seals could rot, the dashboard
could crack from UV exposure, the shock absorbers could leak, the wipers could
seize, the steering could become loose and noisy, etc.

I haven't owned a Kia, nor do I have anything against them, I'm just being
pedantic and pointing out that you could fulfill a 100k powertrain warranty
and still end up with a car that's mostly trash. :-)

~~~
DavidBishop
A Kia is a Kia (Sportage). You get a modest car for a modest price. But in
fairness, the paint, interior, controls were in great shape on the day it died
after 10 years. No complaints.

~~~
georgieporgie
Like I said, I was merely responding to the parent comment's assertion that
you couldn't have a car that was mostly trash at 50-100k miles if it has a
100k powertrain warranty.

------
npalli
I rooted the Nook Color and it is terrific. Great use as a ebook reader and
general tablet. It seems to strike a very good balance between a pure ebook
reader like the kindle and the iPad. We have kindle, nook color and the iPad
at home. The iPad is useless for holding and reading more than 20 mins. My
wife can't pick it up for more than 5 mins. The Nook Color is lighter than the
iPad but more functional (browser, apps, zoom in/out) than the kindle.
Downsides are -- rooted it is still android 2.1. Moving to 2.2 or 2.3 is not
easy (I believe moving to 2.2 required turning off the heat sensor!!).
Honeycomb kinda runs in a debug mode (ie., very slow). If the community can
create a painless way to move this to android 2.3 it will be a great win.

As to the economics, B&N owns the retail distribution of this product. So a
big win over other android tablets is that it doesn't need to tack in another
30-40% markup for retail stores. Apple makes at least 30% on the iPad and the
iPad is bigger with much higher BOM costs. So at $250 it is very likely that
Nook color is making a decent profit for B&N. B&N has a winner on this one,
they own the distribution and don't have to pay for the software development
(at least the majority of it).

~~~
brownegg
I see this "the iPad is too heavy to comfortably read" comment a lot. I have
had an iPad v1 for all of 5 days, but in that time I have read more "long-
form" material than the previous five months.

Too heavy? C'mon, really? Yes, it's heavier than a Nook. But to say the iPad
is useless is hyperbole at best and misleading at worst.

~~~
metageek
It may depend on the amount of RSI damage your hands have taken. I've played
with iPads at the Apple Store, and I can't hold it comfortably for more than a
few minutes.

By comparison, I can hold my 6" Sony Reader (or the Nook Color I had for a few
days) indefinitely.

And, yes, I do realize that the iPad is heavy for good reason: it's got a
bleeping big battery.

------
Johngibb
While it's a great deal for the end user, Barnes and Noble may be selling them
at a loss (or at least a very small profit) with the expectation of making up
the difference with book sales. They probably don't stand to benefit from
having the cheapest android tablet, with users who weren't specifically
looking for an e-reader.

~~~
thematt
If they're selling the hardware at a loss, they're in even bigger trouble (as
a company) than I thought. With rumors of the Kindle trending towards a price
of "free", how can B&N possibly compete long-term? That's not a battle they
can win, not against Amazon's scale and distribution network.

They're hedging their entire company on a product which their main competitor
is going to start giving away. They'll need to make a lot from the sale of the
books to make up for that.

~~~
dexen
If they're selling the hardware at loss, they may turn profit once sales of
hardware increase. Economies of scale == cheaper components, cheaper labor,
cheaper distribution. Initial development costs spread over more units. At
some point network effect and referrals kick in.

~~~
Johngibb
I should have phrased it differently as I have no familiarity with their
margins. I just meant that I'm sure they priced it with future book sale
revenue in mind.

------
tmcw
Move Over Apple, My Dell Cost only $400 and I don't understand the fact that
you're aiming for an upmarket quality play like usual! Computers are
computers, tablets are tablets, right? Just like cars, right?

~~~
Kylekramer
I thought everyone was saying the iPad is remarkable cause Apple wasn't aiming
for an upmarket play?

~~~
code_duck
I think Apple sees the iPad as their netbook. It fills a similar role for the
user - cafe, bed, train, casual use - and note how they don't have a notebook
with a screen smaller than 11". Compared to a netbook, the iPad is upmarket in
style, branding and price.

As far as touchscreen tablets though, as pioneers of the market they didn't
have anyone else to position themselves against, besides Archos.

~~~
calbear81
I think of the Macbook air as the competitor to most netbooks only in form
factor/physical keyboard functionality but definitely not in price. Most users
are using the iPads casually but the adoption in corporate IT environments and
in other "professional" settings is compelling (FAA just approved the use of
iPads for pilots to replace paper charts/logs) and many hospitals are using
iPads.

~~~
code_duck
You could view the MacBook Pro in about the same way - it is competition to
notebooks in every way except for price. They cost twice as much as non-Apple
notebooks with comparable specs.

I think the second part of your comment would apply to netbooks, too. It's
just that nobody takes note of them in the same way because they don't seem as
novel as iPads.

~~~
calbear81
There's another thread on here comparing the MBP to the HP Envy and I make the
argument that you can't factor out the intangibles when comparing specs
between MBPs and PC laptop - OS is highly personal, design/status symbol is of
value.

------
rb2k_
Just to save people some time, here are the nook color specs:

Power Installed battery (8 hours with Wi-fi off)

CPU 800 Mhz ARM Cortex-A8-based TI OMAP3621[1] PowerVR SGX 530 (unconfirmed)

Storage capacity 8GB internal storage, 32GB expandable

Memory 512MB

Display 7-inch 1024 x 600 px WSVGA IPS LCD at 170 ppi

Input Capacitive multitouch screen with side Volume, Nook Home, and Power
buttons.

Connectivity Wi-Fi USB

Dimensions 8.1 in (210 mm) (h), 5.0 in (130 mm) (w), 0.48 in (12 mm) (d),
Weight 15.8 oz (450 g)

------
jokermatt999
While the article is being (rightfully) ridiculed for the over the top
headline, there is some truth in there. The iPad and it's competitors are
still fairly expensive for an "impulse buy", and I don't think it's clear to a
lot of people how tablets are useful. They seem cool, but it's hard to justify
spending that much for something you aren't even sure if you're going to use,
at least with what I make.

It's much easier to consider buying a $200 tablet. I can't see that a tablet
would be useful enough to me to spend the few extra hundred dollars to get a
more powerful one.

------
kordless
What would be interesting if for Barnes and Nobel to allow the continued use
of the Nook for this type of stuff, and then later do a detailed report on how
big an impact it had on their bottom line. The speculation (by hackers) has
always been if you are selling product as a loss leader and people are hacking
it, it's a better strategy than if you try to shut them out. Someone should
test it!

~~~
metageek
I believe they have announced that they will allow it, in the sense that they
won't impose any measures to prevent rooting. Given that, I would expect them
to check in a year or so to see whether they need to change their mind.

------
cma
It is the best tablet deal around. Running Honeycomb on it still lacks support
for the hardware decoder, but it will come in time--older android versions
support it fine.

~~~
barake
Is general performance okay on the Nook? If Honeycomb works fine minus HD
video I'll go pick one up today.

~~~
grayrest
It's slow. Animations and web page scrolling are ~15fps and controls in many
apps take ~200ms to respond. Also, there's a problem with the 3g network
component that prevents the nook from sleeping unless it's in airplane mode.

A lot of this is due to how the nook honeycomb image was done (it's a mashup
of gingerbread+developer preview image components) and should be better once
Google pushes out the Honeycomb AOSP code drop. This could also just be
related to my install since other people on various threads aren't seeing some
of the issues I am. The more polished Froyo and CM7 (Gingerbread) images run
decently well but aren't as smooth as my Droid Incredible running its stock
image.

That said, I'm happy with it as a ebook reader and web browser and it fits in
my coat pocket, which is good for the subway. I like the OS changes in
Honeycomb well enough to put up with the screwiness in the image.

~~~
ajju
>Also, there's a problem with the 3g network component that prevents the nook
from sleeping unless it's in airplane mode.

You are running Android on the Nook 3G with the black and white (eink) screen?

~~~
grayrest
No, I'm running a NC. The mobile networking component is still part of the
image I'm using even though there is no cellular data antenna.

~~~
ajju
Ah, I read "component" to mean a hardware component and then rushed to check
of a Nook Color 3G had been released. Oh well.

------
pohl
In other news, the CueCat was a remarkably inexpensive barcode scanner.

~~~
runjake
For you: <http://i.imgur.com/8Qr0Y.jpg>

~~~
pohl
Thank you, I saved that as a keepsake. Would you happen to have a photo of how
_Digital Convergence Corporation_ is doing today?

------
Groxx
> _Be aware that you perform this software hack entirely at your own risk.
> Barnes & Noble says it invalidates your warranty. The process ran smoothly
> for me, but when I read the Internet chat rooms, I found at least a few
> people had had problems. If it goes wrong, you're on your own._

Move over Apple, the geeks have done something only geeks will do, and B&N
might sell another couple percent because of it. And let me know when it can
play 3D games at the framerates the iPad (much less the iPad2) achieves.

------
tsmith
I've had an iPad1, now have a rooted Nook Color, and on Friday (or Saturday)
will be getting an iPad2.

The Nook Color is great in all ways except one: video. No Netflix client
available or forthcoming, no streaming from NAS a la Air Video Server, and no
VNC. No good hardware-assisted video players either, especially not for free.

Otherwise it's a great deal for $250 and works very well as a Kindle reader,
web browser, e-mail client, etc., and as a good way to dip your toes into the
Android tablet market.

~~~
metageek
> _The Nook Color is great in all ways except one: video._

That, and the WiFi on mine was flaky; a couple of times per day, it would drop
out, and not reliably come back until I rebooted. That was the main reason I
returned it.

------
st3fan
"It's not for power users." -- Yeah I don't think iPads are for power users.

------
jluxenberg
_perfectly legal software fix from the Internet that turned it into a fully
functioning tablet running on Google's Android platform_

Don't think this is legal, as the exception to the DMCA's anti-circumvention
clause only applies to "wireless telephone handsets" [1]

[1]
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Millennium_Copyright_Ac...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Millennium_Copyright_Act#Anti-
circumvention_exemptions)

~~~
patrickaljord
[http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/us-government-
jailbreaking-...](http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/us-government-jailbreaking-
iphone-legal/story?id=11254253)

------
27182818284
Seems silly to write, "Move Over Apple, My Tablet Cost $200" and then spend a
couple of paragraphs writing about what it is lacking compared to an iPad,
Xoom, etc. Doesn't seem "Move Over Apple"-worthy.

------
moblivu
"Why should I have to invalidate the warranty in order to make their product
more attractive?"

Exactly, why don't the companies hear us. Why do Samsung and Moto keep putting
their Android skin if we hate it. Why don't Apple listen to us when we ask for
a better web browser with tabs and Flash and a good notification system. Why
do a bunch of hackers can hack t and make it better and the giant corp
can't.......... ridiculous !

------
terhechte
Move over Apple, my tablet cost $10

I just bought a Moleskine, sure it can't do fancy videos, and it can't really
surf the web, but neither can the hacked Nook for $200. And with a small hack
I can even read books from Amazon on this device! I just print them out and
glue them between the Moleskine's pages.

Of course, there's always cheaper hardware with less functions - but why make
this a wsj article?

------
DavidBishop
Move Over BMW, My Kia Cost $12,000.

I had a Kia that did the job for 230,000 miles. If all you want is
transportation, it does the job.

If you want all the nice things that come with a BMW, however, well, you get
what you pay for.

From the article: "Of course, it's hardly the same as an iPad or a Xoom or a
Galaxy. It doesn't have any cameras. It has a slower processor. It's not for
power users. The video support is pretty limited. A few Android programs still
won't run on it. And dedicated gamers will doubtless find it frustrating."

It's an attention grabbing headline which is the purpose of a headline. But
the author is not truly comparing Apples and Oranges. He simply wanted to
highjack eyeballs.

------
DeAngeloLampkin
Between requiring developers to pay to write apps (have to enter their
personal or enterprise program) and now charging for the IDE, Apple is almost
taking a hostile stance against developers, whereas Google is embracing them.

I wonder what the reasoning behind this move is.

------
jonny_eh
I think, the comma is misplaced in the title.

~~~
pohl
The comma makes more sense if you retain the exclamation point of the
original. An addressed person's name (here "Apple") is always grammatically
parenthetical, and hence preceded by the comma. The erroneous part is the
missing terminal punctuation after the introductory command.

~~~
delinka
It's a move over Apple. Right? I mean just because someone botched a copypasta
doesn't mean we can't get _something_ out of it. Right?

~~~
dexen
It's ``hey Apple, move over!''.

------
poppysan
Dell streak 7....the dual core beast for $199 with a new phone contract. Check
it out...there is a middle-ground!

------
zavulon
I'm fairly sure a month from now, original iPad will cost ~ $200 and it's
still ages beyond the Nook

------
AndyZ
mmm, move over mister Brett Arends, if you found a 200$ for your soul please
shut up and and enjoy your tablet, the 15 million iPad users really dont give
a #*%& about your article ;) Btw. I dont have an iPad, neither do I need one
:D

------
drudru11
8 hours of battery life

------
Kilimanjaro
Move over Mercedes, ford got a new pinto for much less. Damn I'm good at
savings.

