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The Coming Onslaught of iPad Competitors
harrymcc writes "The iPad is selling as well as it is in part because no large manufacturer has had a direct rival out yet. But boy, is that going to change in the next few months. Over at Technologizer, I rounded up known information on 32 current and future tablet computing devices, from potentially worthy iPad competitors to wannabees to interesting specialty devices. By early 2011 these things are going to be everywhere, and it'll be fascinating to see how they fare." Related: the tablet-type device I've been watching most eagerly, Notion Ink's Adam, seems to finally have a realistic manufacturing prediction and price range (by November; up to $498 for the version with 3G and Pixel Qi screen).
ok but what if I took one of these, added a hard protective plastic coating, and then some ports for keyboards and such. i'd call it a 'laptop'.
I'd call it a shitty, underpowered laptop with a shitty form factor and a shitty lack of an included, attached, keyboard.
Tablets fucking suck.
a history of thoughtful design and a slew of devices that work much better than their competitors
If you are only counting the tiny number of popular competitors to Apple, I guess you have a point. You know, like if you only pay attention to Apple's marketing department telling you who their competitors are?
Palm trees and 8
Why isn't the iPad designed for creating things, exactly? Who started this myth?
How have all of those "iPod Killers" fared over the last decade?
Amazing what spending money to more or less hide competitors does huh? And yes, Apple pays for those special cases since no store will ever sacrifice floor space for a single product unless they are being paid to do it.
A history of guerrilla marketing primarily based on lies perpetuated by fanboys.
Point in case:
If I want to get $ALBUM off my friends computer onto my phone I have to:
Iphone
1. find another mass storage device.
2. copy the file to the mass storage device.
3. get to a computer which has I tunes that my phone is "activated" on.
4. plug in the mass storage device.
5. copy the file to the Itunes library.
6. Find my Apple(TM) Iphone cable.
7. plug in my phone.
8. sync it with Itunes (provided I sync all media not just selected ones).
Android and Nokia
1. find a generic USB Micro cable (or USB Mini, they are about $3 from anywhere).
2. plug my phone in to my friends computer.
3. copy and paste the files I want.
Really thoughtful design, and all the features including Kitchen_Sink.apk
Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
People who don't own iPads.
Then why aren't we all using Kin phones & Courier tablets? Why did those flame out spectacularly? Microsoft certainly has the money and power to market aggressively, and they've certainly shown that they're not shy about abusing power when they have it. Google certainly could have pushed the Nexus One much harder - for fuck's sake, they OWN online advertising, they are an ADVERTISING company - who has more power in that space than Google?
And if all these companies know it, please explain why Apple is the only one that seems to do it effectively? Because I'm sorry, but MSFT and GOOG both have deep enough pockets that they could easily match Apple's marketing. Why aren't we all using Nexus Ones and Zunes? Or is it just you, the random anonymous guy on Slashdot, and Apple who realizes this, and every other company competing with Apple is braindead?
Your fervent desire to hate Apple because "all they do is market" doesn't make that premise true.